THE PLUMAGE BILL.
(To THE EDITOR or THE " SPECTATOR.") Sta,—The letter from Mr. H. J. Massingham in your issue of the 8th instant is typical, if you will allow me to say so, of the general inaccuracy of those who support the Plumage Bill. Mr. Massingham, for instance, says he "know." the plume trader, yet your correspondent is one of those who have given currency to the libel that the plume trade is largely in the hands of aliens, and attributes to one Member of Parliament words which, according to Hansard, were spoken by quite another. A lady writing last week to the Heigh's! News says: "There is so much controversy on the question recently that it is difficult to get at the root of the matter. From various reliable naturalists I have had the information that the ospreys are plucked from the birds of paradise during the breeding season "! Everybody, it would appear, may be believed on this subject, however slight his knowledge, except the trade itself, which ought to know most. On the general question of the nationality of the plume trade in this country, will you at least give publicity to the facts? These are that more than 75 per cent. of the firms engaged in the trade, including all the larger and more responsible firms, are owned and controlled by British-born subjects. The remainder comprise three French firms, two African firms, and four firms owned by British subjects naturalised long before the war. The work- people employed in the trade, who number nearly 3,000, are also, with very few exceptions, British. It would be well if those who are espousing what they believe to be a human cause would refrain from mere assumption and confine themselves to verifiable facts.—We are, Sir, &c., THE OSTRICH AND FANCY FEATHER TRADE ASSOCIATION. (J. E. H. BARER, Hon. Secretary.) [The lady who wrote to the Keighley News seems to have had the had luck to run up against some very old naturalists. We much regret to hear that the plumage trade in this country is mainly British.—En. Spectator.]
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