The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1908-11-06
FRANK 3. HOWE, Fditor and Publisher
Man Killing Hunters.

The slaughter Of men by the alleged
mistakes of pot.hunters has already be,
gun. One man was killed In New
Hampshire yesterday. Is it not
shame that this kind of murder IS not
punished with such severity that no
hunter Will dare to kill men through
criminal carelessness. There is no
need to shoot men. 1t requires only
that the hunter shall plainly see the
| deer before he shoots. Legislatures
including our own. are partly respon-
| sible for this slaughter of men. Early
| In the present session of our lawmak
ers Mr. Howe OF Bennington introduc-
| ed the following measure
"A person who while hunting or in
| the pursuit of wild game, or game
birds, negllgently or carelessly shoots
and wounds a human being, shall be
imprisoned not more than ten years
or fined not more than one thousand
| dollars"
For such criminal negligence the
! punishment provided in this measure
Is not unreasonable, in fact moderate
But the phraseology Of the bill was
thought to be defective. II was
amended as follows, put upon its pas
sage, and killed the very day when a
man was killed over the line in New
Hampshire by a hunter;
Section l.-lf person while hunt.
ing wild game, carelessly or negligent
~ mistakes q person for such game,
and thereby carelessly and negligently
shoots at such person and wounds him
he shall be imprisoned not more than
ten years and fined not more than
$1,000"
We do not know why the bill was
killed but we believe that such Law
is necessary to prevent manslaughter
By hunters Instead of killing the bill
II should have been amended by add
ing sections In effect as follows:
IF such shooting results In the
death OF human being the fact shall
be taken as prima facie evidence thai
| a murder has been committed, and
the man who fred the gun when found
shall be placed I'm jail and held for the
grand jury on the charge OF murder.
III a hunter Is found guilty OF muir
der and hanged, his estate shall pay
to the family of the murdered man; OF
II found guilty Of the lesser crime OF
killing he shall pay to the family oil
the man whom he killed the sum OF
$4,000
Some OF the Western states hay,
found Il necessary TO make and enforc'
such a law as here outlined TO keel
careless men from killing their fellow
citizens Every state where game q
; hunted should have such law. II 4
common report that actual murde
with malice aforethought has beer
committed under the hunters guise.
Another provision should be added
namely a requirement that every hun
ter shall have a license, registered ii
his own town. and shall file a recor,
In the clerks office Of every tow
where he hunts. OF the day and plac'
where he Is going 10 hunt, and ha
hunted. with statement or the re
sults.-Burlington News.
Some Of the suggestions Of the New
are rather severe and others would b.
decidedly difficult to carry out bu
the two main contentious that Their.
should be some Law enacted fixing
penalty for the careless killings b.
hunters and providing a Remuneration
for the families bereayed will NEE
with considerable commendation. ]
Is not at all likely that a Vernon
Jury would ever convict man o
. murder for carelessly killing a fellow
hunter, but the knowledge that to mis-
take a man for deer meant a goo
stin term iu the state prison at Wine
sor would have a tendency to swel
the bump OF caution in many Gran
ums In which past experiences hav
/ demonstrated It Is not particularly pr
nounced. Some OF the requirement
OF the license provision, particular
those providing that hunter shoul
Ole record Of when and whore he
/. going TO hunt. would be lmpracticabl'