Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1912-04-23


the probable future value of the ma
terial, did not destroy the originals,
but put them in safe place where
no unauthorized person could see
them, and kept possession OF them
until long after the war.
From time to time it is said that
this operator disposed of some OF the
original Grant manuscripts to William
Blake, who was a well-known drug
gist of Utica and who is now dead,
his heirs presumably having the
Grant papers. Among these docu
ments it is said is Grants despatch
congratulating Sherman on the cap
ture of Savannah and on the end OF
his march to the sea- Nearly all
the dispatches to Sheridan in the
Shenandoah Valley are there and al
so the despatch to Abraham Lincoln
telling him that General Weitzel had
entered Richmond. and that the army
was following.
Congress is likely TO pass bill
which will enable the government to
the states out OF the country il their
services there should be necessary as
an auxiliary to the army. The regu-
lar army officers want the law to read
so that the National Guard shall be-
come part of the regular force TO
be differed by regulars, but the Ma
tional Guardsmen are opposed to this,
and if the bill is passed it probably
will provide that the state troops
shall preserve their identity and go
out with their own officers The Mex
lean situation has been instrumental
in securing immediate attention Tor
several army measures. this militia
bill being included.
Seek to Save Wild Fowl.
Representative Anthony of Kansas,
representing the west, and Represent
alive Weeks of Massachusetts,, repre-
senting the east, have introduced
into congress two bills to save
the wild fowl of the United
States, which under the onslaught
of the gunners are likely before long
to be exterminated. Years ago It was
thought that the wild ducks, the geese
the brant, the snipe, the quail and the
other game birds were so plentiful in
the United States that the supply
never would be exhausted, but today
it is a different tale and the fear of
the sportsmen and bird lovers is that
posterity will know of many of the
game birds of America only by tradi-
ton
1t must be remembered that the
dividual states only in certain mat
tiers, largely matters which affect in
terstate commerce. The Weeks and
Anthony bills both are based on the
right of Uncle Sam to regulate the
commerce of the United States. Mi
gratory birds fly from one state to
another Hence by what is perhaps a
seeming stretch of the constitution
some of the legislators think that they
have the right to bring the birds un-
der federal control
Need of Protection Not Denied.
No Democrat or Republican has
been found in congress to deny that
the migratory birds need protection.
They start on their northward journey
in the spring just prior to the mating
season, many of them in fact mating
on the way, and all along the line of
flight in, on and over upland, marsh
and forest, they are made targets OF
double-barrel and repeating shotguns.
For years sportsmen of the proper
spirit and the bird protective organi-
cations have tried to induce the leg
islatures of the different states to
pass laws prohibiting spring shooting.
If law of this kind had been passed
by every state ten years ago and en-
forced. Uncle Sam would not feel to-
day the necessity of becoming a game
warden for the country. Spring shoot
ing is recognized by everybody who
knows anything about bird life as an
evil. Several states have forbidden
the killing of migratory birds during
the time of the northern flight, but
other states have refused to stop the
spring slaughter, the refusal being due
in most cases to the pressure brought
to bear on the legislators by the APP
peals of hunters. Some real sports
men have held that with the spring
shooting cut out there would be no
shooting at all in their sections of the
country.
Why the Bills Are Opposed.
There is considerable opposition il
congress to the passage of either bill
to give the federal authorities power
to protect the game. The opposition
springs from the belief of some of the
members that either law proposed
would constitute an invasion of state
rights" The necessity of the law
is admitted but its constitutionality is
doubted 1t is held generally, how
ever, that unless Uncle Sam does act
and the states rights bubble is
dropped. there will in decade be
few birds TO protect.
Representative Anthony has SAID
that if congress thinks that the bill
of Mr.. Weeks is better than his bill,
he hopes that it will be accepted and
passed. The Kansas mans bill fixes
closed season for game in all parts
of the United States from January 10
to August 10 of each year and provides
penalty of not less than 500 or
more than $1,000 for violation of
the act.
Seemingly the Weeks measure, from
the sportsman's and the bird protec.
Jor's point of view, is preferable. 1t
permits members of the biological sur.
vey of the department of agriculture
to fix various periods OF non-shooting
in different parts of the country in
accordance with the known fight hab-
its of the birds.
A Wild Guess.
why do you consider this play ar
tistic?"