The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-07-20
reservation and getting large quantities

reservation and getting large quantities
Of game stored and then smuggling it
out Of the state. The decision of our
supreme court in regard to seizure by
the commission when we are satisfied
that the game or fish have been il
legally taken is one that is very far
reaching.
You know the common carriers have
been very backward about letting us
nave any shipments, except we went
to the trouble of getting out search
warrants, which was at times very diff
ficult and even impossible. Now this
decision settles that matter, and we
can take our own, and the shipper can
not come back at the common carrier
for any damages. The courts have rul-
ed on our deer law in regard to ship
ping. They have decided we have a
right to seize any venison when 1t is
not accompanied by the owner and
that no one can ship venison to mar
ket except he accompanies it, and the
moment he transfers it to an express
company and takes a receipt for same.
that moment he Is not in actual pos
session of it, which the law requires
The law prohibiting the sale of
brook trout and black bass has work.
ed splendidly, and we can see the re-
suit iE the increase Of fish. We will not
be able for another year to see the
benefits arising by stopping the sale OF
ruffied grouse, but that will come, as
there has not been one bird killed this
year, where there was a hundred kill
ed of that species formerly. The heavy
fines we impose on some of the men
who have been in the habit of dealing
in game, has had the effect of making
them think before they run the risk in
the future.
1--WE would like to see some changes
in our game law to make it more per-
feet, and that is along the lines laid
down at our conference in Chicago
when the different Northweste-n states
met there for consultation. One of the
first and foremost changes there sug-
gested was that the different states
represented would adopt, as near as
possible, uniform game law l think
the commission will ask the next legis-
lature to make the necessary changes.
One of them will be the doing away
with spring shooting, so that no one
can take out a gun to shoot anything
between the 1st OF January and the
1st Of September in each year. This is
a very fair law and one that every one
with the possible exception of the pot
hunter will be interested in.
Another thing we will ask the legis-
lature to do, will be to place license
fee Of $25 on each nonresident deer
hunter. 1t was our experience last
season that hunters who have been in
the habit of going into Wisconsin ard
Michigan, where they now have the
deer license law, all f1ocked to Mime
sofa, and in self-preservation we will
have to adopt that measure as the
other states are all going to do. There
are a. number of very minor changes
we will ask for in order that our law
may conform with the other states.
Another change that the conference
at Chicago desired, and that is that
if the law will give us the privilege Of
examining any package shipped by any
carrier when we are reasonably sure
said package contains game Illegally
shipped.
LAS l said before, our law Is working
splendidly, and if it was not for the
Chicago conference the commission
would ask for no changes. realizing
we have a game law that has been sus-
tanned right along by our high courts,
which, of course, goes to prove that