New Jersey always has been sincere in her desire to protect her wild life, and always has gone as far as the killers of game would permit her to go! But the People have made one great mistake,—­common to nearly every state,—­of permitting the game-killers to dictate the game laws! Always and everywhere, this is a grievous mistake, and fatal to the game.  For example:  In 1866 New Jersey enacted a five-year close-season law on the “prairie fowl” (pinnated grouse); but it was too late to save it.  Now that species is as dead to New Jersey as is the mastodon.  The moral is:  Will the People apply this lesson to the ruffed grouse, quail and the shore birds generally before they, too, are too far gone to be brought back?  If it is done, it must be done against the will of the gunners; for they prefer to shoot,—­and shoot they will if they can dictate the laws, until the last game bird is dead.

In 1912, New Jersey is spending $30,000 in trying to restock her birdless covers with foreign game birds and quail.  In brief, here are the imperative duties of New Jersey: 

  Provide eight-year close seasons for quail, ruffed grouse, woodcock,
  snipe, all shore birds and the wood-duck.

  Prohibit the sale of all native wild game; but promote the sale of
  preserve-bred game.

  Prevent the repeal of the automatic gun law, which surely will be
  attempted, each year.

  Prohibit all bird-shooting after January 10, each year, until fall.

  Prohibit the killing of squirrels as “game.”

NEW MEXICO: 

All things considered, the game laws of New Mexico are surprisingly up to date, and the state is to be congratulated on its advanced position.  For example, there are long close seasons on antelope, elk (now extinct!), mountain sheep, bob white quail, pinnated grouse, wild pigeon and ptarmigan,—­an admirable list, truly.  It is clear that New Mexico is wide awake to the dangers of the wild-life situation.  On two counts, her laws are not quite perfect.  There is no law prohibiting spring shooting, and there is no “model law” protecting the non-game birds.  The sale of game will not trouble New Mexico, because the present laws prevent the sale of all protected game except plover, curlew and snipe,—­all of them species by no means common in the arid regions of the Southwest.

  A law prohibiting spring shooting of shore birds and waterfowl
  should be passed at the next session of the legislature.

  The enactment of the “model law” should be accomplished without
  delay to put New Mexico abreast of the neighboring states of
  Colorado, Oklahoma and Texas.

  The term of the State Warden should be extended to four years.

NEW YORK: