Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1904-07-06

early as March T.. 1765. Edmund Phinney
and Hart Williams were chosen hsh
wardens.
"In 1894 or 1735 the first dam was built
across the Presumpscot river. Parson
Smith in his journal says. Nov. 5. 1854, 1
rode with my father to see the great dam,
and saw large shoals of salmon-an acre
the dam and stopped from going up river
ny the DAM and says that 'daming the
river and thus stopping the fish from
ascending to Sebago pond would he more
damage to the population above the dam
than they could receive profit from all the
lumber they could manufacture.
This historian says. that on the la,is
large quantities OF trout, and in the small
streams the fiji 1t trout"
Game, such IS moose and deer, was
abundant, both for food and peltry.
Now this was the condition gcneraiiy
throughout the District of Maine at that
time, and for a great many years There
after.
1t was seen at that early date that some
law was necessary in Maine to protect
| fish, and so we find that our first iegis-
| subject, following the example OF the
Mother State.
| Mr. Carleton then went on and gave a
complete history of the various ia ac =
| the Union. and concluded as follows:
| Mr.. Stillwell and MIR. Stanify' rlSn
and Game commissoners n thelr m repo of
] Maine. fish. fur and feathers. has nesrl
| placed by the Government OF the StAe
| in charge of the Commissioners. Under
| ste nding the habits of their charge, they
| have asked and received from their ieSls-
| lature such laws as a judicious farmer
enforces for the most profitable manage
ment Of his breeding stock. and absolutely
| essential to their preservation.
| Forest and Stream said, in 1871, ana
| credited to the Boston Herald that 1t Is
| n fact that the state OF Maine mas me
best code of game laws of any State In
Mr.. Charles L. Brace. the noted philan-
thropist of New York, in 1SN', wrote,
| THE State of Maine is wonderfully wise
| in its game and fish laws"
| 1t was then thought that but few lakes
| were so situated Or adapted 10 ahoru
| fishing.
Mr.. Brace also wrote at this time that
| "MoCsehead Lake is evidently to be the
| grand fish pond of the Union
| While conceding that it is the granu
| fish pond of the Union" in consequence
| of the great struggle made for hsh pro
| lection. there are hundreds of others Whlir
not so large. which afford equally good
| fishing.
| Time and space will not allow OF q
| more extended quotation of the laws
passed for the fish and game protcctloi'
| in this connection.
| 1t would be interesting. however. to re-
fer to the great night. finally successful
| to prevent the killing of our moose, 10
| limit tnc nuI1ItT VI Pouiluo VI ii.'h oi~
might catch in one day, limited first to
| 30 rounds then to - pounds. and the laws
rs to their transportation; the llmitinS vi
the number of moose and deer and carl
bou one might kill in one season and the
| laws as to their transportation, but all
this is recent and familiar history ano
| written in the Statutes of our State.
| You are familiar with the great tight u
| shorten the moose season, leaving but SIN
| weeks open time in which to shoot thcm-
| from October l. to December Island
| the law for the registration of guides ant
the nonresident hunters license law.
| Anyone who will read the journals OF
| the legislature, the newspapers OF the
time. and the reports of the Commission
| erS. will realize something Of tn" fierce
| struggle against present greed our Ia
theirs made to protect fish. birds ant
game.
We honor their memory today, ma
| ligned and misreprcscntcd to an almost
| unparalleled degree. They nevertheless
| kept on in their endeavor, and we have
| in consequence a code of fish ana game
| laws universally recognized as second t.
none. and greatly superior to most any
other State in the American Union.
The struggle is not over We of toda!
| who have taken up this great work have
much to do, as everyone knows VINO !:
| well informed.
1t is not my purpose to prophcsy. of the
future, but to speak only of the past. The
history of the last year and a half j!
| fresh in your minds. You saw the hunt
| erS license law passed unanimously by
| the aIttT II ldu D'tl ul0
cusSed in the open for years You saw /
| aSSailed after it became law. and b."
fore it was tried, by those protesting t.
be friends to game protection.
| You saw the perfect success last year
you saw what you had never seen before
game protected. on our border, the grea
breeding grounds of the moose. and game
well protected everywhere. and vet thos'
| who would say to you, Open YOU
mouth and shut your eyes and Ill give
you something to make You wise. ma
liEnantly maligned and misrepreseIrtet
But it stands. and will stand monu
ment to this great good sense OF thi:
| Association which SO ardcntly cham
piOned it.
You have seen during the last year the
| efforts that have been made to revive tn,
antagonism of the farmer, the land own
| cr. to our game laws. | use the wore
revive" advisedly. for there is nothing
new in this effort. 1t is but simply :
| going back into ancient history in this
State.
The farmer org demanded. as l have
shown. the ria, to kill at airy tim,
birds and gam" - his land-the old Eng
| lish system und"l which game preserve.
| flourish. but experience and the gooc
| sense of our peopl" demonstrated that il
was foreign to the spirit of our institu
tons. and meant humiliation of oul
| game.
But that idea is being revived to a Ger
| tain extent and there Is not wantini
1
| of years to old exploded methods. (
| You have seen the effort made to ARA
| the farmer against these interests. an -
| fort destined to utterly fail. NcvertlL
| less IL is being made-from mistaken in
| formation. / trust. but it is an effort w
| must meet in the near future, and to sue,
| ccSsfully meet it, it is only necessary t.
| show the truth of the constantly accruins
| benefits to our grand State of our fish aut
| game.
The charge is freely made by some who
| claim to he actuatcd solely for the Eopt
| of the agricultural interests of the STATE
| that our game laws are detrimental to oui
| farming interests.
| a letter from n person, who claims to b(
| a farmer. but who apparently was unwltl
ing to sign his name and let 1T be known
who he is. was recently published in one
| of the papers of the State. and is fairly
representative of those who oppose ouI
game laws 1t says: The gam. laws
were made obnoxious to every man own
| ing farms subject to depredatiOns by th'
deeit To nominate Mr.. - means q
| further fastening of the bondage of tn
ariatccratic feudalism of game pre-
serfres."
Now this is the kind of literature thai
h. being circulated over the State by th'
e11mies of game protection and L co'if
q/lte to you many communications aht
STATEMENTS of the same kind.
Now this writer is totally ignorant OF
Vpur game laws.
1H'here has not in ten ycars-during al
&he TINE L have been a member OF th'