18 AUTOMATIC SHOTGUN. AUTOMATIC Mr. Bover. I think so. The interview with the President is substantially as it appears in the New York Sun. There was but one interview with the President of the United States, and the President repudiates it, and there is the report of that interview to which he undoubedly has reference [referring to newspaper article]. The Cuarrman. Do you doubt that he is in favor of the preservation of game? Mr. Bover. He is; certainly. The Cuarrman. And I have no doubt that all the members of this committee and the people of the country generally are in sympathy The question now is as with Mr. Shields’s efforts in that direction. to the constitutionality of this measure, and if it may be construed to be constitutional, whether it would be desirable to report such a bill. ‘ Mr. Bover. Yes, sir. Now, let me say that this bill applies to four The criticism of one of the members of the committee Territories. clearly pointed to the fact that in each of these Territories they have If a legislative body competent to pass upon a bill of this character. a bill of this character is constitutional, and can be made a law, there is a legislative body for that purpose in the Territory, and the question naturally arises why is not that the place to go with such a bill, where representatives from the different parts of these territories, having full and particular knowledge of the conditions existing in the different parts of the Territory, coming as they do from all the different parts and ramifications of that Territory, could determine whether such a bill is practical and necessary ? Mr. Powers. In all the acts relating to Alaska we find that Alaska It is designated not as a Territory, but as “ the district of Alaska.” is not in any of the laws or acts passed concerning it referred to as a Territory. i Mr. Bover. Yes, sir. I do not think this bill had in contemplation This bill was presented to the legislature in Oklahoma, and Alaska. It is a fact that no State in the Union has it has been defeated. passed this bill. It has been attempted to be passed in the State of Massachusetts, and has been defeated; in the State of Connecticut iwice, and defeated; in the State of New York once, and never enIt was submitted last year, and it was submitted on acted into law. the same arguments that have been made here to-day, and was never reported out of the committee. It was defeated in the State of New Jersey twice. In the State of Pennsylvania it was presented three times, and never enacted; in the State of Michigan once, and defeated; in the State of Wisconsin once, and defeated; in the State of Minnesota twice, and defeated; in North and South Dakota, and defeated, and perhaps North and South Dakota, on the question of the preservation of the sage hen or the partridge, might be said to be deeply interested in an enactment of this character. In California it was presented and defeated, in the State of Kansas it was defeated, in Missouri it was defeated, in the State of Arkansas it was defeated, and in the State of Kentucky it was defeated. The Cuairman. It was defeated in committee Mr. Bover. It was never enacted into a law, after several presentations in many of these States, on the same arguments that have been And, gentlemen, we ought not to be misled by the made here to-day. enthusiastic expressions on the general subject of the preservation of SHOTGUN. 19 game emanating from such societies as the Audubon Society, of New York City, and as the Zoological Society or the Museum of Natural History, of New York. Of course, you can go abroad and get petitions that would reach from here to the Pacific Ocean on the general subject. of the preservation of game, and there are thousands and thousands of people who would not have a bird killed or an animal killed; they would not have a moose or a deer killed, or any form of game killed, at any time, or any birds whatever. There are hundreds and thousands of people who entertain views of that character, and vou could get all sorts of letters. But here is the practical question: It concedes the right of a man to use a repeating rifle which will shoot 13 times without taking the oun from the shoulder. It concedes the right to use a revolver which will shoot any number of times without lowering the hand, just by pressing the trigger. It concedes the right to use any self-loading gun, or any gun of any sort, except this form of gun which has been invented by this gentleman over there, Mr. Browning, and which is in the course of manufacture by the Remington company. If you are going to prohibit an advanced firearm like this, why not prohibit the Remington rifle and the Winchester repeating rifle, which shoots 9 times, and why give a gentleman who is exterminating moose and deer and caribou a preference over the man who is using a shotgun ? And in respect to the shotgun, the double-barreled gun is not prohibited. They do not infringe on your right to use a double-barreled shotgun. Say that a bunch of quail starts up and a man shoots one there and one there. That is two shots. Where are the quail by that time? Are they sitting there on a branch waiting for him to shoot again ? ; Mr. Capron. ter. | Generally, when some of us shoot, they are. [Laugh- a Mr. Bover. I can give you an illustration from an interesting letter written by a local sportsman out in the West: Three of them went out to shoot jack rabbits. Two of them had the noxious and vicious automatic guns. One of them was on one side and one on the other of this sportsman, and he had his old Parker gun, shooting 2 shots, and he describes in the most interesting way how these gentlemen showed how they had nothing to do but throw up the gun and pull the trigger. Well, he got the jack rabbits with his old Parker gun, and these gentlemen had the pleasure of shooting into the air. And it goes without saying that the sight can not be held on a bird, and that sight must be taken at each bird separately, almost as though the gun was removed from the shoulder, because the recoil will throw it off. Mr. Rew. What is the advantage of the gun? 5 _ Mr. Bover. I do not know what the advantage is in the gun. It is supposed that it is an advance in the line of the manufacture of firearms. Mr. Rum. It oughtto have some useful purpose if it is patented. Mr. Bovrn. Yes, sir; and I presume that it has. It carries five shots. Mr. Powers. Have you ever examined into the laws of the State of Maine in this regard? Mr. Boverr. No, sir.