Fergus County argus., 1902-08-20
Fund 10 Kept UP by Five Per Cent
Rskeoff From All Collect
ed Licenses.
THE FUND SHOULD BE HIGHER
To Reduce the Bounty Would be to
Destroy all the Good Results That
Have Already Accrued.
(Helena Record.)

Helena Record.)
Representative George f. Patterson
of Fort Benton, one of the members
of the last legislature, who is i'll at
st. Johns hospital. takes exception
to the statements in a Helena morn.
ing paper yesterday concerning the
state bounty law. Mr.. Patterson said
yesterday that mistake must have
certainly been made by the writer of
the article, especially in stating that
the bounty fund was kept up in the
main by the license taxes of the state.
30 per cent of which went into that
fund.
"The Independent, editorially. stat.
ed yesterday morning." said Mr.. Pat
terson. that our bounty fund is kept
up by means of a 80 per cent of the
licenses collected. This is entirely
erroneous. AS a matter of fact, only
per cent of all the licenses on liq-
uors collected in Montana go to the
fund. Just FIVE per cent of the sum
collected on liquors alone. mind you.
not all the licenses in the state This
is vastly different from what the In
dependent said. Why. that statement
is absurd and, II N were correct the
people of the state would not stand 1t
for FIVE minutes. Only per cent OF
the license on liquors goes into the
bounty fund and all the rest Is paid
by the stockmen of the state by spec
ial levies on the stock.
I'VE had a hard fight in the last
legislature to keep them from taking
even that per cent of, for many
members claimed that there was much
money in the fund. We showed them,
however. where they would be work
ing a great Injustice by, taking II
away. Under the old law bounties
had been reduced so low that no one
would hunt wolves and coyotes and
thus the money accumulated in the
fund. There was something over $50,
900 there. When we raised the boun-
ty the hunters commenced killing the
animals off, and now that money has
all been paid out and. as a conse-
quence, the wolves and coyotes are
fast disappearing. II the good work
keeps on in ten years there will mol
be any more wolves or coyotes In the
state than there are in Ohio or some
of those states. BIt let them once
change the law for two years and you
will see the wolves and coyotes in
creased 1000 per cent and we will
be back again where we were two
years ago.
Il have been out on the range con-
siderably and talked with stockmen
about this matter and they are heart
lily in favor of the law as 1t now
stands, and all of them want the
bounty on wolves raised IL the law Is
changed at all. They would be in
favor of having the bounty on wolves
raised to $40 head leaving the coy
otes as they are at present. at IS a
head. Why, | tell you it is a fact.
that where there were six or eight
wolves before, you only see one now.
How to Stop Smuggling.
Speaking of the smuggling in Of
pelts from other states and securing
our bounty on them, this can be rem
edied by the expenditure of $1,000 or
$4,000 a year. We could do like the
federal government does, hire inspec-
tors to ride the boundaries and keep
on the lookout. II they hear Of any.
thing of this kind going on, let them
arrest the perpetrators. You could
get plenty of men at 500 month
to do this, and go0d men, too. who
would be willing to furnish their own
horses. The present law says that II
is discretionary with the county clerk
whether to issue warrant on the
pelts. II he has any reason to believe
them smuggled in, he can refuse to is.
sue warrants. These inspectors could
keep in touch with the county clerks.
Rapid Increase Of Pests.
"You cannot imagine how fast coy.
otes and wolves increase. A man
few days ago dug out den of an old
coyote with nine young ones right on
my ranch, while a hunter near my
place uncovered eleven wolf pups.
II the bounty is lowered, II will rem.
der useless all our work and expense
for the past two years. for as soon as
that is done, the hunters will stop
work. The only thing to do Is to
make the bounty high enough TO make
It an object for hunters to get out and
kill the animals as a business and
clean them all up and be done with
It. Do not lower the bounty and in