Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1903-11-28

would be absolutely prohibited in Iowa
IL the state warden's advice should be
followed Your warden finds that
great portion of the violation of the
game laws" he says. rs confined IN
the main to pot hunters and the 1gno-
rant classes who go out of the cities
on Sundays and holidays and slaughter
all kinds of game and song birds, an
evil that unless checked will do mort
to exterminate our game and song
birds than all the market hunting
combined. While we have Sunday
law on our statute books, the wording
OF the same Is such that 1t is almost
impossible to convict for offenses of
this class. Hence your warden urges
the passage of resident hunters IL
cense law containing provisions that
will tend to prevent unlawful acts.
He believes that 100000 annually could
be secured from these licenses out of
which to pay the deputy wardens for
enforcing the laws. Mr.. Lincoln would
recommend an open season for sn1pe
from Sept. l to April Is. as 1t Is now
doubtful If they are protected. He
would provide an open season for
doves for the same time. In regard to
the slaughter of game birds in Iowa
the warden in his report. just filed
with Governor Cunnnins. says:
The Eighteenth general assembly
acted wisely in limiting the number of
game birds that could be killed In any
one day. but in your warden's opinion
It did not go far enough when IT
named only pinnated grouse or prairie
chicken, woodcock, quail. ruffed
grouse or pheasant, and would recon-
mend that the law be SO amended as to
include ducks. geese, brant or other
variety of aquatic fowl. and that 1t
shall be unlawful for any one person to
XIII or take more than fifty of such
last named birds in any one day. Un-
der our present law there is no limit
placed on the killing of ducks, geese
and brant, but 1t Is unlawful to ship
them. either within or without the
state: and under these restrictions 1t
is a slaughter of birds to allow more
to be killed, as parties have no way
Of disposing of the said birds, only by
selling them to other parties who un-
lawfully endeavor to ship them out of
the state for sale and cold storage pur-
poses. This has been done in several
instances. and while your warden can
not prevent the shipment, as it is al
ways done from small railway points.
the said birds have been seized in Chi
eago and other points of destination by
the United States game wardens there
located. and such evidence furnished
that convictions have heen made and
penalties paid by the shippers. These
shipments are made under various de-
vices with the hope of evading nom
export laws. Game has been shipped
in trunks, butter kegs. barrels OF hides,
or In boxes marked dressed poultry,
household goods etc, or In packages
bearing cipher addresses or numbers.
ward game by express under an as
sumed name. with the hope of evading
suspicion. While the Lacey act IS
great check on these kinds of ship
ments-as the game Is conf1scated and
the parties shipping the same are la
Bile to heavy penalties, not only under
our state laws. but under the United
States laws-the shipments can never
be stopped until such time as the COM
mon carrier and its agents are COM
PEELED by law, first, to know who the
shippers are of every package offered
them for transportation: and second.
to require the shippers to make a
sworn statement of the contents there
Of; and any false statement made as
to contents of any package, If said
package should contain game birds.
should be made punishable by a fine
in excess of the penalties provided by
statute for shipping game BIRDS
There have been 124 prosecutions
during the biennial period, which re-
suited in eighty-fve convictions. The
fines and costs paid aggregated s4,-
31141 The state lost eighteen cases.
Jail sentences were given to twenty-
one persons. There were seized ani
destroyed nets. seines and other un-
lawful devices to the estimated value
of 800.
pEARv AND NORTH POLE