- June 29, 1921 – JSA to Ellis J. Staley (Conservation Commissioner)
Dear Commissioner:
The bull frog incident revealed in the attached will be of interest to you since it emphasizes the wrong attitude so frequently taken by game wardens, which antagonizes the public and encourages them to break the law.
May I suggest the advisability of a talk by you to the game wardens in which you could make it clear that to a considerable degree they are acting as a host and the public as their guests. Their attitude should be one of assistance, encouraging the public to properly use the out-of-doors, rather than to maintain the attitude of persecution or prosecution. There is, of course, a good reason for such law, or should be, and the game warden, if not conversant, could be made to understand the reason for such a law and make this known to the public. Instead of promoting antagonistic feeling, the game warden could easily inspire a feeling of interest that would result in cooperative spirit.
I am sure this is not new idea to you but I am taking the liberty of bringing this to your attention with the hope that you may find it desirable to take some action that would develop better feeling between the sportsmen and the game wardens.
I understand that in this instance the sportsman is a convicted criminal, since the case had to be tried on Sunday or for some other reason, and yet his offense did not result in damage to the frog and there was no intent to defeat the law.
Cordially yours,
JSApperson