New Iberia enterprise and independent observer. (New Iberia, La.) 1902-1944, 1902-06-14
THE SLAUGHTER OF SONG BIRDS.

ing the killing ana trapping OF
Louisiana song birds. No state
has been SO generously endowed by
nature with the feathered choristers
and no state has been So far be
hind in passing laws foi their pro
lection. Every newspaper i'll New
Orleans has joined in the move
ment to prohibit their destruction,
and every newspaper in the state
outside ought to lend its efforts to
obtain leglsla lative action
The following from the New Or
leans Picayune gives one of the
many arguments that are being
brought to bear in the case
"The destruction Of song birds
for their plumage has been some
thing enormous of late years. In
localities where thousands were to
be seen few years ago, scarcely
oue is to be found to day; in fact,
so general had the destruction been
in some states that the number has
been reduced as much as G5 per
cent. When it is considered that
nearly every species Of song bird
feeds exclusively on insects, it can
easily be seen that even If the
aesthetic side Of the question were
absent, there is a serious economic
problem involved, and which strikes
directly at every farmer and fruit
grower in the country. The des-
truction to crops in this country
through the ravages of noxious in
sects amounts to hundreds of mil
lions of dollars yearly. Every bud
of grain, every basket of fruit or
tree killed by insects is so much
wealth lost to the community.
Thus any measures for their re-
duction-and this of preserving
insectiverous birds is One-should
have the support Of every citizen.
A bill has been introduced in the
Louisiana legislature having the
same aims as the law now on the
statute books Of Illinois and other
states. In the passage of such a
law there is no political ak to
grind; it is simply an economic
measure, and one Of prime, i'm
portance to the whole state. But
prohibiting the killing of the birds
will not alone check the wholesale
destruction which is going on
within the limits of our state.
There should be clause putting
stop to trapping birds. Thousands
of our song birds are sent yearly
out Of the state. AS far as Louisi-
ana is considered, and for any
benefit the state might have de-
rived through their destruction Of
insects, these birds might just as
we'll have been killed outright as
exported. The mocking-bird is
fast disappearing; in some districts
its song is never heard, while that
blaze of beauty in the sunlight-the
CARDINALS almost a tradition in
some districts where it was once as
common as the sparrows is now in
the streets of New Orleans"
Another point Of equal, if not
greater, force, that might be made
is in the brutalizing effect that
wanton slaughter of harmless birds
has upon men and boys who shoot
them for no other purpose than to
display their craftsmanship. The
greatest curse of Louisiana, it must
be admitted, is the reckless disre-
gard of the sanctity OF human life
that it's court records show; and we
submit that the slaughter of pretty,
innocent creatures like these pro-
notes the lust for blood-letting the
reflection of which is found in the
taking of human life on the slight
est excuse or provocation. BY
furnishing all forms of animal
murder, the state will throw an ad-
ditional safeguard around the lives
of it's citizens.