'Ihe Omaha Sunday Bee Magazine Page
Existence of Valuable Insect-Eating Birds Threatened
Dr. William T. Horna
day Points Out the
Obstacles Still to Be
Overcome Before the
Calamity to the Na
tion of Their Anni
hilation Is Made an
Impossibility
By DR. WILLIAM T. HORNADAY,
Director of tho New York Zoological Park.
THE most exasperating featuro of our
present battle with the enemies ot tho
Federal migratory bird law In and
around tho U. B. Sonato la tho fact that for
Ihe aako of local aprlng-shootlng of ducks In
one email area, they aro willing and anxious
to completely destroy tho only law that Is .
compotent to protect our valuablo insect-cat
lng birds in tho South.
On May 9 and 12 wo witnessed in tho United
States Senato a five hours' battlo in which the
life of our finest bird law was at stako. Sena
tor Reed, of Kansaa City, Mo., and Senator
Kobinson, of Arkansas, labored long and
earnestly to kill the Federal migratory bird
law by cutting off tho means to enforce itl
Had they and their flftoon supporters pro
Tailed, that law would, in effect, bo to-day as
dead aa Julius Caesar. No law that haa active
enemlca and haters can long withstand being
dragged through the mire ot aon-enforcomont .
Aa I have stated in a previous articlo in
this newspaper, tho centre of the hostility to
the migratory bird law is Kansas City, Mo.
Let tho members of the Intoratate Spring
Shooting Protective Association deny it If
they will, but the fact remains that according
to tho reporta of their own secretary, that as
sociation, ot Kansas City, was organised for
the purpose of destroying the migratory law
by having it declared unconstitutional.
Aa a crowning injury to this country, their
representatives in Congress "were alto asked
to vote against tho treaty with Great Britain,
which, If passed, will make It Impossible for
the States to declare the Weeks-MoLean law ,
unconstitutional,1'. (Seo tho Sportsman's He
view for Fob. 14, 1914, page 149.)
From, that original programmo tho associa
tion has not wavered an inch. Its senatorial
champion, Mr. Rood, has already attacked the
law as vigorously and as bitterly aa he knew
how, and he haa shown also that he hatos the
proposed treaty, scorns Its virtue, and evi
dently intends to fight Its ratification to the
last ditch. (Congressional Rocord, May 12,
1914, page 8815.)
And what, think you. Is now (May S3) the
latent move ot tho Kansas City contingent?
The following telegram from Washington to
Kansaa City tcllB tho beginning ot the story:
"Acting Secretary ot Agriculture Galloway
haa agreed to modify the migratory bird reuula.
tlona as to Missouri and enforcement of the
McLean law, and make same conform with
Missouri State law as near aa possible. This
ruling will be adjusted within fifteen days."
I have no doubt whatever that Mr. Oallcway
would like to mako a complete surrender to
Senators Reed and Robinson and their con
stituents. Mr. Galloway Is from Arkansas. According
to the statement of Senator Robinson (Cong.
Record tor May 9, page 8,683) it waa Assistant
Secretary Galloway who "before the Sonato
Committee admitted Ita constitutionality (the
McLean Law) and said to the Committee that
the validity ot the Act ought to be determined
betoro any appropriation was made further
than the amount necessary to try out fairly
the question of constitutionality of tho Act, It
waa In part upon that statement by the repre
tentative of the Department of Agriculture,
Dr. Galloway, that this amendment ($10,000)
was Inserted."
So It was no leas a man than the Assistant
Secretary of Agriculture who uBcd tho longest
knife on the migratory bird law, at the Capitol,
at a most critical moment)
The point is, the farmors, the forest owners
and the consumers of farm and forest products
must now ba informed that the Kansas City
spring-shooters ot ducks who are behind Sena
tors Reed and Robinson are going to make a
tremendous tight In the United States Senate
against the ratification ot any International
Migratory Birds Soon Discover Where They Are Safe as Shown by This Photo
graph of the Return of the Ducks to the Wichita Bison Range Preserve in 1913.
Photo by the New York Zoological Society.
Tho Shaded Portlona of Thcso Two Maps Locate the lirunt of tho
Fight to Enforce tho Now Migratory Bird Protective Law. Above
the Stntca Overrun by Colored "Pot Hunters;" and Below, the States
In Which the "Gamo Hogs" Demand Spring Shooting Privileges.
treaty with Canada tor the protection of
migratory birds. With thorn it is "Rulo or
Rulnl" For tho sake of preserving their pre
cIoub spring-shooting privllego they nro will
ing to destroy our only chance to socuro. pro
tection In tho South for tho birds that fight
ths destructive insects that annually operato
against 100,000,000 American people. This Is
no dream, but a cold fact.
Tho battle In tho Senate on May 9 and 13
was over an appropriation (of $50,000) for the
enforcement ot tho migratory bird law from
July 1, 1014. to July 1, 1915. Tho dotcat ot the
appropriation roally meant tho death ot tho
law. Senator Reed led tho attack on the ap
propriation, backed by Senators Robinson and
Gore. Senator McLoan lod tho defense; and
the bushwhackers who sought to hamstring
our best bird law wero whipped out ot their
boots, by a vote ot 45 to 17. Even a motion to
cut the amount down to 120,000 was similarly
beaten.
Once more the United States Senate has
preserved unbroken its record as an Impreg
nable defense of wild life. The defenders ot
the bird law expected It, and they were not
disappointed, save In the number ot Mr. Reed's ,
backers.
Any man, either In Congress or out ot it,
who coats a vote or an opinion against the
Integrity ot the migratory law, Is an enemy ot
that law, and of tho people it protects. Lot
there be no quibbling or mincing ot words on
that point Tho names ot the Senators who
mistakenly voted against the bird law and
tome ot whom wo positively know are in favor
of the treaty as shown by the yea and nay
vote, are as follows: Dankhead (Ala.), Bryan
(Fin.), Gore (Okla), Martin (La.), Nowlands,
Overman (N. C), Ransdell (La.), Reed (Mo.),
Robinson (Ark.), J3aulsbury (Del.), Shafroth
(Col.). Smith (Ga.), Stono (Mo.). Tillman (S.
C). Vardaman (Miss.), West (Ga.)
Wo note with profound surprlso that nine
ot those seventeen Benatora represent tho cotton-producing
States, wherein, it auywhoro on
this green earth, the services ot the insectivor
ous birds are most needed in combating tho
boll-weevil that annually destroys millions ot
dollars' worth of cotton! There aro fifty-two
species ot birds that feed on tho boll-weevil!
Now, what have the cotton-growers of Alabama,
Georgia, Texas, North and South Carolina and
Florida to say to their Senators about their
votes to destroy tho only law mat over can or
ever will protect the insectivorous birds in the
South? Do they wish their Senators to quibble
Copyright,
f4
A. aanp
Tho Sea Gull Slonuraent,
Salt Lake Cltr, Erected In
Remembrance of the Bird
Which Bared the Crops ot
1848 from Graaahoppe
Plasm e.
over the now undeterminable question ot "con
stitutionality," and atop the protecting of their
best allies for eighteen months or two years,
while wo wait tor a Supreme Court decision?
Men ot the Cotton Belt, what is your answer?
The awful solicitude that In some quarters
is being voiced regarding the possible "uncon
stitutionality" of tho migratory bird law makes
mo tired. Senator Reed declared in his speech
that in my now-famous lntervlow with him I
"did not have tho tomerlty to claim that this
law was ot the slightest validity."
And this to me. after I havo tar and near
proclaimed In every possible manner my firm
belief that tho law is valid and Is constitu
tional, and that the U. S. Supreme Court will
so decide! Betoro this we have seen soveral
other alleged "unconstitutional" protective
laws threshed out by tho Supreme Court, each
ono of which was triumphantly constitutional.
If the migratory law Is unconstitutional, then
so are at least a score ot other Fedoral laws
that now are In activo oporation in this country.
We come now to the duty of the citizen, to
tho present hour, and to tho fnture. The time
has come to separate tho sheep from tho goats,
the trtends ot wild lite from the enemios
thereof. The time for neutrality has gone by.
The migratory bird law Is a law. By the
voto on May 14 the United States Senate prac
tically re-enacted that law, and proclaimed (by
a three-fourths majority) that tho law shall be
enforced so long as It exlsta In our statutes.
Now that the Senate has again proven the
national Gibraltar ot wild life protection, what
should tho citizen do?
In my opinion, overy citizen should loyally
support tho law, in season and out ot season,
and help to maintain its full integrity. Have
done with any further idle and utterly In
effective talk, and soap-box decisions, about Its
alleged "unconstitutionality."
The law was wrought out for the greatest
good ot the greatest number. Every good cltl
zon In thlB land, Including some millions ot
true sportsmen, are convinced that the law
should have a fair trial and a square deal, and
not be summarily destroyed for tho benefit of
pet Individual privilege
As good citizens, wo must stand by it loy
ally and cheerfully bear with Its weaknesses.
We must constantly keep in mind tho tact
that it has been framed up for the greatest
good of the greatest number!
There are certain things, however, for which
1 contend, and will contend until the last
breath leaves this bouse ot clay. For my part
I will:
1. Never agree to spring-shooting north ot
1914. by the SUr Company. Great Britain Rights
A Typical Example of Migratory Bird Slaughter from a Photograph Taken at
Orange, Texas, in 1912.
the Gulf States.
2. Never agree to market-shooting, and tho
sale of wild gamo.
3. Novor agreo to tho killing of any moro
quail tho arch-enemy of the boll-weevil In
tho Cotton Belt.
4. Nover agree to tho killing of any moro
bobolinks as "gamo;" and
5. Nover agreo to havo the pinnated grouso
exterminated by tho lack of a ton-year close
season as a migratory bird.
Our Senators and our Representatives in
Congress navo loyally glvon us the great
remedial bird law that wo asked for In 1912-13.
In 1914 they havo reaffirmed that action with
a now declaration of faith, 45 to 17 in tho Sen
ate, and $50,000. The Department of Agricul
ture will mighty soon set In motion the ma
chinery to enforce that law. Now tho rest of
it Is up to the Stato and tho citizen. And what
ore the States doing about It?
Connecticut has changed her bird lawB to
make thorn uniform with tho Fedoral law, so
as to fully co-operate with the nntlonal Gov
ernment In tho business of enforcement.
New Jersey has done tho same.
Now York has done the same.
Pennsy'B laws are all right for uniformity as
they are, and the State Gamo Commission is
already backing up the Government.
Utah's Attorney-General says that the Fed
oral law Is tho law, and must bo fully enforced
In Utah.
Massachusetts Is fully co-operating; and so
on and so on, I know not how much farther In
total extent
I have yet to hear of a Stato Administration,
North or South, East or West, that Is kicking
over the traces and refusing co-operation ex
cept Iowa, whose Stato Gamo Warden Is sadly
In need of removal.
And what of tho duty of the citizen?
All American citizens and near-cltlzens are
divisible Into two classes. The first and largest
contains tho men who loyally obey the laws
of their city, their State and the nation, no
matter whether thoy wholly approve all those
laws or not. They uphold the law, they de
fend the Integrity of the oourts, and thoy co
operate with officers of the law In securing tho
ends ot Justice. Theso are the good citizens;
and, God be thanked, they yet constitute about
90 per cent of tho body politic On them de
pends tho sanctity ot the hearthstone, the se
curity of property and the safety of the nation.
The other class contains the other 10 per
cent; the men who hate tho laws that interfere
with their desires, who flout the officers of the
law, and hold courts of law In contempt Theso
are the men who habitually break- the laws
that interfere with their selfish schemes tor
business or pleasure, and doty the statutes
that they deem, In their great wisdom, "an
interference with their constitutional rights."
But let us return to tho duty ot the citizen.
It is time for every good citizen to gird up
his loins, take down his sword and shield, and
prepare to do battlo for the cause of wild life.
Let no man with red blood In his veins think
that tho whole work of bird protection rests
upon tho paid Game Wardens, for distinctly it
does NOT!
Firstly, It is tho duty ot every citizen to be
the Gamo Warden ot his own premises! Thoso
premises may bo a village lot, a country
"place," a farm, a village, a city, suburb or a
State; but, whichever it may be, tho obligation
is the same. Every case of lawlessness that is
observed should be diligently followed up, run
to earth in a court ot law, and testified to under
oathv When a farmer cannot stop a bold and
Impudent trespasser single-handed, let him
arouse his neighbors, and with them carry the
war into the heart ot the enemy's camp. If a
trespasser defies your order to quit your
premises, fire a shot across his bows, as thoy
do at sea whon pirates refuse to hcavo to.
Too many easy-going farmers, who are im
posed upon by gunning lawbreakers, are in the
habit ot saying: "Let Geoi;e do it!" and re
porting the matter, days Uter, to a Gamo
Warden ten miles away. It is the quick and
drastic treatment ot a lawcreaker that broods
fear and wins respect Out remember this:
Whenever you go after an armed killer of
illegal gamo, always go armed yourself; and
it your gun Is of heavier calibro than bis, you
shall acquire merit Every bird sanutuary now
needs to be defended with a rifle. Look out
tor Italian song-bird shooters, for often they
aro dangerous, and have Beveral warden mur
ders to answer for.
Reserved,
Mr. Charles Asklns says that in tho South
tho feeling among sportsmen Is: So long as
tho negro will raise cotton and let the quail
alono, let him shoot all tho other birds that ho
ploascs. Tho Southern States cannot afford
enough paid Gamo Wardens to curb tho bird
eating negroes; public Bentlmont Is confined to
a small circle of bird protectionists and editors,
and tho southern whlto planter will not do
police duty In arresting negroes for killing
birds contrary to law. Those three reasons tell
us why tho Fedoral migratory bird law Is abso
lutely necessary to our insectivorous birds in
Maryland, Virginia, the Carollnas, Georgia,
Mississippi, Arkansas and Texas. Without
Fedoral co-operation, ti is a practical impossi
bility for those States to protect tho insect
destroying bird3 that winter there. Texas is
a shambles for all kinds ot gamo butchery, and
the last Legislature was too raw and ignorant
to see tho necessity ot enacting tho excellent
game bill that was put before it .by Representa
tive Mills, of Corsicana. After a gallant fight
last Winter for a docent protective act, tho
Virginia Legislature lost tho Hart-Whlto bill
by an adverse majority ot four votes in tho
lower House. To-day Virginia is ono ot tho
benighted States.
The Carollnas are in a bad way, but
three of tho four Carolina Senators voted to
starve tho migratory bird law to death. Tho
wholesale slaughter of non-game birds In the
South by negroes has been fully and Intelli
gently treated by an eyewitness, who wrlte3
without any heat whatever. Mr. Charles As
klns, In Recreation Magazine for May, 1909,
speaking of the negro hunter, has this to say:
"I have seen the darkies at Christmas time
collect fifty In a drove, with every man his
dog, and spread out over the fields. Such a
glorious time as he has then! Ho
eats woodpeckors, Jaybirds, hawks and skunks,
drawing the line only at crows and buzzards.
At this season ot the year I havo carried
chicken-hawks up to the cabins for the sake ot
watching tho delight ot the pickaninnies who,
with glowing eyes, would declare: 'Them's
mos as good as chicken!' What happens to
tho robins, doves, larks, red-birds, mocking
birds and all songsters in this hungry season
needs hardly to be stated." The white sports
men " havo told him (tho negro) to trap tho
rabbits, pot the robins, slaughter the doves,
kill the song-birds, but to spare the white
sportsman's game, tho aristocratic little bob
white quail."
The Stato gamo commission and the best
people of thoso States are. all right, but they
are confronted by conditions presenting im
mense difficulties.
Now, Just apply this to tho Southern States,
from tho Chesapeake Bay around to Arizona,
and you havo the reason for the fed
eral migratory bird law! That law is ab
'solutely the only law that ever can or ever will
protect the Insectivorous and other migratory
birds ,ln the Southern States; and tho Ameri
can people can Just take that fact or leave it.
Tho Integrity of tho principle of the national
protection ot migratory blrd3 is of tremendous
Importance to American consumers of cereals,
fruit and vegetables, and especially tho mil
lions of tho poor. Several years ago tho an
nual loss to those crops from destructive In
sects was tho enormous sum ot $420,000,000.
I can remember when farmers did not know
what It was to Bpray an apple tree. Now, $7,
000,000 a year is spent, and lost in spraying
operations!
It is the duty of every sensible citizen to
stop the waste of natural resources, and the
waste of the products of labor. Every robin
killed in the South by a negro, or in tho North
by an Italian, Polish or Hungarian laborer,
means a rise In the cost of oatmeal and apples.
With the passing ot the grosbeaks, we pay
more for potatoes. With tho slaughter of
quail and swallows in Texas and tho cotton
belt generally, tho fool cotton planters gather
less cotton per acre, and pay higher for help.
If the Spring-shooters of Kansas City and
their seventeen champions In tho United
States Senate do succeed in having our best
bird law declarod unconstitutional, then may
wo get out our sackcloth anc put It on; and If
Senator Reed of Western Missouri succeeds
in killing the proposed treaty with Canada,
then may we sit down In ashes and bid our
wild birds a long farowell.
Meanwhile, what la tho average citizen go
ing to do about it? Is he going to do anything?
It is now up to him.
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