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Our Vanishing Wild Life - Its Extermination and Preservation by William Temple Hornaday
page 205 of 733 (27%)
and enterprise, the shameless feather dealers are ferreting out the
birds whose skins and plumes may legally be imported into this country
and sold; but we will meet that with a law that will protect all
foreign birds, so far as we are concerned. Now it is time for the
universal enactment of a law which will prohibit the sale and use as
ornaments of the plumage, feathers or skins of _any_ wild bird that is
not a legitimate game bird.

London is now the head of the giant octopus of the "feather trade" that
has reached out its deadly tentacles into the most remote wildernesses
of the earth, and steadily is drawing in the "skins" and "plumes" and
"quills" of the most beautiful and most interesting _unprotected_ birds
of the world. The extent of this cold-blooded industry, supported by
vain and hard-hearted women, will presently be shown in detail. Paris is
the great manufacturing center of feather trimming and ornaments, and
the French people obstinately refuse to protect the birds from
extermination, because their slaughter affords employment to a certain
numbers of French factory operatives.

All over the world where they have real estate possessions, the men of
England know how to protect game from extermination. The English are
good at protecting game--when they decide to set about it.

Why should London be the Mecca of the feather-killers of the world?

It is easily explained:

(1) London has the greatest feather market in the world; (2) the feather
industry "wants the money"; and (3) the London feather industry is
willing to spend money in fighting to retain its strangle-hold on the
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