Morris tribune. [volume] (Morris, Minn.) 1880-2000, 1913-10-03
WHO'S A HOG ANYHOW?
Correspondent Writes on the
Monopoly of Duck Passes.
10 the Editor Of the Tribune =

SCQO6Q TO the report Oh luG 0QulSIudl 3
gun but have heard some person
referred to and described as a human
hog. Sometimes he has been referred
to as an ordinary hog. at others as a
cholera struck hog, and at others as
a hog so low down in the scale of hog
civilization that be couldn't catch the
cholera. This state of affairs has set
me to thinking and as ! quietly run
over the list of those who thus
stigmatize their fellowmen, find
that they are divers local sportsmen
who have been denied the privilege
of hunting upon certain farms in
Stevens county and have been sum-
marily ordered from the premises.
Their indignation at such treatment
has invariably been pronounced. elO-
quent and vociferous even for days
after the outrageous and humilating
incident. What difference does it
make to the farmer, they argue, -
prairie chickens are products of ma
ture they hatch. thrive and flourish
without the agency of man. 1t is true
that they feed off mis- crops, eat his
clover and alfalfa but he is amply re-
paid for any loss he sustains by rea-
son of the fact that they balance their
rations by devUurIng grass-hoppers
and other insects of an injurious ma
ture; therefore why should he com
plain? Why rudely order from his
spacious fields these fine gentlemen.
who are in quest of the delicacies of
the huntsman's season to crafty
their epicurean taste? Has not the
farmer corn beef in his cellar with
which to appease his vulgar appetite? =?
Is his pork barrel empty? Has his
good house wife forgotten how to get
up that glorious dish of corn beef and
cabbage or that other grand combina-
tion of eatables, pork and beans? In
the name of Heaven what does farm
er hope to feed on and yet be in con-
dition to properly cultivate his fields !?
Strong argument. theses snd heard
on every hand during this season.
''Oh, wad some power the giftie
gle US,
To see ourselves as other see US;
1t would from many blunder
free US,
And foolish notion. -
Scarcely does the chicken shooting
get poor and the duck shooting get
good when the irascible and formerly
insulted local sportsman betakes him
self to some duck pass naerby, where
with his clique of congenial COM
panions, he may hunt undisturbed in
his glory-here he is at home. He
stands fearlessly on firm ground for
does not his club own this ancient pass
where the farmer boys were accus-
toned to hunt unmolested in years
gone by? No farmer hog has any
voice in the management of this pass
and no right to put foot upon this ex-
elusive and forbidden soil. 1t seems
good to at last hunt amidst surround
ings where no one dare interfere or
venture. All other local hunters are
excluded from these grounds and no
hog farmer dare intrude here. From
early morning until late at night the
detonations of pump-gun and auto
matte ring out like field of battle.
This scene is not confined to one
pass alone but every desirable hunting
place has been bought up and is now
monopolized by local huntsmen to the
stern exclusion of all who are not
members of their clubs Politicians,
bankers, merchants and professional
men all mingle together in those clubs
and enjoy practically a complete mon
opoly of duck shooting in this com
munity. The clubs are managed un'
der strict rules that deny to any
member the privilege to invite any
ocal huntsman to participate in the
pleasures of the pass; a bouncer Il
usually designated to rush all un
vited guests from these sacred and ex
elusive surroundings This personag'
is not a polltician-you may depend
upon that. but is some miserable
specimen of humanity whose business
the wrath of He'll could not injute o
destroy. The man, who SO shortly ag
loudly condemned the hog farmer, j
now hogging it alone in tranquilit
and joy.
Is this condition really fair to tn
public? Is it right to permit thos
ancient hunting grounds to completed
pass under the control of few aristC
crate epicures. Without hesitation "
say emphatically No. This situario
should be relieved. It cannot b
denied that none but the owner ha
the right to hunt upon his own Ian
but that right should not be enforce
with unnecessary rigor. Let eac