ed with big measures.

Before you have a bill drawn, advise with men whose opinions are worth
having. If the end you have in mind is a great and good one, _go ahead_,
whether you secure support in advance or not. If the needs of the hour
clearly demand the measure, _go ahead_, even though you start absolutely
alone. A good measure never goes far without attracting company.

DRAFTING A BILL.--As a rule, the members of a legislative body do not
have time to draft bills on subjects that are new or strange to them. A
short bill is easily prepared by your own representative; but a lengthy
bill, covering a serious reform, is a different matter. Hire a lawyer to
draft the bill for you. A really good lawyer will not charge much for
drafting a bill that is to benefit the public, and grind no private axe;
but if the bill is long, and requires long study, even the good citizen
must charge something.

Your bill must fully recognize existing laws. It must be either
prohibitory or permissive; which means that it can say what shall not be
done, or else that which may be done according to law, all other acts
being forbidden. Your lawyer must decide which form is best. For my
part, I greatly prefer the prohibitive form, as being the stronger and
more impressive of the two. I think it is the province of the law _to
forbid_ the destruction of wild life and forests, under penalties.

PENALTIES.--Every law should provide a penalty for its infringement; but
the penalty should not be out of all proportion to the offense. It is
just as unwise to impose a fine of one dollar for killing song-birds for
food as it is to provide for a fine of three hundred dollars. A fine
that is too small fails to impress the prisoner, and it begets contempt
for the law and the courts! A fine that is altogether too high is apt to
be set aside by the court as "excessive." In my opinion, the best fines
for wild life slaughter would be as follows:

Shooting, netting or trapping song-birds, and other non-game
birds, each bird $5 to $25
Killing game birds out of season, each bird 10 to 50
Selling game contrary to law, each offense 100 to 200
Dynamiting fish 100 to 200
Seining or netting game fishes 50 to 200
Shooting birds with unfair weapons 10 to 100
Killing an egret, Carolina parakeet or whoo