The weekly Alaska citizen., 1918-10-21
THE GAME BILL.

THE GAME BILL.
 For years it has been the desire of Alas kans to have their game laws changed to ac cord with conditions which are peculiar to this country. It is plainly apparent to every one who stops to give the matter serious con sideraton that game law designed to meet the conditions existing in the States will not apply here with justice.
 During all of the years of Mr. Wicker sham's tenure of office as Alaska's representa- tive in Washington, despite repeated requests from various parts of the territory, no effort was ever made to secure the needed changes In response to requests made upon him by local organizations and persons interested Judge Wickersham responded that it would be wasted time and energy as it was impossible to accomplish anything.
 Soon after Mr. Sulzer was seated as delegate. at the request of the Fairbanks Con- mercia Club and other local organizations the delegate began series of efforts to effect changes in the game laws which, if secured, would enable us to utilize fully, without waste and criminal liability, the big game resources of the interior This change, if effected, would have saved the average Alaskan hun . dreds of dollars each year and make us self supporting as far as meat supply is con- . cerned. There was no joker in this attempted legislation. The measure was carefully look ed into by local parties and there was noth- ing in it which savored of the charges which were cooked up and noised around congress ), |by big game sports, (not sportsmen) and oth- CTS, among them Judge Wickersham. The effort even drew fire from the re- doubtable Teddy who in a characteristic let ter to one Dr. Hornaday, stig1natzed those interested in the matter patriots for profit. later on, however, Mir. Roosevelt expressed his regret for the incident asserting that he had been misinformed upon the situation. But, Dr. Hornaday, supported by Eastern big , game hunters, men who kill for trophies to adorn club rooms rather than for meat to sus- tain life, carried the fight into the committee room in congress and, furnished with mislead- 7 ing and false statements. succeeded in block ing the delegates efforts.
 t| Judge Wickersham referred to this mat ter while campaigning here, and declared that 1 he had not appeared before the committee and l let Mir. Sulzer do all the fighting, and infer red as a consequence that MT. Sulzer was beaten. No one has ever accused Mir. Wick ersham of going before the committee in op- position to the proposed change He is too
 
 r He works more smoothly than that Dr. Hornaday testified that he had been inform ed by Wickersham that there were not 5000 head of caribou in the interior now and that such change would result in exterrnination of this animal, and although Mr. Wicker sham has been asked directly if he ever gave } Dr. Hornaday this and other similar informa- ton, he has never made any other response 1 save that he did not go before the committed It is plain to see the interest Mir. Wicker sham had in defeating the measure. He had been asked as delegate prior to this time to get this law changed and had done nothing but say "it was impossible" yet Mir. Sulzer, a new member, was about to accomplish that which he with his years of experience was un- willing to tackle. If the change was accom- plished, it would be blow to Wicks prestige and he did not intend to see it done if there were any means of prevention. Mr. Sulzer was } forced to suspend his efforts, but knowing how and why, he does not suffer any there from in the estimation of the people of Alas ka and especially the people of the interior at whose request he undertook the work : THE German foreign secretary is quoted as saying that the war cannot be settled by purely military decisions And it is about Il time that the Huns discovered that it cannot be settled by raping women and murdering Ichildren. ] THE kaiser says that he leads the most capable people on earth. Doesn't he mean the most gullible?