The daily star-mirror. (Moscow, Idaho) 1911-1939, 1922-05-10
THE FORUM
j. E. Gray Talks Back at L. Z.
Brooks
Editor Star-MirrOr:

it. Mr.. L. E. Brooks had a sore spot
and we accidentally hit it. And, of
course. he. like many men. sprang up
and punched me one. So he and | are
pitted together and the public are In
the grandstand to see which will prove
the more clever boxer of the two. He,
no doubt. has his seconds. and we
have ours. He hit me a stunning
blow We will now give him a little
jibe on the jaw. He wanted to call it
shooting match But his article
certainly had the rattle of boxing
bout"
Mr.. Brooks, in his article, denies
may statements that appeared in the
StarMirrOr short while ago. He
says we have been misinformed At
ter investigation, we find that he Is
partly right and partly wrong. He
fined some parties, not for killing
coyotes but because they did not
have license when they killed them.
The fine was $1,000 each instead of
$25l He fined some other parties $25
or more. One of whom thought he
could have beaten the case, but, as a
business proposition. paid the fine to
avoid the expense of 500 or more
for attorneys fees. Another one. ac-
cording to what we have recently
heard was guilty of hunting game
animals in connection with coyotes.
He might have killed deer In such
cases as this it was right to impose
fine. But in the other cases where
the parties were not hunting game
animals and birds. he did wrong; in
as much as he had set aside the law
with regard to killing squirrels and
coyotes If he had been in the habit
of enforcing the law to the letter, very
little would have been said against
Mr.. Brooks. The kick would have
been more against the law. The fol-
lowing is a certificate signed by John
O'Donnell and Alfred Flack:
We herby certify that we were hunt
ing coyotes without license during
the past winter and we killed one or
more. And we also further certify
that we were not hunting anything
else, and did not kill any game ami
fined $13 each by Mr.. l.. E. Brooks
JOHN O'DONNELL
ALFRED FLACK
Now for a light punch on the other
side of the head No one has a right |
" uulllly oil dCI Vi C1lt ICSlSldJult 4
but the supreme court. But Mr. /
Brooks has tested the game law in
his own court, it seems and found that |
a part of it is mo good" and con-
trary to even ordinary sense and |
therefore, feels no longer obligated |
by his oath to enforce it. And if Mr.. /
Brooks can do this, SO can the sheriff, |
constable. and justice of the peace.
and so can the farmer. But after all,
the law still remains unchanged and
we are subject to arrest and to a fine
by Mr.. Brooks or some other officer
just sin the discretion of the court"
Mr.. Brooks says ''our game laws are
the most representative expression of
the peoples opinion Of any law we
have on the statute books today" 1--WE
are pretty sure that more than two
thirds of the people are against a
port of the game law A strong pro-
test was sent to Boise from Moscow
against its passage. The people were
not consulted. We believe all the bad
features of this law were incubated in
the fish and game protective asso-
Citations" AS to the game hogs" they
should be fined. For some of them
run out we understand few days
before the season opens, and shoot
Up all the feathereed f1ocks raised in
he farmers fields, which is not much
short of killing his chickens Mr.
Brooks states that the fish and game .
department. is self supporting; and a I
part of the funds raised from licenses
ETC.. goes for bOunties on predatory :
This is all well and good !
And all that goes for the mainten- !
lnce of the fish hatcheries may be :
,ood But there is quite sum paid !
o wardens that is wasted According
0 information we have from Sec
665, vol | compiled statutes, and
rom an attorney and an ex-deputy
anne warden. there are about 81 fish
nd game wardens in Idaho. The 4
tate game warden, who appoints all
f the others, receives $4,000 a year. 3
here are 6 deputies that receive :
1000 each, and Al county wardens, h
nd others around the fish hatch =
ries Gf we mistake not) that receive =
1900 each. Making a total of $79.-
90. All the wardens Except poss-
,ly three, receive travelling expens-
5 ranging from $1,000 for county war :.
ems to $500 for the state game war =
en-; or total of SAB 400, provided
ley need it. This makes a grand to- :
Il of $122,000.
There are also clerks that receive
ON 5000 to $500 a year. Now if K
e abolish these offices we release X
II schools and roads $4,000, tray If