The daily Alaska citizen., 1919-10-21

| llQmdEe bl Wild OlIlS- The SulZtr Dill could have been. and would have been
 buried under mountain of opposi- ton, both in and outside of congress had it been pressed forward
 In view of the well-known and legally recorded beliefs of the wild l life conservauonists of Canada and of . the United States. now regard if as a waste of time to attempt 10 devise ways and means for the sale of wild game. The principle that lately has been so gloriously reafirmed and so everlastingly fixed by the internation- al treaty between Canada and the 1 United States for the protection of l migratory birds against the market ! hunter and the game-dealer. must not now be discredited in the far north. | The time has come that the sale of 1 game in Alaska must positively stop. I before il has wrought more harm to l the game and to the people of Alaska 1 It is a curious circumstance that 1 the men who thus far have saved some of the game of Alaska from ami 1 hilation, have done so without either appreciation or thanks from the l people of Alaska. But for the inita- tive of the meddlesome eastern na- ! turalists,' in 1902. by this time the accessible regions of Alaska would have been swept bare of hOofed game. It is utter folly to assume, or to be | lieve, that the people of Alaska alone are either willing or able to protect their big game from extermination and utilize it on a real continuing basis In times like the present the truth may better be told bluntly than in any roundabout way.
 The people of Alaska are, from first to last, diligent-exploiters of the natur- al resources of Alaska, and the ma iority of the white population look for ward to getting out of that territory to spend the remainder of their lives elsewhere. Twenty five years hence a majority of the Alaskans may be sincere COnservers: but a quarter of a century Is a long time to wait. and in the interval much mischief may be accom- plished
 No; we can not agree to any sale of game anywhere; because that policy is known to be extra destruc- tive. At all hazards the big game of Alaska and northern Canada should be conserved on a continuing basis. for the good of the residents of those difficult regions.
 The hunters of Alaska may find it impossible to believe that "eastern sportsmen" have at heart the welfare of the future residents of Alaska who will need wild meat No doubt very many of them feel that all the pro teCtive efforts of United States men are designed to protect United States hunting grounds; but all misunder- standings of our motives in Alaskan conservation We must accept as an un- ayoidable part of the burden, and as coming all In the days work
 I believe that on this point we are indeed thinking more of the welfare of the Alaskans of the future than is thOt by the Alaskans of today.
 And now what can We offer as an attempt at a solution of the puzzlfng question raised by the widow at Fort Churchill? It is time to put forth something intended to be construc tive. We are absolutely certain that way can be found to protect the rights Of the widow, the missionary and the trader without the surrender of great foundation principle, and with out going halfway to meet disaster by providing for the sale of game.
 In an effort to be both brief and clear, we submit the following pro posals as candidates for adoption into a code of principles:
 PROPOSED PRINCIPLES:
 l, In the well-settled regions of the United States and Canada, the supply of wild game is nowhere sufficient to render it an important food supply; and in view of its steady destruction by man, predatory mammals and birds, severe winters and scarcity of food and cover game killing in those regions must be regarded as a se- verely limited pastime, and not as an industry in competition with the stock-raiser and the butcher.
 2. In well-settled regions it is i'm possible to make bag limits too small, or open seasons too short for the best continuance of the game supply
 8 No frontiersman can reasonably be expected either to devise or to execute, unaided by his federal gov ernment. methods for the adequate preservation and increase of large game.
 4. Well-settled and well-fed re- gions require game laws of greater