State Game and Fish Commission Still Holds Mrs. Shafer’s Furs
Attorney General George F. Shafer and officials of the state game and fish commission are nearing the end of a game of button-button, who’s got the furs, which has created some quiet amusement in unofficial circles here.
It all began during the primary campaign when Mr. Shafer was presenting his plea for recognition by Republican voters as a candidate for the governorship and was the subject of considerable whispering in the latter stages of the campaign.
Several weeks before the primary election the game and fish officials of Minnesota notified the North Dakota Game and Fish commission that Mrs. George F. Shafer, wife of the attorney general, had shipped some beaver hides to a Minnesota furrier to be made into a coat.
At the request of the North Dakota game department the furs were sent to R. A. Kinzer, game warden for the southern half of the state who was at that time engaged in managing the Nonpartisan campaign. Several days before the election the matter was called to the attention of Mrs. Shafer, the contention of the game department being that the furs had been illegally shipped to Minnesota and that there was no proof that they had been legally taken in the first place. It was suggested that Mrs. Shafer plead guilty to illegally shipping the furs and paying a fine.
Shafer refused to let his wife enter into any such agreement, and so far as known here, no case has ever been brought in the courts regarding the matter.
Shafer said the furs were taken by his father a number of years ago when trapping beavers was legal and obtained an affidavit by his father and a copy of the license issued to his father under which the furs were taken. He further contends that the law regarding the shipment of furs applies only to raw furs and that the hides in question had been cured. The law in question makes it illegal to ship raw furs out of the state without a permit from the state game and fish department and was passed to prevent trafficking in illegally caught pelts.
Contending that the furs were legally caught and legally shipped, Shafer demanded their return. At last reports, he said,-the game and fish commission had sent them to a Wisconsin firm, along with some other furs, to be tanned.
Although there is no immediate probability that the case will get into the courts, it is considered possible that legal procedure may yet be had in case the furs are not returned to Shafer within a reasonable time. So far as is known here there is no present intention on the part of the game and fish commission to bring charges against Mrs. Shafer.
The Bismarck Tribune, Bismarck, ND, August 27, 1928