Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1921-current, 1921-09-27
'Savoyard's' opinion, because we
think it about as wrong as anything
can be-"
STATE GAME WARDEN

n NEIEN4 dispatch from 1el-
a ena says: efforts to trim
more than $4,000 from the years
expenditures of the state fish and
game commission will be made at
a meeting Of the commission at
Malta, October 10, according to an
announceme Up to the present
time there have only been approx
mately $4,000 residential licenses
sold for 1921, according to Warden
c. A. Jakways. Last year there
were 52,751 sold. Although the
license fee was raised this year and
practically the same amount OF
cash will be taken in this year as
last, it was said that the expendi-
lures of the commission have in
creased to such an extent that a
retrenchment is necessary"
We find the above dispatch print
ed in quite number of our ex-
changes but the Republican state
press seem to be shy about printing
it, and none Of them comment on
it editorially. They have lost in
terest in the state game warden's Of
flee. 1t was not always thus. There
was a time not quite a year back
when every Republican paper in the
state foamed at the mouth whenever
the words game warden were ut
tered in their hearing. Gov. Dix
on then a candidate for governor,
went about like raging lion, de-
nouncing Jake DeHart, the state
game warden under Gov. Stewart,
and the whole game warden service
as useless grafters on the public
service. It is true they cost the
taxpayers nothing because they
collected enough money from Ii
censes and fines to pay all the ex-
penses of the department., and leave
a healthy surplus besides available
for building new fish hatcheries
and other like utilities. But Gov.
Dixon and the Republican press
and platform speakers told US they
would abolish the office of state
game warden, and turn the duties
Of the office over to the county
sheriffs, SO that it would cost moth
ing and all the fees Of the depart
ment derived from licenses and
fines would go into the state and
county treasures, and save the
taxpayers just that much money.
1t was a siren song of economy
and a good many gullible voters be-
lieved what they heard. Besides
many voters resented the activities
of the game wardens in preventing
them from violating the law. No
doubt the Republican party got
some votes on the issue Of abolish
ing the game wardens office last
fall.
Well, the Republican ticket was
elected from top to bottom last fall
together with a legislature almost
Republican. 1t was up
to them to make good the party
promises. Did they do it? Not
much. Gov. Dixon did not even
wait till the legislature met in Hell
ena to deal with the question.
While he announced that he would
not fill the appointive offices until
after that date he made an excep-
ton of the state game warden's
office and announced his choice OF
a successor to Jake DeHart almost
after his election. APP
parently his purpose in so doing
was to give a hint to the legislature
not to take his campaign promises
about the office of game warden too
seriously. The fact was that, as he
frequently told us, he regarded the
game warden and his deputies as a
political machine useful to Gov.
and while it made his
gorge rise to think that such I'M
holy use of the game warden's Of
flee was available to Democratic
yet with a Republican
in the state house the case
was greatly altered. He needed
such a political tail to his kite quite
badly, and he came to the conclu-
sion that the state game warden
system must and should be pre-
served. Curfew shall not ring to-
night the governor told the legis-
lature. Of course the office Of
the state game warden must be re-
from a Demo-
cratic political machine into a Dix
On Republican machine. 1t was.
This newspaper pointed out the
fact that the new state game war
den bill contained provisions for
appointing more men to office and
spending more money than could
-. A. o1d hill for the !