The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1913-07-25

3 Rider az the Cane and i ssIlI
I comm g lnsien while az Bemi1ji Il n.-
gard TO the discharge of 5oraner j
tame Warden Woo, il which &c
asserts that poliis had nothmg to|
90 with i and that II his friends
started anything. serious c,ompli-
cation might anise. This. a. most
are already aware, refeCs % the
charging of costs to Defendants N
place Of the state or county.
! care nothing shout this. Il
mas been common practice, I un-
danst and among almost al off
GERS, both state, county and vii
lase in this section, and while per-
.haps illegal in. the strntest sense
of The word, has saved the state !
great many collars. AS q COM
lllelcAl traveller make almost all
>he Important towns IN northern
Minnesota, and whether Wood IS
isfAt or wrong almost everybody
-ees THAT he has been made the
soI by the game and fish COM
ASSIGN who have been for q long
lille On THIN ice; and that he was
IL only game warden who had
>4'e courage 10 enforce the Jaw and
Was MOT atlad TO go out and ret
LIS man. | know he would not
lake tine position again If it was
offered TO him as he would be if
we case was taken to the governor
anu the rottemess of the condi-
lions in northern Minnesota shown
up.
/ have always spent my vacation
IN 4dle woods and on the lakes and
KNOW That up to the time that
wood was appointed we could get
venson, biltS or fish at almost
all OF the hotels and very little
eftoN was made to cover it up, as
most OF the Old wardens made no
attempt to enfonce the laws and
simply drew their salary. Their
biggest effort was made at elec-
.son THINE when they were asked
Tor liberal contributions to the
campaign fund by THE cMmmiss ion.
l have before me as l write a
last report as issued by the game
sid fish commission who spent
S1O7,619 for the SALARY and expenses
OF the chief executive and less than
~ Wardens in 20 months and
find that only IL of them averaged
over one arrest a month. Several
OF the hdghest-prced men on the
Jig lakes, Veamann and Canadian
waters only getting ONE or two con
vGtions a year. Add to this gaso-
line launches owned and furnished
by tn state, beautiful pictures OF
which appear in the report, but
which have never been used with
any results and one of which il
now entirely out of commission
This i'm the big game territory
dhickly populated by aliens anc
shackers where violations are 60
ing on day and night. Warden
Wood secured as many convictions
as 10 OF these wardens together,
including three of the highest
priced and oldest men in The SER
vice.
Prom September until the fol-
Lowing July he secured 1905 days
IN Jail sentences with seven cases
still pending, against 1915 of all
ahe other wardens combined in the
TEN months. OF the 652 convictions
secured i'm this time Warden Wood
IS credited with 1873. These are, the
states own figures and speak for
themselves. How long will these
conditions last? They are now
back to- just about what they were
before. Why are all these worth
less men kept month after month
and year after year? How tong
would they last with q wholesale
firm? But is mot the executive
agent who allows them to draw
their pay year after year while the
game is being extern1mhted guilty
of a very great nnsdemeanor and
more to blame than they. The
foreign horde who are born poach-
ers can be met any day on the
road with high power rifles and
reports OF dyuamiSing and netting
lakes and killing moose and deer
are heard daily. Not q conviction
has been secured on the range i'm
60 days. Can we not make q gen.
enal cleanup and get young men
with courage On the force? The
executive agent 10 an old mao who
has been in politics for years and
has outlived his usefulness. He is
not a woodsman and is not natur-
ally fitted for this line OF work.
The big game belt is not represent
sed ON the commission. Would 7''
not be good politics for Governor
Eberban to- appoint a good live
mn ~ &uovo A0,;o d:oAu:o& -o-A Tom,