Under all these circumstances I have no hesitation in making the
strongest possible appeal for action before it is too late. The time has
come when the seabird life must be either made or marred for ever. And I
would ask you to remember what seabird conservation means down there. It
means fresh food, the only kind the people ever get, apart from fish. It
means new business, if the eiders are once made safe in sanctuaries; for
we now import our eider down from points outside of Canada. And it means
the quickening of every human interest, once you encourage the people to
join you in this excellently practical form of "Neighbourhood
Improvement".
There is another and very important point, which I discussed at
considerable length in my _Address_, but to which I return here, because
it can only be settled by a body of men, who, like this Commission, are
national trustees. This point is that certain parts of Labrador are
bound to become ideal public playgrounds, if their wild life is only
saved in time. The common conception of Labrador as being inaccessibly
remote is entirely wrong. It is accessible all round a coast line of
3000 miles at the proper season and with proper care; and its vast
peninsula lies straight between the British Islands and our own North
West.
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