The times., 1898-12-15
OPPONENTSl@ CRUELTY
The American Humane Asso-
ciation Convenes.
yIyIsEoTIoN DISCUSSED
Provisions of n Proposed Lnw-Thc
City-Clcver Speeches Made = The
Delegates observation-disclosures of
the ,CODyention-Todny' Program.


was convened at the Church of Our
Father, corner of Thirteenth and l.
Streets northwest. yesterday morning at
1880. The church was profuseiy deco
rated with palms and the national colors,
and special conyeniences included a
branch postoffice and writing room
The convention was opened with the
prayer by the Rev. DR.. Wallace Rad
cliffe and short address of welcome by
District Commissioner Wight. President
John G. Shortall, of the American Asso-
ciation. then made his annual address
and the reports of the secretary and the
treasurer were read. Several matters of
minor Importance We're brought to the
attention of the convention and disposed
of. An adjournment was then taken uu-
til o clock in the afternoon.
President Shortall was very prompt in
calling the delegates to order at the sec
ond session and announced that several
addresses of Importance would be made.
He introduced the Rev. James II. Den
mis-. of Rochester, n. Y, VINO discoursed
for half an hour on the phase of the
work among the children. sir. Dennis is
the president of the Rochester Society
for the Prevention of Cruelty to Child
rem, and has had considerable experience
among the various institutions for desti-
| tute children.
Mr. Dennis has very little faith in those
who spend their time going around and
taking children from good homes to place
them in asylums just for the purpose OF
making scientific study of the workings
nf la nSilprpl
| the worst forms of cruelty.
With the exception of the address by Mt
Dennis. the afternoon and evening ses-
| sions were strictly devoted to the discus
sion of vivisection in its many phases. The
| Humane Association has been fighting
vivisection almost since the date of its or
ganization and has been Il very bitter en-
| emy of that portion OF the medical fra
ternity which defends tie study OF animal
| life in the living animal.
The motives of the various societies in
! doing this have very often been misuuder-
| stood, and the position Of the humane or
| ganizatiOn has on almost every occasion
been misinterpreted. The society is not
| an enemy OF vivisection in the ordinary
acceptance of the word. One member went
| so far as to say that they were friends of
| the movement but they wish to have the
| practice placed in the hands of experts
| who arc able to do the work properly and
| not cause undue cruelty. They wish to
| have restrictions placed on the practice
of operating on living things in the medi-
| cal colleges throughout the country. and
| not, as some people suppose, have this
| very excellent method of determining the
cause of human ills 2 me away with alto
| gether. SO
The practice hs been so abused in re-
| cent years-so n,Sny people who have alb
solutely no fee,mg for man o. beast have
| been allowed to perform the operations in
| connection with vivisection-that the So
| ciety has been forced to take the matter
| up. 1t is said that animals. especially
| those that are small and easy to handle,
| have been needlessly tortured in the labor-
atories and surgical schools throughout
the country. \ bill has therefore been pre-
| pared by the members of the association,
which was presented to Congress last ses-
sion by Senator Gallinger and received the
| hearty commendation Of the members who
We're acquainted with the details of the
work the society has inaugurated. The
bill applies only to the District of Colum-
bia. but it is expected that. If it is sue
| cessful in its operation, an attempt to Sc
| cure national legislation will be made.
In many of the States there are laws re-
garding the practice. but 1t is thought
| that If Congress takes proper action the
| State legislatures win follow.
The bill presented to Congress has been
| printed by order of the Committee on the
District of Columbia, and number of
copies have already been distributed by
| the local branch of the Humane Society.
Copies of it were placed in the hands of
| the various delegates to the convention
| yesterday.
The measure provides that any person
performing an experiment on living ami
NAL which gives pain to the same shall
| be liable to penalty not exceeding one
| hundred and fifty dollars upon conviction
| for the first offense, and on the second
| or subsequent offenses shall be fined a
| sum not exceeding three hundred dollars
or imprisoned for a period not exceeding
4 six months.
Five restrictions are placed on the op-
| Grafton of the proposed law, however.
| which will allow the legitimate use of the
vivisection privilege but will prevent its
| abuse. The restrictions are:
First-The experiment must be per-
formed with a view 10 the advancement
| of physiological knowledge by a new dis
covery. or of a knowledge which will
be useful in prolonging life and a!leviating
human suffering.
| Second-The person performing the ex-
pertinent must first obtain from the Dis
trict of Columbia Commissioners license
| to do the same.
Third-The animal operated on must be
| under the influence of an anesthetic or
some strong drug that will prevent the
| slightest pain.
| Fourth-H it becomes apparent that the
| animal will suffer pain after 1t recovers
| from the influence of the anesthetic, or
| will be permanently injured, II must be
| killed before 1t regainsT consciousness.
/ ,ar,t~ ~sh hal Ne H.
| ed on a living animal in any of the public
schools of the District of Columbia which
is calculated to give the animal pain.
The last modification of the first para
| graph is itself subjected to several modi-
fications Heretofore, such experiments
have been prohibited in the public schools
| while the new law will only prohibit
| such public exhibitions as Will be calcu-
lated to shock the sensibiities of school
| children. s
| 1t is provided that under proper super
! vision, a person giving illustrated lectures
at medical schools, hospitals, or colleges
may be permitted to perform the expert
| ments on the issuance of certificate
or license, in which is stated the nature
and the scope of the proposed experiment
The act further provides that no expert
| ments shall be performed on a cat or a
| dog. unless 1t is shown conclusively thai
| the purpose of the research Will be frus-
1 trated unless the operation is performed
| on cat or dog or an animal OF similar
constitution and habits.
The Commissioners are also given the
power to direct the persons making the
| experiments to make report to them on
the result of the operation or operations
performed by them at such time and
place as they. the Commissioners, may
direct. The bill also provides that any
| annlica tim for a licanSa must hayA the