Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-05-04
AN ANSWER TO FISHERMAN,
Why the Law Against Illegal Fishing
is Not Enforced.
To the Editor Of The Evening Star:


Kindly allow me to say a few words in
| reply to one who signs himself Fisher
man in your issue of Thursday. 1t strikes
me Fisherman belongs to that class of
common scolds altogether too numerous N
this vale Of tears. who are always crying
for some other fellow to do something to
save everything from going to the DENIM
tion bow-wows, but who are never ready
to do anything themselves to avert the ter
| rible calamities they fear will come to pass
In one paragraph he refers to the good
old days when it was trick at all for
man with rod and line to take forty or
fifty small-mouth bass in a day from the
beautiful Potomac, where now but three or
four must be regarded as a good days
catch. Then he points out how hundreds
of bass are being taken every day at GER
tain places named on trotlines and other
wise out of season and In violation of law.
If the bass are exterminated. how is 1t that
these Violators are catching many of
them unlawfully? Is it only those who
fish un!aWfully who know how to lure the
willy bass?
Fisherman calls on the Game and Fish
Protective Association to see that the laws
against fishing for bass out of season are
enforced. Permit me to ask him why he
does not take a hand at this himself? He
claims to know Of wholesale violations of
law. He must know the penalty fixed is
$50 for each violation and that one-half Of
said amount goes to the informer. Why
doesn't he take a trip up the river himself
and inform on every man he finds violating
the law? Or, why doesn't he join the Game
and Fish Protective Association and assist
that organization in some sort of an effort
| to have the laws enforced? Oh, no! Fish
erman" evidently prefers to stand off and
| find fault.
1t may interest him, however, to know
| that our association has taken every step
possible to break up the nefarious practices
| he complains Of Most of the violations
| of law have occurred outside of the juris-
diction of the District of Columbia where
| we are powerless to act further than to re-
port the facts to the authorities of the
| states whose laws are being violated. This
we have done. Mr.. Penniman, state game
warden of Maryland, has had his attention
called to the illegal fishing at Great Falls.
and to the trot1ine fishing in the neighbor-
| hood of Harpers Ferry and elsewhere He
has instructed his deputy wardens to ar
rest every one caught violating the law:
but his force is limited, and the territory to
be covered Is very extensive. Suppose, for
| instance, man was caught violating the
| law at Great Falls. He would have to be
or fifteen miles away. for trial. The trial
might be delayed several days. In the
meantime the officer or informer would be
wasting his time; and other men might go
| on fishing at the Falls during his absence,
without fear of arrest Then, again, the in
former, unless he be an officer Of the law,
person upon whom he informs-and of all
his friends. Not many become informers
| for these reasons. No man wishes yolun-
tarily, to bring down upon himself the an
tmadversions Of this set of scoundrels II
the informer be a farmer living along the
river the first thing he knows his barn
burns, or valuable horse is hamstrung in
the pasture at night. In fact, no man, no
matter how much he wants to see the laws
enforced, cares to become an informer him.
| self He is always ready to call upon some
other fellow to do it, and like Fisherman"
to write letters to the papers abusing the
| other fellow because he does not do it.
Fisherman" may not know 1t, but it is
fact that game and fish laws are the
most difficult ones to enforce The mo-
ment a. vtolator is caught, up goes the cry
that you are taking the food out of the
| mouths of his starving family. Public SEN
timent, which. only the day before, was OPP
posed to him. now experiences a reaction
and rushes to his defense. The jury, or
maybe the judge, say. poor fellow, he was
be> for food for his hungry wife and chill
dren; surely we cannot convict him for
that" and the man laughs in his sleeve and
goes back to his trotline to see what has
come to him during his obsence.
FISHERMAN" says all good men should
combine and make a desperate effort to
have the laws enforced" Presenting, Of
course, that Fisherman is a good man he
is cordially invited to identity himself with
the two or three hundred other 'good''
men who comprise the District of Columbia
Game and Fish Protective Association and
give them the benefit Of his aid and sup
port in their efforts to secure laws to pro-
tect fish and game, and to see that those
laws are enforced.
He says, further, "AH that Is necessary
is for some one to start the act, and many
good. honest men will be found to follow
1t up until all the lawbreakers are finally
imprisoned or driven away" VIII he not
be the "one ito start the act" or does
he prefer to let some other fellow start II
and then permit him to fall In behind with
the other good. honest men, to follow"
where the starter leads?
ssFYsherman's'' theories look ns,eftv M, ~.
per. and seem plausible and practicable,
but II he tries to test them by the rule OF
experience he villa md It h not 20 easy a.
he thinks to make them work. II he be-
hsves he can aid and assist In the work let