The time was when the friends of wild life did not dare speak of this subject in Washington save in whispers.  That was in the days when the Appalachian Park bill could not be passed, and when there were angry mutterings and even curses leveled against Gifford Pinchot and the Forestry Bureau because so many national forests were being set aside.  That was in the days when a few western sheep-men thought that they owned the whole Rocky Mountains without having bought them.  To-day, the American people have grown accustomed to the idea of having the resources of the public domain saved and conserved for the benefit of the millions rather than lavished upon a favored few.  To-day it is perfectly safe to talk about making every national forest a first class wild-life sanctuary, and it is up to the People to request Congress to take that action, at once.

The Weeks bill, the Anthony bill, and the McLean bill now before Congress to provide federal protection for migratory birds are practically identical.  All three are good bills; and it matters not which one finally becomes a law.  Whichever is put forward finally for passage should provide federal protection for all migratory birds that ever enter the United States, Alaska, or Porto Rico.  Why favor the duck and leave the robin to its fate, or vice versa?  It will be just as easy to do this task by wholes as by halves.  The time to hesitate, to feel timid, or to be afraid of the other fellow has gone by.  To-day the millions of honest and serious-minded Americans are ready to back the most thorough and most drastic policy, because that has become the most necessary and the best policy.  Furthermore, it is the only policy worthy of serious consideration.

Some of our states have done rather well in wild-life protection,—­considering the absurdity of our national policy as a whole; others have done indifferently, and some have been and still are very remiss.  Here is where we intend to hew to the line, and without fear or favor set forth the standing of each state according to its merits or its lack of merits.  In a life-or-death matter such as now confronts us regarding the wild life of our country, it is time to speak plainly.

In the following call of the States, the glaring deficiencies in state game laws will be set forth in detail, in order that the sore spots may be exposed to the view of the doctors.  Conditions will be represented as they exist at the end of the summer of 1912, and it is to be hoped that these faults soon may be corrected.

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A ROLL-CALL OF THE STATES

ALABAMA: 

It is a satisfaction to be able to open this list with the name of a state that is entitled to a medal of honor for game protection.  In this particular field of progress and enlightenment, the state of Alabama is the pioneer state of the South.  New York now occupies a similar position in the North; but New York is an older state, and stronger in her general love of nature.  The attainment of advanced protection in any southern state is a very different matter from what it is in the North.