Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1902-06-26
MORE ABOUT THE GAME WARDEN
FRAUD.

ENTERPRISE of Boscobel last week whiC b
contains enough good sense to entitle
it to wide circulation. While we can
not agree to those portions OF the
article which entirely exhonerates
Gov. LaFollette from blame in the
ruthless squandering of public funds,
still as it clearly points out to the peo-
pie one of the means OF avoiding the
continuance of such evils in the future,
we willingly give portions of it space
in our columns:
"Our present game law is itself
nuisance, as are SO many other laws OF
recent enactment. Great abuses are
no doubt possible under it. 1t is SO
loosely drawn that the actual results
are ludicrous in the extreme. By this
law no man has right to kill the rab-
bit that ruins his apple trees and
shrubbery, or the squirrel that steals
his corn without first procuring IL
cense to hunt. 1t also seems to allow
the game wardens of the country to go
unmolested to the public treasury and
take therefrom such amounts OF money
for doing substantially nothing as
their consciences will permit. In
effect it licenses the squirrel, the rat
and the rabbit to steal and destroy
your property and licenses a gang OF
fifty or more men to put their hands
into the State treasury and take there
from SO much as they please. 1t is
practically licence to steal all around
and the good that it does is practically
nothing. This however not the fault
of any administration the fault
;of the legislature. Indirectly it is the
fault of the people. For do they not
often send men of Indifferent ability
to the legislature? All over the state
it has been the same and the resulting
legislation, and so much of it, on other
subjects, has created the we'll grounded
fear that we shall find the tax reform
will means increased taxation, only.
But the financial cost of it is not all
the evil that comes from such loose
legislation, for it encourages as loose,
and rotten enforcement OF the law,
breeding bad morals in the public SER
vice. This has been especially notice
able. the last few, in the case of the
game law, and to bring it down near
home, the record of A. e. Storrs OF
Fennimore is good example, whose
salary and expenses for the months OF
February, March April and May alone
amounted to S57982.
Tt is no answer to say this is paid out
of the license fund and therefore costs
the taxpayer nothing. That fund is as
sacred as any and belongs absolutely
to the state. If not squandered in this
shameful manner, wouldn't it leave SO
much less for the taxpayer to meet
next year? There are fifty of these
game wardens equally energetic IN
making bills. It all comes out of the
people because of loose and poorly
drawn law designed to protect inter
ests which under proper regulations
could be protected for less than one
third the amount expended.
Mr.. Storrs is reputed to be white
game warden. He has raised his OBJ
jections against those portions Of the
law phich protect squirrels and rabbits
in doing mischief, but we have heard
no whisper from him against those
portions which allows him and the
other deputies wardens to do still
greater mischief. It is we'll known
that Mr.. Storrs puts in most OF his
time telling the people whom they
should elect to the various offices. He
is especially particula r about the as
sembly. Does he want still more OF
of this loose legislation? Such bills
and the loose legislation they expose
are doing some talking. Our town
boards are paid by the day for the
time necessarily spent in public SER
vice. A member of the town board
that would present a bill like one of
these would be hooted out of existence.
Mr.. Storrs himself would not tolerate
such robbery Still by the associa
tions he is placed in by loose law
which is being taken advantage Of by
his co-deputies he feels justified in.
keeping them company, and In fact be-
coming entangled in disreputable
prostitution Of the public service which
is sure to bring him and his sympa-
thiZers into genuine diSrepute. These
bills referred to are for the winter
months when no gameis abroad in tn
part of the state. There can be no
SEEMING of fish when the streams are
frozen and but few quail that needed
protection. But it is safe to say that
all the.work done by Mr.. Storrs in the
three months could have been done in
not more than Ia days, costing the
L hn
people to be frightened into a continu
ance of such legislation by the 'scare
crow stories that Mr. Storrs is peddl-
ing around? This game warden NUS
ance is but sample OF loose legisla-
ton that is demanding attention of
the people and some of which will
soon be touching their pocket books in
dead earnest"
The Herald desires to add that at
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