Milford chronicle., 1926-12-03
MILFORD, FRIDAY, DEC. 3. 1926
THE ETERNAL FOX question win

THE ETERNAL FOX question will
again find it's way before the Cen
eral Assembly when it meets in BIZ
ennial session in January-and the
probable desired results obtained
therefrom will be unsatisfactory to
all parties to the controversy. Opin-
ion in the several localities through
out the state is so varied, and in
some places the feeling against the
present laws protecting the pests is
so intense that argument almost
leads to blows among the interested
parties. The present laws certainly
are framed to suit the fox hunters,
a small minority of the citizenship
of any district, and the farmers and
poultrymen who suffer from the raw
ages of the foxes find little in the
present laws to please them. Peri
odicallv tr3jcs.iD!.s e as fomented in some
district of the lower counties be-
cause of the fox laws, and lawsuits
generally result. Mr.. Herbert C..
Shears, Superintendent of one Of the
large estates located along the Hud-
son River in New York State has
written a very interesting letter to
the Chronicle in which he calls at
tention to an editorial published re-
Gently in the Rural New Yorker,
which deals specifically with the fox
problem in Delaware. The editorial
in question follows:
Delaware is a small state but her
farmers seem capable of making a
big noise when necessary. AS we get
the story, Delaware gives legal pro-
lection to foxes-apparently to
please the hunters. A farmer named
L. B. Whaley caught fox in the act
of killing a little pig. Several OF
these pigs had been missed and the
fox, after a taste of pork, came
bodily back to help himself. This
farmer caught the fox in the very
act. He turned his dogs loose and
with the help of neighbors started
after the fox. A game warden
heard the dogs and arrested the men
for chasing fox. They pleaded gull
ty and were fined. Then in order to
make a test case they changed their
plea and will seek trial in the su-
perior court. They are going to find
out whether a farmer can protect
his property or not. The case will
probably hinge on whether chasing
a fox away from the place where he
killed the pig can be considered a
protection of property! If not these
farmers will work for a new law
which will give them protection. 1t
is about time they found out whether
their pigs and chickens are to be
slaughtered to make Roman holi-
day for the hunters.
Mr.. Shears is interested in the
controversy because Of parallel in
stances wherein the deer and other
wild life on his estate often leads to
trouble with poachers and hunters.
SO@
SOME DAY a man of real vision
will take hold of this element of mis-
understanding between the East and
the West which is really the most
serious obstacle to the enactment of
a genuine plan of agriculture ad-
justment, and will dispose of it in the
simplest possible manner. Recruit
ing in the East group of workmen
from factories, stores and building
operations he will send them into the
West to see with their own eyes the
actual conditions and to hear with
their own ears the statements Of the
farmers. simultaneously in the wes-
tern country a band Of real farmers
will be gathered who will be taken
East to observe the work, the efforts
and the environments Of their fellow
workers in shops, mills and factor
les.
The industrialists will return with
a finer spirit Of tolerance and under
standing Of the labor Of the farmers,
with a disposition even to pay cent
more for this or that product and
to cooperate in the matter Of order
ly marketing. The farmers after
their survey of the cities will appre-
ciate at first hand that they need
steady running looms, rolling mills,
and brick plants with the accomp-
anying substantial weekly pay
checks if they are to dispose Of the
abundant harvests they are gather
ing from their fields. Both groups in
short will appreciate their depend
ence on one another and that there
is truth as well as sentiment in the
axiom of live and let live"
SO@
ONE substantial gain has been
achieved by reason of this wide
spread discussion of the Agricultural
namely the education Of
the people who live in brick houses I
IN paved streets as to the woes OF
.he farmers. There was a time not !
ong since distant where the average
.ity dweller knew bread but had no