The river press. [volume] (Fort Benton, Mont.) 1880-current, 1905-05-24
WEDNESDAY, NAY "a, 1906.
WOLF BOUNTY FRAUDS.

There are many complaints by ap-
plicants for wolf bounty that the new
law enacted by the ninth legislative
assembly appears to be unnecessarily
complex and burdensome. 1t is much
more difficult to secure the reward for
killing wolves and coyotes than was
the case under the old law, and appli.
cauts for bounty are protesting against
what they consider an unnecessary
amount of fred tape' in the pre-.
scrib bed regulations.
Under the provisions OF the new
law, the applicant is required to pre-.
sent skins to the local bounty inspec-
tor on one of the first three days Of
the month, and his affid as to the
killing of the animals must be sup.
ported by that of a resident stock.
grower. If the evidence is satisfactory
to the inspector, the latter issues to
the claimant a certificate or receipt,
q copy of which is sent to the county
clerk, together with the claimants
sworn statement. On or before the
fifteenth day Of the month, the in
spector is required to forward the
scalps to the county clerk who checks
them against thelpapers in the case,
and, if found correct, certifies to the
validity Of the claim against the boun-
ty fund. The claim, it ia understood,
a not be assigned until it has been
endorsed with the certificate of the
county clerk.
For the benefit of those to whom these
regulations appear to be unnecessari.
ly burdensOme, the River Press would
state that the new law was passed at
the suggestion of Montana stockmen's
organizations, for the purpose Of
checking bounty frauds. Most OF the
revenue for the bounty fund Is derived
from a special tax on cattle, horses
and sheep, and owners Of this class
Of property are interested in
the proper expenditure of the money
50 collected. Wolf bounty frauds are
equivalent to robbery of those who
pay this special tax upon livestock.
Reference to the records OF the state
board OF examiners indicates that il
some parts OF Montana bounty claim.
have been SO large as to cause a sus'
pici0n of e rocked work in those To-
calities. An investigation made by
representatives Of the livestock inter.
ests shows that bounty claims filed
last year up to November 30 consisted
Of 1856 for wolves, amounting TO g..
825, while claims were presented for
killing 1885 coyotes. the bounty for
which reached the large sum of Sl12,.
1888.
The significant feature OF the exhibi,
10 that over one.half of the bounty
claims came from the border counties
Of Chouteau, Teton, Valley and Gus
ter, the amount from each being given
as follows: C%houteau, l $685.; Teton,
Is, 703; Valley, s2O,O7s: Custer, sl7, 1867.
The total from these four counties
amounted to $65,3O3.
It is suspected that many of the
claims presented from these counties
last year were Observation-Disclosures the
skins of coyotes killed elsewhere were
brought into ~ Or the other Of these
counties TO secure the reward offered
by the Montana bounty law. Chou
teau county adjoins Canadian terri
tory, in which there is a bounty of 81;
on wolves, and nothing on coyotes,
and there is consequently u temptation
to bring the skins of the latter owe,
the line for bounty purposes. The
same suspicion attaches to some O.
the bounty claims from Valley county
which is also contiguous to North Da'
kota. In the latter state there is .
bounty Of $3.50 on wolves and COY otes
but there is frequently no money il
the bounty fund. Custer county ad
joins North Dakota, South Dakot;
and Wyoming, in each of which tn,
wild animal bounty law is less liberia
than Thai Of Montana, Il situatio,
which suggests that wolves or coyote
killed in those states figure in tn
claims presented against the Montan,
bounty fund.
The records show that in 1908 tn
claims presented for killing coyotes i
this state represented Ii, 795 head
while in 1904 they reached the unusua
number of 81 1896 head. \ large nun
Der of the latter, it is believed, wer
killed in Canada, North Dakota
South Dakota, or Wyoming.
1t was for the purpose Of checkiu
these suspected frauds that the preseu
bounty law was devised and enacted
AS nearly every resident of norther
Montana contributes to the bount
fund, and is certainly interested t
that extent, it is hoped each will cor
stitute himself a committee of one I
aSSiSt in arfOrcipu tho 1ou opA S,o,.