The Daily bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Hawaii]) 1882-1895, 1888-06-08
FRIDAY, JUNE s, 1855.
THE WHIP AND ITS ABUSE.


A whip is necessary evil. At
least, it is generally admitted to be
necessary, but perhaps not so gen
orally conceded to be an evil.
A whip is believed to be necessary
and beneficial for children, at times.
Perhaps the belief is orthodox.
Anyhow, King Solomon, reputed to
have been uncommonly wise, in
clined to that opinion, according to
the ancient record. But our belief
is that the whip applied to tender
human backs is often misapplied.
For horses and bullocks, it cannot
be denied, the whip is necessary, al
hough at the same time it may be an
evil, in the opinion, if they have an
opinion, of the poor creatures on
whom it is used
Admitting that the whip is a neces-
sity is not justification of its ex-
cessive use. Food is q necessity,
but man may consume it to an ex-
tent which is in excess of his re-
quirements, and thus make glutton
of himself. The necessity of ali
ment does not make gormandising a
necessity. A whip is a necessary
part of horse-and- carriage outfit,
but the wielder of the whip may use
it when not necessary and more than
necessary, in which case the "whip-
ist' is manifestly guilty of ''cruelty
to animals"
Moreover, the writer asserts that
right here, in the city of Honolulu,
the whip is many times, and
by many persons used ''intemper-
ately." Some drivers of public con-
veyances are often guilty Of this ex.
cess. On every little pretext and
without any pretext whatever they
use the whip. They have acquired
the habit, and perhaps indulge in il
unconsciously. If the horse goes
too slow, they whip him; if he goes
too fast, they whip him; if he does
neither one nor the other, they whiI
him. A horse can never do anything
to please them. Do what he may
his reward is the lash. Such person
are discredit to the drivers frater
ity, and are, it is presumed, eX
ecrated by the entire horse family
A child may be easily spoiled b.
an injudicious or an incorporate ap
plication of the whip, and so may
horse. Many children are spoile
by this means, and so are man
horses. Unjust punishment is inter
nally resented by children, and
often remembered by them with hi
ter and revengeful feelings in matul
and old age. We do not credit tt
docile and sagacious horse with
mental capacity of this nature, b'
it cannot be denied that a constal
and indiscriminate application
the whip to thaht useful servant
man has the effect of irritating, col
fusing, demoralising, and renderir
him unreliable. And if he occasion
ally exhibits resentment by bit
kick, bolt, or some other rebe
lious act, he cannot be reasonab
censured.
The foregoing tumble was su
gested by an incident which t
writer and others witnessed Ia
evening, briefly as follows: Expire
No. rs was being driven along Xii
street at very easy pace. Witho
any apparent cause, the driver h
gan to lash the horse unmercifull
The animal resented such unjust al
undeserved treatment, and began
make free use of his hind legs. T
result was broken pair of shat
and a generally dilapidated CT
riage. The horse gained his liber
for while and the driver narrow
escaped serious injury. This smas
up was solely due to an improp
and intemperate use of the whi
and the driver, not the horse, shou
be held to account.