MIGRATORY BIRDS, JACK RAB- j
BITS, ANI> A. LITTLE POLITICAL ■ i
MELANGE IN' THE U. S. SENATE
(.Continued f>v>m I nst.,l5SHo.)
Mp. Keed of Missouri.:, good
dpes it do an outraged people to tell
them that, the outrage w$sperpetrat
ed by the Republican,, party ? That,
dqes not help the people, any. They [
kiiow that generally tl\a^is the propo-'
srtion. anyway, (1
Mr. Edge. Whatey-eRr the result
mgy be,. the. Republican. Party must ■
assume that responsibility, and the ; 1
Republican party, in my judgment, are 1
entirely prepared, apd .able, to, assume 1
that responsibility,
Mr. Reed of .Missouri,- Certainly;; 1
the Republican, party baa. shown by
many of its .acts,in .this,session, of 1
Congress that,jt.js .prepared to as- ;
-Hime any responsibility,, no. matter
hqw great,the infamy may be. But
that, does nqf, help the. people of the '
United States- .
Mr. Edge. It is wonderful how the
people, when they, get an opportunity,,
ratify the, judgment., .of. the Repuh- j
lican party.y.
Mr. Reed of. Missouri- . They have
not ratified what you have done this 1
session. .
Mr. Edge. They have, pot, had a
chance yet.,
Mr-. Reed of ^Missouri.- They...have :
had one or ..two. chances*. and they
have spoken vary, decisively,., They;
are going to. have some. more, chances.
Mr. Edge.. Mr.. President, we have,
heard these prophecies, many, many
times- s
Mr.:. E«bd-bf jJVTissourh They ace
being predicted very, rapidly, and you
are. going.,to.get:6nQtb£r.. prediction, in .
a Tew days when we-hear from Penn- i
sy.lvama.-j.
Mr. Edge,o.Thd: Senator from Mis
sissippi, is nab in' the Chamber today,
antt-.we .have many times beard his
piydictiona. - Then the. peoplfc have
voted, and.we are still going on. With- :
out prophesying at all, I am sure the. ;
Republican party is ready and able to ;
take whatever the verdict may be, and
l think it will be friendly.
Mh Reed of Missouri.. The Repub*
lican party will have to take the ver
dict, whatever it may he. But the
Senator Is argument^ speaking of it
■seriously, amounts to this: “We, the
great Republican party, have assumed
responsibility for bringing this bill
forward, and as we.have assumed that
responsibility, everybody should.let.us
have our own sweet way.’"
Wa decline to jpin in that kind of a.
program. The Democratic party, and
some, of us who da not care Mach
ahout any party, just have a little in
terest left in the country, propose to
stand here and contend any bill that
we think, is wrong, no matter whether,
it <has the sanction and the sanctity of.
-.he Republican party back of it or not,
Mr. Edge. The Senator will admit,
that I have made no com plaint, of that
policy, , but I have ■ suggested! that it
might Iw a littife more orderly if the
bill could, be. officially before the Sen
ate; then, of course, the Senator
would have the privilege of attacking
the bill as.long-as he saw fit tD.
Mr. Refed of Missouri.. M it were:
officially! jheforc. the Senate, it would
bd just that one stop nearer passing.
Those of us who- are opposed to this
j 1 11. .
Jill propose to exercise our parlia
nentary rights in regard to it.
IVtf. IJjllJ, Mr. President, I shall con-1
vtade in, a moment. I do not
vant to take futher time, but I did
want to register my opposition to per- |
nitting a bill to eoisfi up for consid- j
;ration at this time -which, in my
udgment, will prove to be one of ihe
nost objectionable laws in operation ,
f Congress shall jiass it.
I want also to make clear that I am
nost. heartily? sb favor of game pro
motion. I am heartily in favor of
>ird reserves and bird sanctuaries for
Tiese migratory birds, and 1 do not |
ntend that my opposition to the set
ing up of a system of Federal game j
wardens shalL be translated, into oppo- ,
ution to the- preservation of game.j
tut we all know- that the preservation
>f game is to a large extent now, and
should continue to be, a State matter.
IVe all know that if this were a bill
naking provision foe the appointment
>f an entire system of Federal game
wardens separate and apart from this
>ird sanctuary proposition, you could
tot get enough votes here to even
lave it considered. But because it
las tied into it the bard sanctuary pro
vision, these other provisions are ac
cepted as being a necessary part of it,
ind general language is included that,
will inevitably lead to the setting up
>£ just such a. system of Federal
fame wardens as we have of other
cinds of inspectors going out, from
iV as king to n’.
Mr. Bruce. Mr. President, I desire
;o say just a word or two in regard |
o this proposition. I hope sincerely j
hat the pending bill will be taken up;
or consideration, and that it will be,
iltimately passed.
It. so happens that: throughout my
‘ntire life I have been interested in
footing. Indeed, I can truly say that1
t has been my chief outdoor pastime, j
rhe first book that ever appealed:
jowerfully to my imagination was
tuduhon’s Birds of America, and I am
so fortunate as to be the possessor of 1
i copy of that book today, and to be
ible to enjoy the pleasure of turning
;o its pages at times and refreshing
.he feelings that it awakened in me
vhen l was but a boy.
If experience has demonstrated any
thing, it. is that State authority is in
idequate to the protection of migra
tory-bird life. Nor do I think that it j
lan be successfully questioned that
protection of migratory-bird life is
lot a matter of State concern merely,!
jut of national concern a smuch as'
interstate commerce ithself. What is
less confined in its movements by
State limits than a migratory bird
which passes over vast spaces in a
few hours?
Among the worst tragedies that
been brought to my observation dur
ing my existence is the all but com
plete destruction of forms of bird life
with which I was familiar when I was
a youth. We all know the history of
the passenger pigeon. I am old
enough to remember the time when it
was one of the most abundant birds
in the United States, and when one of
the- most common sights along wood
land roads in Southern Virginia was
great flocks of these birds flying
swiftly over- the tops of the trees. The
destruction of the wild pigeon is
doubtless by no means entirely due to
human agencies, but, be this as it
may, there is apparently no such bird
to be found anywhere in the whole
world at this time. The wild pigeons
which formerly darkened the very
skies with their numbers and broke
down the very branches of the trees
in the forests with tlrei.fi weight are
today as extinct as the great auk or
the dodo. Every now and then we
hear some numar that a pair of them
have been seen in some portion of the
United States or somewhere in the re
cesses of the Canadian wilderness; hut
so far as I know for years, there Has
not been one single, solitary, well-au
thenticated instance of this bird,
which was not only a beautiful bird
in point of plumage but a highly edi
ble one, having been seen for years.
That this fact is attributsMe at least
partially to> human destructiveness
can not well be doubted.
In the same way, when I was a. boy'
one of "the, most interests*®' and high
ly prized game birds was the upland
or whistling plover, which was often
seen in companionship with the kill
deef, or the golden plover. It wak &
fine bird to shoot, a fine bird fe oeaf,
a fine bird to look at; b’otSiri the por
tions of the;United States where, to'
my knowledge, it was once frequently:'
seen itiis no longer to be seen at all.
It, too, seems to have gone absolutely
out of existence, destroyed by indis
criminate human slaughter unrelieved
by any real precautions for its pre
servation.
In my boyhood still another most
interesting specimen of the feathered
creation was the wood duck. All of
you, I suppose, have seen it at some
time or other;- at any rate in the frag
mentary form in which it is used in
the fashioning of a lady’s hat.
I know nothing more exquisite than
the plum ago of this duck. Unlike
most species of, wild duck, it nested,
or to some extent nested,, in. this part
of the world, In other words, it did
not always leave its haunts here for
the purpose of going otT to Canada or
some other remote region, but nested
about our lagoons and our rivers. It
was, as I said, a most beautiful, une
Df the most interesting and, charming
of all our birds, hut how often da we
see a wood duck today in. Maryand or
Virginia?
Mr. Broussard. Mr. President—
Mr. Bruce. I yield U»> the Senator
from Louisiana.
Mr. Broussard. Wn have- a. great
many in Louisiana,, and they migrate
every winter.
Mr. Bruce. Yes, I: know.;, bull they
did not always migrate with, us.. We
would see their nests oftem oni the
trees along our rivers and lagoons. It
may he tha they find the- climate of
Louisiana just a littie too hot for
them when the summer, comes along ■
and prefer a temperate, wholesome air;
like that of this regiom But how rare
is the wood duck in this region now? |
Apparently, it too is- doomed to. d.e-1
struction..
When I was a youns man 4» on Jlf j
years of age one could not walk intu’j
a restaurant or social club of any
standing in the city, ofi‘ Baltimore
where he would not find grouse or
pheasant on thee menu. Need L say
what the flesh of,a. grouse or a pheas
ant meant to anyone with a true sense
of the pleasures.of.the table? I have
not seen a grouse or pheasant on. a
menu in a hotel or. social: club in Bal
timore for perhaps at much: as fifteen,
years. There was a time when it was
said in Maryland—I. know not. how
truthfully—that apprentices were fed;
by their masters on-terrapin to such 1
a surfeiting extent that they were
disposed to complain of such harsh
treatment. Even in my early man
hood it was impossible to go into any
hotel or wayside inn in the tidewater
territory of Maryland without being
able to obtain this most delicious of
all food at a very* very reasonable
price. Like a true Marylander, 1 am
in the habit of , saying that errapin is
the poetry of good eating and that all
other forms of food arc simply plain
prose. But now terrapin in Maryland
are so costly that none but the rich
can afford to.:buy. them. Of course,
they do not belong to the family of
birds, but the manner in which, they
are disappearing also helps to illus
trate the objects of.'the pending-hill.
Mr. Dill. The Senator has gjven a
very beautiful desrription of. the wild
life of some years ago in the way of
birds. The Senator recognizes, of.
course, that not only tin- wild life of
birds in this sphere of wild life but
other kinds of wild life as well haw
disappeared throughout the country
with the advance of: civilization awf
roads of every kind.
Mr. Bruce. They have, hut there is
no reason wny thiey should disappear:
In foreign countries where adminis
trative regulations are enforced more
effectively: than is true with us game
is,, as I am informed, about as abun
dant as it ever was in the history of
this country. England still has the*
pheasant and the grom* in abund
ances
Mr. Walsh. They Have private
hunting grounds, too—
Mr. Bruce. Yes, they have—
Mr. Walsh. Where very great areas
were restored to' the forest or where
the original forest was preservedL
Mr. Bruce. Yes, they have private1
preserves there.
Mr. Walsh. So the wild; pigeon has
disappeared because the forest has
disappeared. The ■ situation may be
likened to the great plains of my
State, which sustained thousands and
tens'of thousands of buffalo in herds.
We could not possibly have any buf
falo there now.
Mr. Bruce. No; but the buffalo be
came extinct simply because man
could not restrain bis voracity; that
is all. The Senator has aroused a
train of ideas in my mind to which I
l vVoutd like to give expression. I will
say to him that I do not think that
! the disforestation of our country has
really had anything to do with the
disappearance of the wood pigeon, be
cause for all practical purposes a
large portion of the United States is
just as densely wooded today as it
ever was. Take, for instance, the re- j
gion in Southern Virginia, of which I
have been speaking, where those
flights of pigeons were so frequently
brought to my attention. That region
is just about as abundantly afforested
today as it ever was. The oak is just
about as common a tree there as it
ever was. The yield of acorns is just
about as profust there as it ever was,
and yet the passenger pigeon is clean
gone therefrom.
Of course, 1 a inboundt o admit that
the wild pigeon must have succumbed i
not so much to human agencies of de
struction as to some sort of epidemic
disease. It does not seem to me that
human influence alone could have j
worked its destruction so speedily. j
But I know that the Senator from
Montana must have had called to his
attention, too, in his boyhood, the
countless numbers of wild pigeons
that then existed. Turning, for in
stance, to Audubon and his descrip
tion of the wild pigeon and its habits,
it will be found that not only did wild
pigeons at time darken the very face
of the sky with their hosts and break!
down the very branches of the forests :
with their weight, but that in their j
wake followed great flocks of preda-;
tory birds and ail sorts of wild car- !
nivorous things of the woods.
As some Senators know, the Chesa
peake bay has always been one of the
peculiar homes of aquatic birds in this
country. Possibly in some of the
western regions of the United States
wild fowl may have been or may be
more abundant than in its waters. But
a few years ago it looked as if the
wild fowl on the on the Chesapeake
bay would all soon perish. All along
the reaches of that wonderful bay
there were shooting lodges, or
“shores," as they were-called, and it
was no uncommon thing for very
large bags of geese and ducks of al
most every species to be bagged at
them in the course of a day. Then
came the time when, as-'I have said,
it looked as if the wild fowl of the
Chesapeake bay were about to be to
tally destroyed. Just think what that
would have meant not only to the
manly spirit of the sportsman but to
the luxurious side of the food supply
of our great cities. But along came
this migratory-bird treaty law, and,
indeed, if some other member • of the
Senate had had the same opportunity
that I have had to know ifs effects
they simply would be astonished at
its stimulating and salutary results.
Wild fowl have come hack to our
waters. During the last few years it
may almost be said‘that ducks and
geese and brant and swans have been
almost as abundant on the waters of
PROFESSIONAL
Mrs. Jean McLean
Notary Public
Tokotna, Alaska
I Du Rand’s •
i Gate and ;
Hotel I
Flat City j
the Chesapeake hay as they formerly
were.
(Continued in Next Iasue.)
Ort*- afternoon a stranger debarked
from a train at a hustling town in the
West and headed urt the street? Final
ly he met a man who looked like a
native.
“Pardon me," said the stranger;
"are you a'resident of-this town?’’
“Yes, sir,” was the rejoinder of the
other; “I have been Here something
like fifty years. What can I do for
you?”
“I am looking for a criminal law
yer,” responded the str&hger. “Have
you one here?”
“Well,” said the native, reflectively,
“we think we have, but can’t prove it
on him.”
Notice to Pay School Tax
To All Whom This May Concern.
In accord with Chapter 28,’ Session1
Laws of Alaska, 1 10. and amendment?
thereto, all male persons between the
ages of twenty-one and fifty years, who
are not, ‘‘sailors in the United States’
navy or revenue cutter service,- volun
teer firemen, paupers or Insane per
sons, ” are required to [lay an annual
school tax of live dollars ($5).
This tax is due nnd payable after the
and deduct as herein specified withic
first Monday in the month of' April and
shall be paid before ttie first day of
May, providing you are in the Terri
tory of Alaska on said first date;-if not<
the tax is due within thirty days after
vour arrival in Alaska or within ten
days after wi lt ten or oral demand isr
made upon you by the school tax col
lector. Taxes not paid in accordance
with the foregoing requirements- shall
become delinquent, and each person de
linquent shall he subject to a- tine of
two dollars.}
All persons, firms and corfknfrfioo?
employing labor in Alaska shall' fur
nish to collectors a list of all employee
subject to tax, and employers of labor
as above set out are authorized by pro
visions of said act to deduct amount of
tiie tax from the wages of each em
ployee who is subject thereto. If any
of sue!] employers shall fail to report
the period designated for payment of
said tax, the said employers of labor
shall be guilty of a misdemeanor aud
subject to a fine of from 850 to 8500.
All persons subject to. and refusing
o: neglecting to pay, said tax, are sub
ject to a fine of 825, or imprisonment in
jail for period of one month- and al?
such employers of labor* as- herein set!
out, who neglect or reflise to collect
said tax from employees' tra/ be pro
eeeded against and shall pay the'
amount of each individual tar, and a
further penalty of $25 for each such1
tax.
Tax receipts will be furnished1 by the
tax collectors.
Dated at Takotna. Alaska, this ,11st
lay of Mav, 1 £>26.
j; Hi McLEAN,
Duly authorized and qualified
Alaska Territorial Schoel Tax
Collector for Tokotna District.
B. & E. Store
McGrath, Alaska'
Groceries'
Hardware
Miners’ Supplies
of All Kinds
Ladies’ Furnishings
Furs Bought and Sold
Moose Skin Mitts and Boots
King Island Muklukir
Babeesh, or Sled Lashing
Voigt’s Dog Harness, the Ttry
Best
FRESH GARDEN SEEDS
A. R. Eldridge
ALASKA RIVERS NAVIGATION
COMPANY
Operating Light Draught Steamers
On the Kuskokwim.
i
Capt. Wallace Langley, Manager.