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025 - Part II Chapter 4 Congressional Legislation for the Protection of the Bison · Extermination of the American Bison

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Speaker 1: Section twenty four of the Extermination of the American Bison.
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Speaker 1: This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in
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Speaker 1: the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please
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Speaker 1: visit LibriVox dot org. Recording by Maria Casper. The Extermination
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Speaker 1: of the American Bison by William T. Hornaday, Part two,
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Speaker 1: Chapter four, Congressional Legislation for the Protection of the Bison.
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Speaker 1: The slaughter of the buffalo, down to the very point
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Speaker 1: of extermination, has been so very generally condemned, and the
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Speaker 1: general government has been so unsparingly blamed for allowing such
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Speaker 1: a massacre to take place on the public domain. It
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Speaker 1: is important that the public should know all the facts
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Speaker 1: in the case. To the credit of Congress, it must
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Speaker 1: be said that several very determined efforts were made between
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Speaker 1: the years eighteen seventy one and eighteen seventy six looking
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Speaker 1: toward the protection of the buffalo. The failure of all
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Speaker 1: those well meant efforts was due to our republican form
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Speaker 1: of government. Had this government been a monarchy, the buffalo
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Speaker 1: would have been protected, but unfortunately, in this case, perhaps
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Speaker 1: the only one on record wherein a king could have
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Speaker 1: accomplished more than the representatives of the people. The necessary
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Speaker 1: Act of Congress was so hedged in and beset by
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Speaker 1: obstacles that it never became an accomplished fact. Even when
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Speaker 1: both houses of Congress succeeded in passing a suitable act
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Speaker 1: June twenty third, eighteen seventy four, it went to the
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Speaker 1: President in the last days of the session, only to
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Speaker 1: be pigeonholed and die a natural death. The following is
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Speaker 1: a complete history of Congressional legislation in regard to the
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Speaker 1: protection of the buffalo from wanton slaughter and ultimate extinction.
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Speaker 1: The first step taken in behalf of this persecuted animal
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Speaker 1: was on March thirteenth, eighteen seventy one, when mister McCormick
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Speaker 1: of Arizona introduced a bill h R. One fifty seven,
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Speaker 1: which was ordered to be printed. Nothing further was done
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Speaker 1: with it. It read as follows, be it enacted, et cetera, that,
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Speaker 1: excepting for the purpose of using the meat for food
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Speaker 1: or preserving the skin, it shall be unlawful for any
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Speaker 1: person to kill the bison or buffalo found anywhere upon
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Speaker 1: the public lands of the United States, And for the
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Speaker 1: violation of this law, the offender shall upon conviction before
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Speaker 1: any court of competent jurisdiction, be liable to a fine
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Speaker 1: of one hundred dollars for each animal killed, one half
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Speaker 1: of which sum shall, upon its collection, be paid to
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Speaker 1: the INFOURMCE. On February fourteenth, eighteen seventy two, mister Cole
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Speaker 1: of California introduced in the Senate the following resolution, which
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Speaker 1: was considered by unanimous consent and agreed to. Resolved that
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Speaker 1: the Committee on Territories be directed to inquire into the
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Speaker 1: expediency of enacting a law for the protection of the buffalo, elk, antelope,
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Speaker 1: and other useful animals running wild in the territories of
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Speaker 1: the United States against indiscriminate slaughter and extermination, and that
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Speaker 1: they report by bill or otherwise. On February sixteenth, eighteen
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Speaker 1: seventy two, mister Wilson of Massachusetts introduced a bill in
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Speaker 1: the Senate S. Six five five restricting the killing of
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Speaker 1: the buffalo upon the public lands, which was read twice
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Speaker 1: by its title and referred to the Vidian territories. On
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Speaker 1: April fifth, eighteen seventy two, mister B. C. McCormick of
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Speaker 1: Arizona made a speech in the House of Representatives while
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Speaker 1: it was in Committee of the Whole on the restriction
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Speaker 1: of the killing of buffalo. He mentioned a then recent
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Speaker 1: number of Harper's Weekly, in which were illustrations of the
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Speaker 1: slaughter of buffalo, and also read a partly historical extract
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Speaker 1: in regard to the same. He related how when he
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Speaker 1: was once snowbound upon the Kansas Pacific Railroad, the buffalo
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Speaker 1: furnished food for himself and fellow passengers. Then he read
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Speaker 1: the bill introduced by him March thirteenth, eighteen seventy one,
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Speaker 1: and also copies of letters furnished him by Henry Bergh,
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Speaker 1: president of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty
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Speaker 1: to Animals, which were sent by the latter to General W. B. Hazen,
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Speaker 1: Lieutenant Colonel A. G. Brackett, and E. W. Wincoop. He
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Speaker 1: also read a statement by General Hazen to the effect
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Speaker 1: that he knew of a man who killed ninety nine
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Speaker 1: buffaloes with his own hand in one day. He also
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Speaker 1: spoke on the subject of crossbreeding the buffalo with common cattle,
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Speaker 1: and read an extract in regard to it from the
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Speaker 1: San Francisco Post On April sixth, eighteen seventy two, mister
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Speaker 1: McCormick asked leave to have printed in the Globe some
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Speaker 1: remarks he had prepared regarding restricting the killing of buffalo,
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Speaker 1: which was granted. On January fifth, eighteen seventy four, mister
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Speaker 1: Fort of Illinois introduced a bill HR. Nine twenty one
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Speaker 1: to prevent the useless slaughter of buffalo within the Territories
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Speaker 1: of the United States, which was read and referred to
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Speaker 1: the Committee on the Territories on March tenth, eighteen seve
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Speaker 1: seventy four. This bill was reported to the House from
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Speaker 1: the Committee on the Territories with a recommendation that it
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Speaker 1: be passed. The first section of the bill provided that
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Speaker 1: it shall be unlawful for any person who is not
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Speaker 1: an Indian to kill, wound, or in any way destroy,
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Speaker 1: any female buffalo of any age found at large within
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Speaker 1: the boundaries of any of the territories of the United States.
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Speaker 1: The second section provided that it shall be, in like
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Speaker 1: manner unlawful for any such person to kill, wound, or
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Speaker 1: destroy in said territories any greater number of male buffaloes
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Speaker 1: than are needed for food by such person, or than
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Speaker 1: can be used, cured, or preserved for the food of
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Speaker 1: other persons or for the market. It shall, in like
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Speaker 1: manner be unlawful for any such person or persons to
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Speaker 1: assist or be, in any manner engaged or concerned in
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Speaker 1: or about such unlawful killing, wounding, or destroying of any
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Speaker 1: such buffaloes. That any person who shall violate the provisions
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Speaker 1: of the Act shall, on conviction forfeit and pay to
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Speaker 1: the United States the sum of one hundred dollars for
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Speaker 1: each offense, and each buffalo so unlawfully killed, wounded, or
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Speaker 1: destroyed shall be in constitute a separate offense, and on
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Speaker 1: a conviction of a second offense, may be committed to
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Speaker 1: prison for a period not exceeding thirty days. And that
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Speaker 1: all United States Judges, justices, courts, and legal tribunals in
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Speaker 1: said territories shall have jurisdiction in cases of violation of
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Speaker 1: the law. Mister Cox said he had been told by
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Speaker 1: old hunters that it was impossible to tell the sex
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Speaker 1: of a running buffalo, and he also stated that the
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Speaker 1: bill gave preference to the Indians. Mister Fort said the
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Speaker 1: object was to prevent early extermination, that thousands were annually
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Speaker 1: slaughtered for skins all lit and thousands for their tongues alone,
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Speaker 1: that perhaps hundreds of thousands are killed every year in
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Speaker 1: utter wantonness, with no object for such destruction. He had
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Speaker 1: been told that the sexes could be distinguished while they
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Speaker 1: were running. The bill does not prohibit any person joining
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Speaker 1: in a reasonable chase and hunt of the buffalo, said
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Speaker 1: mister Fort. So far as I am advised, gentlemen upon
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Speaker 1: this floor, representing all the territories, are favorable to the
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Speaker 1: passage of this bill. Mister Cox wanted the clause accepting
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Speaker 1: the Indians from the operations of the bill stricken out,
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Speaker 1: and stated that the Secretary of the Interior had already
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Speaker 1: said to the House that the civilization of the Indian
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Speaker 1: was impossible while the buffalo remained on the plains. The
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Speaker 1: clerk read for mister McCormick the following extract from the
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Speaker 1: New Mexican, a paper published in Santa Fe. The buffalo slaughter,
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Speaker 1: which has been going on the past few years on
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Speaker 1: the plains, and which increases every year, is wantonly wicked,
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Speaker 1: and should be stopped by the most stringent enactments and
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Speaker 1: most vigilant enforcements of the law. Killing these noble animals
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Speaker 1: for their hides simply or to gratify the pleasure of
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Speaker 1: some Russian duke or English lord is a species of
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Speaker 1: vandalism which cannot too quickly be checked. United States surveying
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Speaker 1: parties report that there are two thousand hunters on the
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Speaker 1: plains killing these animals for their hides. One party of
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Speaker 1: sixteen hunters report having killed twenty eight thousand buffaloes during
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Speaker 1: the past summer. It seems to us there is quite
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Speaker 1: as much reason why the government should protect the buffaloes
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Speaker 1: as the Indians. Mister mc cormick considered the subject important
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Speaker 1: and had not a doubt of the fearful slaughter. He
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Speaker 1: read the following extract from a letter that he had
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Speaker 1: received from General Hazen. I know a man who killed
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Speaker 1: with his own hand ninety nine buffaloes in one day,
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Speaker 1: without taking a pound of the meat. The buffalo for
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Speaker 1: food has an intrinsic value about equal to an average
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Speaker 1: Texas beef, or say twenty dollars. There are probably not
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Speaker 1: less than a million of these animals on the Western plains.
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Speaker 1: If the government owned a herd of a million oxen,
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Speaker 1: they would at least take steps to prevent this wanton slaughter.
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Speaker 1: The railroads have made the buffalo so accessible as to
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Speaker 1: present a case not dissimilar. He agreed with mister Coxe
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Speaker 1: that some features of the bill would probably be impracticable,
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Speaker 1: and moved to amend it. He did not believe any
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Speaker 1: bill would entirely accomplish the purpose, but he desired that
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Speaker 1: such wanton slaughter should be stopped. Said he, it would
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Speaker 1: have been well both for the Indians and the white
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Speaker 1: men if an enactment of this kind had been placed
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Speaker 1: on our statute books years ago. I know of no
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Speaker 1: one act that would gratify the Red men more. Mister
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Speaker 1: Holman expressed surprise that mister Cox should make any objection
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Speaker 1: to parts of the measure. The former regarded the bill
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Speaker 1: as an effort in a most commendable direction and trusted
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Speaker 1: that it would pass. Mister Cox said he would not
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Speaker 1: have objected to the bill, but from the fact that
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Speaker 1: it was partial in its provisions. He wanted a bill
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Speaker 1: that would impose a penalty on every man, red, white
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Speaker 1: or black, who may wantonly kill these buffaloes. Mister Potter
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Speaker 1: desired to know whether more buffaloes were slaughtered by the
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Speaker 1: Indians than by white men. Mister Fort thought the white
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Speaker 1: men were doing the greatest amount of killing. Mister Eldridge
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Speaker 1: thought there would be just as much propriety in killing
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Speaker 1: the fish in our rivers as in destroying the buffalo
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Speaker 1: in order to compel the Indians to become civilized. Mister
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Speaker 1: Conjur said, as a matter of fact, every man knows
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Speaker 1: the range of the buffalo has grown more and more
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Speaker 1: confined year after year, that they have been driven westward
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Speaker 1: before advancing civilization. But he opposed the bill. Mister Hawley
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Speaker 1: of Connecticut said, I am glad to see this bill.
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Speaker 1: I am in favor of this law, and I hope
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Speaker 1: it will pass. Mister Low favored the bill and thought
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Speaker 1: that the buffalo ought to be protected for proper utility.
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Speaker 1: Mister Cobb thought they ought to be protected for the
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Speaker 1: settlers who depended partly on them for food. Mister Parker
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Speaker 1: of Missouri intimated that the policy of the Secretary of
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Speaker 1: the Interior was a sound one and that the buffaloes
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Speaker 1: ought to be exterminated to prevent difficulties in civilizing the Indians.
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Speaker 1: Said mister Conjur, I do not think the measure will
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Speaker 1: tend at all to protect the buffalo. Mister mc cormick replied,
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Speaker 1: the bill will not prevent the killing of buffaloes for
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Speaker 1: any useful purpose, but only their wanton destruction. Mister Cassen said,
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Speaker 1: I wished to say one word in support of this
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Speaker 1: bill because I have had some experience as to the
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Speaker 1: manner in which these buffaloes are treated by hunters. The
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Speaker 1: buffalo is a creature of vast utility. This animal ought
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Speaker 1: to be protected, the question being taken on the passage
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Speaker 1: of the bill. There were eyes one hundred and thirty
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Speaker 1: two nose not counted, so the bill was passed. On
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Speaker 1: June twenty third, eighteen seventy four, this bill h R.
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Speaker 1: Nine twenty one came up in the Senate. Mister Harvey
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Speaker 1: moved as an amendment to strike out the words who
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Speaker 1: is not an Indian? Said mister Hitchcock. That will defeat
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Speaker 1: the bill. Mister Frelinghusen said that would prevent the Indians
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Speaker 1: from killing the buffalo on their own ground. I object
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Speaker 1: to the bill. Mister Sargeant said, I think we can
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Speaker 1: pass the bill in the right shape without objection. Let
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Speaker 1: us take it up. It is a very important one.
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Speaker 1: Mister Frelinghusen withdrew his objection. Mister Harvey thought it was
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Speaker 1: a very important bill and withdrew his amendment. The bill
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Speaker 1: was reported to the Senate, ordered to a third reading,
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Speaker 1: read the third time, and passed. It went to President
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Speaker 1: Grant for his signature, and expired in his hands at
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Speaker 1: the adjournment of that session of Congress. On February second,
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Speaker 1: eighteen seventy four, mister Fort introduced a bill h R.
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Speaker 1: Sixteen eighty nine to tax buffalo hydes, which was referred
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Speaker 1: to the Committee on Ways and Means. On June tenth,
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Speaker 1: eighteen seventy four, mister Dawes from the Committee on Ways
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Speaker 1: and Means reported back the bill adversely and moved that
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Speaker 1: it be laid on the table. Mister Fort asked to
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Speaker 1: have the bill referred to the Committee of the Whole,
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Speaker 1: and it was so referred. On February second, eighteen seventy four,
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Speaker 1: mister R. C. McCormick of Arizona introduced in the House
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Speaker 1: a Bill HR seventeen twenty eight restricting the killing of
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Speaker 1: the bison or buffalo on the public Lands, which was
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Speaker 1: referred to the Committee on the Public Lands and never
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Speaker 1: heard of more. On January thirty first, eighteen seventy six,
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Speaker 1: mister Fort introduced a bill HR seventeen nineteen to prevent
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Speaker 1: the useless slaughter of buffaloes within the territories of the
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Speaker 1: United States, which was referred to the Committee on the Territories.
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Speaker 1: The Committee on Territories reported back the bill without amendment
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Speaker 1: on January twenty third, eighteen seventy six. Its provisions were
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Speaker 1: in every respect identical with those of the bill introduced
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Speaker 1: by mister Fort in eighteen seventy four, and which passed
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Speaker 1: both houses in support of it. Mister Fort said, the
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Speaker 1: intention and object of this bill is to preserve them
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Speaker 1: the buffaloes, for the use of the Indians whose homes
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Speaker 1: are upon the public domain, and to the frontiersmen who
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Speaker 1: may properly use them for food. They have been and
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Speaker 1: are now being slaughtered in large numbers. Thousands of these
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Speaker 1: noble brutes are annually slaughtered out of mere wantonness. This
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Speaker 1: bill just as it is now presented past the last Congress.
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Speaker 1: It was not vetoed, but fell, as I understand, merely
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Speaker 1: for want of time to consider it, after having passed
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Speaker 1: both houses. He also intimated that the government was using
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Speaker 1: a great deal of money for cattle to furnish the
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Speaker 1: Indians while the buffalo was being wantonly destroyed, whereas they
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Speaker 1: might be turned to their good Mister Crountz wanted the
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Speaker 1: words who is not an Indian struck out so as
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Speaker 1: to make the bill general. He thought Indians were to
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Speaker 1: blame for the wanton destruction. Mister Fort thought that amendment
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Speaker 1: unnecessary and stated that he was informed that the Indians
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Speaker 1: did not destroy the buffaloes wantonly. Mister Dunnell thought the
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Speaker 1: bill one of great importance. The clerk read for him
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Speaker 1: a letter from A. G. Brackett, Lieutenant Colonel, second United
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Speaker 1: States Cavalry stationed at Omaha Barracks, in which was a
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Speaker 1: very urgent request to have Congress interfere to prevent the
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Speaker 1: wholesale slaughter. Then going on, mister Reagan thought the bill
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Speaker 1: proper and right. He knew from personal experience how the
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Speaker 1: wanton slaughtering was going on, and also that the Indians
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Speaker 1: were not the ones who did it. Mister Townsend of
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Speaker 1: New York saw no reason why a white man should
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Speaker 1: not be allowed to kill a female buffalo as well
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Speaker 1: as an Indian. He said it would be impracticable to
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Speaker 1: have a separate law for each. Mister mc ginnis did
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Speaker 1: not agree with him. He thought the bill ought to pay.
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Speaker 1: As it stood, Mister Throckmorton thought that while the intention
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Speaker 1: of the bill was a good one, yet it was
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Speaker 1: mischievous and difficult to enforce, and would also work hardship
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Speaker 1: to a large portion of our frontier people. He had
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Speaker 1: several objections. He also thought a cow buffalo could not
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Speaker 1: be distinguished at a distance. Mister Hancock of Texas thought
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Speaker 1: the bill an impolicy, and that the sooner the buffalo
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Speaker 1: was exterminated, the better. Mister Fort replied by asking him
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Speaker 1: why all the game dear antelope et cetera was not slaughtered. Also,
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Speaker 1: then he went on to state that to exterminate the
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Speaker 1: buffalo would be to starve innocent children of the red man,
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Speaker 1: and to make the latter more wild and savage than
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Speaker 1: he was already. Mister Baker of Indiana offered the following
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Speaker 1: amendment as a substitute for the one already offered. Provided
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Speaker 1: that any white person who shall employ, higher or procure,
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Speaker 1: or directly or indirectly, any Indian to kill any buffalo
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Speaker 1: forbidden to be killed by this Act shall be deemed
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Speaker 1: guilty of a misdemeanor and punished in the manner provided
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Speaker 1: in this Act. Mister fort stated that a certain clause
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Speaker 1: in his bill covered the object of the amendment. Mister
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Speaker 1: Jenks offered the following amendment. Strike out the fourth line
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Speaker 1: of the second section the word can, and insert shall,
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Speaker 1: and in the second line of the same section, insert
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Speaker 1: the word wantonly before kill, so that the clause will
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Speaker 1: read that it shall be in like manner unlawful for
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Speaker 1: any such person to wantonly kill, wound, or destroy in
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Speaker 1: the said territories any greater number of male buffaloes than
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Speaker 1: are needed for food by such person, or then shall
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Speaker 1: be used, cured, or preserved for the food of other persons,
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Speaker 1: or for the market. Mister Kunninger said, I think the
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Speaker 1: whole bill is unwise. I think it is a useless measure.
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Speaker 1: Mister Hancock said, I move that the bill and amendment
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Speaker 1: be laid on the table. The motion to lay the
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Speaker 1: bill on the table was defeated and the amendment was rejected.
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Speaker 1: Mister Conjur called for a division on the passage of
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Speaker 1: the bill. The House divided and there were eyes ninety
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Speaker 1: three Nose forty eight. He then demanded tellers, and they
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Speaker 1: reported eyes one hundred and four Nos. Thirty six. So
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Speaker 1: the bill was passed on February twenty fifth, eighteen seventy six.
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Speaker 1: The bill was reported to the Senate and referred to
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Speaker 1: the Committee on Territories, from whence it never returned. On
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Speaker 1: March twentieth, eighteen seventy six, mister Fort introduced a bill
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Speaker 1: h R. Twenty seven sixty seven to tax Buffalo, which
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Speaker 1: was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means and
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Speaker 1: never heard of afterward. This was the last move made
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Speaker 1: in Congress in behalf of the Buffalo. The philanthropic friends
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Speaker 1: of the frontiersman, the Indian, and of the Buffalo himself,
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Speaker 1: despaired of accomplishing the worthy object for which they had
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Speaker 1: so earnestly and persistently labored, and finally gave up the fight.
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Speaker 1: At the very time the effort in behalf of buffalo
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Speaker 1: protection was abandoned, the northern herd still flourished and might
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Speaker 1: have been preserved from extirpation. At various times, the legislatures
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Speaker 1: of a few of the Western states and territories enacted
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Speaker 1: laws vaguely and feebly intended to provide some sort of
21:48
Speaker 1: protection to the fast disappearing animals. One of the first
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Speaker 1: was the Game Law of Colorado, passed in eighteen seventy two,
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Speaker 1: which declared that the killers of game should not leave
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Speaker 1: any flesh to spoil. The Western game laws in those
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Speaker 1: days amounted to about as much as they do now,
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Speaker 1: practically nothing at all. I have never been able to
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Speaker 1: learn of a single instance, save in the Yellowstone Park,
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Speaker 1: wherein a Western hunter was prevented by so simple an
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Speaker 1: innocuous thing as a game law from killing. Game laws
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Speaker 1: were enacted, but they were always left to enforce themselves.
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Speaker 1: The idea of the frontiersman, the average at least, has
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Speaker 1: always been to kill as much game as possible before
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Speaker 1: some other fellow gets a chance at it, and before
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Speaker 1: it is all killed off. So he goes at the game,
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Speaker 1: and as a general thing, kills all he can while
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Speaker 1: it lasts, and with it feeds himself and family, his dogs,
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Speaker 1: and even his hogs to repletion. I knew one Montana
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Speaker 1: man north of Miles City who killed for his own
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Speaker 1: use twenty six blacksl deer in one season, and had
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Speaker 1: so much more venison than he could consume more give
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Speaker 1: away that a great pile of carcasses lay in his
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Speaker 1: yard until spring and spoiled. During the existence of the buffalo.
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Speaker 1: It was declared by many an impossibility to stop or
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Speaker 1: prevent the slaughter. Such an accusation of weakness and imbecility
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Speaker 1: on the part of the General Government is an insult
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Speaker 1: to our strength and resources. The protection of game is
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Speaker 1: now and always has been, simply a question of money.
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Speaker 1: A proper code of game laws and a reasonable number
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Speaker 1: of salaried game wardens sworn to enforce them and punish
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Speaker 1: all offenses against them, would have afforded the buffalo as
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Speaker 1: much protection as would have been necessary to his continual existence.
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Speaker 1: To be sure, many buffaloes would have been killed on
23:53
Speaker 1: the sly in spite of laws to the contrary. But
23:57
Speaker 1: it was wholesale slaughter that wrought the sum extermination, and
24:01
Speaker 1: that could easily have been prevented. Attacks of fifty cents
24:05
Speaker 1: each on buffalo robes would have maintained a sufficient number
24:09
Speaker 1: of game wardens to have reasonably regulated the killing, and
24:13
Speaker 1: maintained for an indefinite period a bountiful source of supply
24:17
Speaker 1: of food and also raimant for both the white man
24:20
Speaker 1: of the plains and the Indian. By judicious management, the
24:24
Speaker 1: buffalo could have been made to yield an annual revenue
24:28
Speaker 1: equal to that that we now received from the fur
24:30
Speaker 1: seals one hundred thousand dollars per year. During the two
24:35
Speaker 1: great periods of slaughter eighteen seventy to seventy five and
24:40
Speaker 1: eighteen eighty to eighty four, the principal killing grounds were
24:44
Speaker 1: as well known as the stockyards of Chicago. Had proper
24:48
Speaker 1: laws been enacted, and had either the general or territorial
24:52
Speaker 1: governments entered with determination upon the task of restricting the
24:57
Speaker 1: killing of buffaloes to proper limits, their enforcement would have been,
25:01
Speaker 1: in the main as simple and easy as the collection
25:04
Speaker 1: of taxes. Of course, the solitary hunter in a remote
25:08
Speaker 1: locality would have bowled over his half dozen buffaloes in
25:12
Speaker 1: secure defiance of the law, but such desultory killing could
25:17
Speaker 1: not have made much impression on the great mass For
25:20
Speaker 1: many years. The business like wholesale slaughter, wherein one hunter
25:25
Speaker 1: would openly kill five thousand buffaloes and market perhaps two
25:30
Speaker 1: thousand hides, could easily have been stopped forever. Buffalo hides
25:36
Speaker 1: could not have been dealt in clandestinely for many reasons,
25:40
Speaker 1: and had there been no sale for ill gotten spoils,
25:43
Speaker 1: the still hunter would have gathered no spoils to sell.
25:47
Speaker 1: It was an undertaking of considerable magnitude and involving a
25:51
Speaker 1: cash outlay of several hundred dollars to make up an
25:54
Speaker 1: outfit of wagons, horses, arms, and ammunition, food, et cetera
25:59
Speaker 1: for a time trip to the range. After buffaloes, it
26:03
Speaker 1: was these wholesale hunters, both in the North and the South,
26:06
Speaker 1: who exterminated the species. And to say that all such
26:10
Speaker 1: undertakings could not have been effectually prevented by the law
26:14
Speaker 1: is to accuse our lawmakers and law officers of imbecility
26:18
Speaker 1: to a degree hitherto unknown. There is nowhere in this country,
26:23
Speaker 1: nor in any of the waters adjacent to it, a
26:26
Speaker 1: living species of any kind which the United States Government
26:30
Speaker 1: cannot fully and perpetually protect from destruction by human agencies
26:35
Speaker 1: if it chooses to do so. The destruction of the
26:39
Speaker 1: buffalo was a loss of wealth, perhaps twenty times greater
26:42
Speaker 1: than the sum it would have cost to conserve it.
26:45
Speaker 1: And this stupendous waste of valuable food and other products
26:49
Speaker 1: was committed by one class of the American people and
26:52
Speaker 1: permitted by another, with a prodigality and wastefulness which even
26:57
Speaker 1: in the lowest savages would be inexcusable. End of section
27:03
Speaker 1: twenty four