Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1921-01-28
Afternoon Session

President French at the opening of
the afternoon session which was held
in the hall of the House Of Repre-
sentatives, gave his address as the
chief official of the association, going
over the work of the association aud
making many splendid suggestions
for the future welfare of the assccia-
ton and. also for the interests Of the
fish and game in the State.
Presidents Address
Fellow -Sportsmen:
We have met here today as an as
ISOLATION, to do all in our power to
promote and advance the interests of
fish and game in our State The con-
stitution of our association gives us
| Il bigger job than that, including
preservation Of our Forests, Lakes
and Rivers, and enforcement of all
laws relating to the same" Also
Securing and publishing for the
benefit of our citizens, valuable infor-
nation, to the end that additional
and permanent prosperity may re-
suit" / am sure that all of us would
be glad to help do all Of these things
At present, however, we are better
equipped to deal with the fish and
game interests. alone, and there are
other organizations better prepared
to attend to the rest of the program
than we are. 1t seems to me that we
can best employ our time, today, in
considering the present status of our
wild life, and what changes, if any,
the association would recommend in
existing laws governing the same.
There is, however, u very close
hond between the conservation of fish
and game, and of something else
which is of the greatest interest at the
present time. That something else"
is the FORESTS which contain the
wild life. In this connection l want
to call your attention to a part of an
editorial in the January number of
Field & Stream. written by Clifford
Pinchot. Mr.. Pinchot says, II appeal
to you as q sportsman to tackle one
of the most difficult and vital prob
lens this country of ours has ever
faced, and to put your back into it.
appeal to you because sportsmen I'M
derStand the laws of nature and what
happens when you break them. far
better than the average layman
There are certain qualities without
which no one can be true sports
man. One of them is courage; an
other is courtesy; third is the will
ingness to look beyond the moment
to the future, and to curb the enjoy
ment Of the day for the benefit of the
morrow-and mot only tomorrows
benefit for the man himself, but for
the benefit of many others, present
and to come.
a man who would take the last
trout from the stream, the last pick
erel from the pond, the last grouse
from a hillside, is not only selfish, he
| is stupid and shortsighted as we'll
For the harm he does to others he
does also to himself The true sports
man has brain enough to look ahead,
and heart enough to follow the teach
ings of his brain. He has sense
enough to follow the Golden Rule.
That is one of the reasons why
sportSmen have always been among
the best friends of the forest. When
forest preservation first began the
sportsman was the sole preserver.
What he did was not because he
loved the forest for itself, but because
he knew that fur, feather and fin, all
three depend upon it.
What the sportsman of thousand
today. No forest-no game; no for
est--no fish. But we can go further,
today. No forest--no lumber; no
lLmbcr-no mines; no transportation,
no commerce, no industry. No for
est-no civilization, at least of the
kind we know.
If you are good sportsman you
are good citizen. You can't be
anything else. Therefore to lay be-
fore you the needs of the whole Ma
ton, as well as your own needs in
particular, is a sound and horse
sensible thing to do, for it puts the
facts before q man who has the in
telligence to appreciate and the spine
to act upon them"
think these words of Mr.. Pinchot's
would well serve as the guiding
kHOu&ut, uOI Ollly VI lulS IIiScLIuS, Uul
of our conduct in the future. am
sorry to say that we still lack in one
respect what we lacked year ago.
and that is membership. We have a
membership under five hundred. Yet
there are in Maine over eighty thou
sand people holding resident hunters
registration cards. Does II not seem
to you, that out of more than eighty
thousand sportsmen, at least five
thousand should be glad pay two
dollars to join and dollar a year
dues, in order that they might be do
ing their share toward conservation
of the things they like so well? With
that membership we could have
money in the treasury to do bust
ness with. We could have a field
secretary who could devote his whole
time to our interests. We could ac-
complish many things which under
present conditions must be left unat-
tempted.
Less than one hundred new men,
bers have Joined during the last
year, and as many have been strick
en- from the rolls for nom payment of
dues Surely every one of US could
get one new member without much
effort Think what it would mean.
You all have friends who are ardent