CO885-(21-23) — Page 622

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

Reference :-

........................imC.O. 885

23 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO

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I am to enquire whether this proposed method of procedure meets with the concurrence of Mr. Secretary Harcourt."

Similar letters have been addressed to the Home Office, India Office, Board of Trade, and Board of Agriculture.

I am to suggest that the Report of the Inter-departmental Conference should, if Mr. Harcourt sees no objection, be communicated to the Board of Agriculture.

I am, &c.,

(Circular.)

Enclosure in No. 3.

A. LAW.

SIR,

Foreign Office, March 11, 1909. I TRANSMIT herewith a memorandum respecting proposals which have been made in this country for prohibiting the importation of the plumage and skins of wild birds.

It would greatly further the objects in view if legislation here on the lines therein described could be preceded by an international convention under which the various States interested should agree to take steps to prohibit the importation of such plumage.

I request that you will communicate a copy of the memorandum to the Govern- ment to which you are accredited, and will inquire of them whether they would be prepared to enter into an agreement of the kind suggested.

His Majesty's Representative

at

I am, &c.,

T. MCKINNON WOOD,

MEMORANDUM.

for the Secretary of State.

There has been a growing sentiment in this country that steps should, if possible, be taken to check the wanton and wholesale destruction of beautiful birds which is being carried on in all parts of the world. Both the late Queen and Queen Alexandra have given public expression to their personal feelings on this head, and the long established use of " ospreys " (the head feathers of the white heron or egret) has been discontinued in head-dresses in the British Army by administrative action; but, although it has been found possible by legislation to give ample protection to wild birds in this country, the force of public opinion alone is not strong enough to combat, on the one hand, the apathy or vanity of the wearers of plumes from such birds imported from abroad, and, on the other hand, the commercial interests of those engaged in the task of collecting and importing the plumes.

A Bill was therefore introduced into Parliament last Session to deal with the evil. This measure was not formulated by, but has the sympathy of, His Majesty's Government. Its proposals are, in brief:-

1. To prohibit, after a given date, by a substantial penalty and forfeiture the importation and the possession for purposes of sale or exchange of any such imported plumage.

2. The following plumage to be exempted from the Bill:-

(a) Birds imported for use as articles of diet.

(b) Birds imported by special permission of the Government as specimens for

museums or for scientific research.

(c) Plumage bonâ fide forming part of the wearing apparel of a person

entering the country.

(d) Importation for the manufacture of fishing flies.

(e) Ostriches and eider ducks; power being reserved to the Government in this case to withdraw the exemption, or to enlarge it by adding the names of other birds if necessity arises.

The Bill was carefully considered by a Select Committee of the House of Lords, who reported strongly in its favour. They reported that the evidence they heard from persons acquainted with the conditions in Australia, India, South America,

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and other countries from which plumage is sent to Great Britain showed conclusively that not only are birds of many species slaughtered recklessly, but also that the methods employed for slaughter are such as in many cases, and especially in that of egrets, to involve the destruction of the young birds and eggs. Birds are, as a rule, in their finest plumage at the time of nesting, and have been shown to be especially the prey of hunters at that season."

The Committee were satisfied that, while many birds are being greatly reduced in number, others are in danger of being actually exterminated.

They found that the Bill would be of material assistance in prohibiting illicit exportation of such plumage from those countries, including certain States of the United States of America, which have already laws to that effect.

The Committee state that they see no reason to suppose that the exclusion from the market of the plumage of rare birds would materially affect the feather trade of the country as a whole. The great bulk of the imports in that branch of commerce consists of feathers of the ostrich and other birds which are exempted under the Bill, and the feathers which would be excluded are of relatively small value. Any reduction, therefore, in the importation of feathers of birds protected by the Bill would, in the opinion of the Committee, be counterbalanced, or, so far as employment in this country is concerned, more than counterbalanced, by the use of other feathers or of artificial flowers." His Majesty's Government are not aware that conditions materially different would obtain in other countries.

Perhaps the most important of the Committee's recommendations was that His Majesty's Government would endeavour to secure international action with a view to the preservation of rare and beautiful birds, and that the Bill may be made the basis of representations to other Governments, in order to induce them to pass similar laws.

His Majesty's Government feel strongly that the most satisfactory, indeed the only, method of setting this matter on a sound basis is by an international conven- tion, under which Governments adhering should agree to take the necessary steps to prohibit the import of such plumage. Experience has shown that, owing to the stimulus of demand from importing countries, laws prohibiting export from the countries which produce the birds which are in immediate danger of extermination are rendered more or less nugatory. His Majesty's Government are convinced that if the present generation is to preserve to posterity the many beautiful species of birds which are being exterminated by methods and under conditions revolting to humanity, this can be effected only by concerted action on the lines which they suggest.

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No. 4.

COLONIAL OFFICE to FOREIGN OFFICE. [Answered by No. 6.]

SIR,

Downing Street, 15 August, 1912. I AM directed by Mr. Secretary Harcourt to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 9th instant,* respecting the Report of the Inter-Departmental Confer- ence on the destruction of plumage birds, and to request you to inform Secretary Sir Edward Grey that he concurs in the proposal to approach the French Govern- ment with a view to obtaining their concurrence before deciding to convene an International Conference to deal with the question.

Mr. Harcourt would prefer to express no opinion as to the desirability of holding an International Conference without the co-operation of the French Govern- ment until the reply of that Government has been received.

I am, &c.,

HENRY LAMBERT,

for the Under-Secretary of State.

• No. 3.