dealers are licensed, and, in addition to the regular license, are required to obtain a special license at a cost of $25 to keep game in cold storage during the close season. The question of the status of imported game has been greatly simplified by the passage by Congress of the Lacey Act; and in this connection attention may again be called to section 5 of that act, which provides that all game imported into any State becomes subject to the operation of the laws of that State (provided they are broad enough to cover it) to the same extent and in the same manner as if produced in that State. SALE. Thirty-two States and Territories and 6 Provinces of Canada now prohibit the sale of all or certain kinds of game at all seasons. There has been a steady increase in the prohibitions against sale, and during the past year such provisions have been enacted by Arizona, California, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, North and South Dakota, and Quebec. In Arizona, Idaho, Kansas, Michigan, Montana, and Nevada the sale of all game protected by the State law is prohibited. In Massachusetts and New Hampshire the sale of ruffed grouse or partridge, and woodcock is forbidden; in South Dakota, big game; in Minnesota, quail, ruffed grouse, sharp-tailed grouse, prairie chicken, and all aquatic fowl; in California, Washington, and Manitoba, all big game and upland game; and in Ontario, quail, ruffed grouse or partridge, woodcock, and snipe. In some States, after the close of the open season, a few days are allowed in which to dispose of game. Such provisions prevail in Illinois, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Ohio, and 5 Provinces of Canada. The right of the State to prohibit dealers from storing or selling game imported from other States has been hotly contested. While there has been diversity of opinion on this point, the majority of the decisions have sustained the State. Such decisions have been rendered in California (Er parte Maier, 103 Cal. 476), the District of Columbia (Javins v. U. S., 11 App. D. C. 347), Illinois (Magner . People, 97 Ill. 320), Maryland (Stevens v. State, 89 Md. 669), Michigan (People v. O'Neil, 68 N. W. Rep. 227), Missouri (State 7. Judy, 7 Mo. App. 524), New York (Phelps v. Racey, 60 N. Y. 10), and in other States. A decision of the same kind has recently been handed down by the United States circuit court in the district of Oregon. A dealer in Portland had been convicted by the State of selling, contrary to the law of Oregon, certain trout purchased in Seattle, Wash. He was fined, and in default of payment was imprisoned. Application was thereupon made to the Federal court for a writ of habeas corpus, which was In re Deininger, circuit court, district of Oregon, April 17, 1901. denied. In rendering this decision the court cited the case of Geer v. Connecticut,' and disposed of the question as follows: The decision [Geer v. Connecticut] is based upon the fundamental distinction that exists between the qualified ownership in game and the perfect nature of ownership in other property. If game when reduced to possession became an article of property, in the ordinary sense of the word, it would belong to commerce; otherwise, it is a subject of control by the State, in the exercise of its police power. There is, in my opinion, no room to distinguish between the right to take game out of the State and the right to bring it within the State. Interstate traffic is affected as much in one case as in the other. It is not material that in one case the killing of game is discouraged by the limitation which the law puts upon its use, by prohibiting its exportation, while in the other the enforcement of the law against the taking of game is rendered practicable by making its possession for sale unlawful. The ultimate object sought in each case is the same, and the law in each case is a legitimate exercise of the police power of the State. Illinois specifically provides that the sale of certain game imported from other States shall be lawful at certain seasons, although the same kind of game killed within the State can not be sold at any time. Missouri, New Mexico, and Pennsylvania restrict prohibitions against sale of game to that taken within the State. Nebraska permits the storage but not the sale of imported game during the close season in the State for similar game. In a few instances prohibitions against the sale of certain game are so general as to afford protection over a considerable area. Thus ruffed grouse can not be sold in New Brunswick, Ontario, Manitoba, Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Michigan, or Minnesota. Antelope can not now be shipped from any State, although they may still be killed in Colorado, Idaho, Nebraska, Oregon, Washington, and Wyoming. Practically every State in which prairie chickens occur has now prohibited their sale or export. Hence the exposure for sale of these birds in any State where they do not occur, as in any city east of Indianapolis, is strong indication of violation of law. The following table is intended to show two very distinct things: (1) The species which each State and Province prohibits from sale at all seasons. (2) The extension of time beyond the limits of the regular open season allowed dealers in some States, to enable them to dispose of game on hand which can be lawfully sold within the State. The two lists have little in common except that they both come under the head of restrictions on sale of game. 1In which the Supreme Court of the United States upheld the constitutionality of the nonexport law of Connecticut. States. Alabama Arizona California Colorado Florida Illinois Indiana Iowa Kan-as Maine. Restrictions on sale of game. Sale prohibited at all times. Deer, squirrel, quail, partridge, grouse, pheasant, Deer, elk, antelope, mountain sheep, mountain All game taken in the State Buying quail, partridge, pheasant, for sale pro- Deer, deer hides Deer, elk, moose, caribou, antelope, mountain Squirrel (gray, red, fox, black), quail, ruffed Quail, partridge, grouse, pinnated grouse (prairie Deer, moose, or game birds for shipment beyond Maryland: Squirrel, partridge, pheasant, woodcock, taken in Partridge, pheasant, wild turkey, for export........ Quail or partridge for export (both counties con- Ruffed grouse, woodcock, until 1903.. All game protected by State. Deer, quail, ruffed grouse, pheasant or partridge, Deer, quail, pinnated grouse or prairie chicken, swan. All game protected by State.. Deer, elk, antelope, mountain sheep, ibex, moun- Sale season different from open season. Sale seasons for game which may be sold begin 3 days later and end 5 days later than regular close seasons. Imported game in cities, Oct. 1-Feb. 1. Sale during open season and 5 days thereafter. Ruffed grouse, sale permit ted Oct. 1-Dec. 25. Imported quail, Oct. 1-May 1; imported jack rabbits, white rabbits, grouse, wild pigeons,shorebirds, ducks, at any time. Sale permitted during open season and 5 days thereafter. Sale permitted during open season and 30 days thereafter. Deer, sale permitted Sept. 1-Nov. 21; quail, grouse, woodcock, sale permitted during open season and thereafter until Jan. 1.1 Possession or sale of deer Nov. 16-20, or quail, grouse, woodcock, Dec. 17-31, presumptive evidence of illegal capture. |