The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-06-21
Another States
 Forming forever A kingdom of hate 'Twixt the two sides
WTAE IfIC IWU sIUOE or the human debai

| Twfxt the two sides
 l Or the human debate.
 Paying the price with the life-blood red
 Of the soldiers of Boer and Queen. The sight of men dying, or lying
 wounded on the field never. completes | the picture of battle. Most of the bullets which pierce a human body on the field pierce a human heart in some | far-off home. War on the battlefields
 is ghastly enough. but its cup of woe | is not fully realized until We hear the litter cry from the homes and the
 market places. Let us not yield to the
 intoxicating influence of war. Let us | rather teach peace on earth, good will to men," a- God speed the day when peace shall
 be sure; when the government of na- I tions shall be stable without great | standing armies and powerful navies; when the world shall be purged of this | plague of plaques: when the flow of blood shall be staunched and scowling enmities shall sink like storm clouds beneath the horizon.
 But humanity does not consist alone | of the relations between men. God has given for the care and use of mankind | thousands of innocent creatures whose rleasure or sufferings lie at our door | according as we are humane or unkind | to, them.
 How unmindful we are of the untold sufferings of the faithful horses that serve us in carriage and dray. Who | can tell the untold agony of a wound | ed bird struggling in the mouth of a retrieving dog or dangling by a broken | leg from the hand of heartless hunt CT or thoughtless boy? Even could ! they speak. are there words to express the agony of feeling which thrills the heart of parent birds whose habttation | has been destroyed or whose young have been stolen or killed by wanton | hands. There is need to teach human ! ity along these lines and I appeal to you, the strong mcG, the noble men. | the leaders of thought and holders of l public sentiment throughout our com monwealth to speak for those who cannot speak for themselves to cham pion the cause of the weak, the help | less and the innocent. l know there Is | a constant press of other matters more personal and which. viewed through our selfish eyes, seem more important | but shall we not take time to be mer- ! ciful-to be humane?
 | Without doubt there are many per- | sons who have no love for animals, wild or tame, and who think that l horses, dogs. cats, birds and others of Gods lower creatures are of little, if l any, consequence when compared with | even the poorest specimens of our own race.
 But. on the other hand, whatever
 may be your lot in life-your fortune
 or your misfortune, there is no man or | child or woman. however, poor or neg lected. that may not be made happier
 and better by the love of these lower creatures, poorer still. The birds whose
 songs gladden. the spring time,
 the cattle grazing in the fields.
 the cat purring at your feet, the horse kindly treated.
 always glad to toll in your services, and the dog, that will not desert his mas
 ter. though only blind beggar in the
 street, to follow a king to his palace; all these keep sunshine in many hu- | man heart, where otherwise would be | only darkness.
 If you ever see the time when you feel as though you hadn't a friend in the world. and wish youwere dead, go
 and get some pet that you can talk to
 and love and care for-if it is only little bird-and you will be astonished
 to find the relief and happiness it will | bring into your life. In caring for and | loving it, you may find, as the great poet Longfellow has written:
 Your nights will be filled with music, And the cares that infest the day,
 Will fold their tents like the Arabs And as silently steal away.
 It is no evidence of weakness for
 strong, intelligent men like you of the Alabama Press Association, to show your affection for Gods creatures.
 Thousands of the worlds brightest and bravest men have shown an unbounded affection for pets of various kinds, and ] the Savior declared that not a sparrow
 falls to the ground without His knowl-
 edge-He Is mil dful of the least of
 them. To torture or abuse one of these
 lower creatures is to offend God.
 That great warrior. Colonel John
 Sobieski, says that the thoughtless
 killing of a song bird haunted him
 through the remaining years of his life
 and in his autobiography he says: "I
 regard that act as the greatest crime I
 ever committed"
 can find pleasure in taking God given
 life with no higher motive than merely
 t> kill something. Right here, I want
 to put in a protest against shooting
 matches, where live pigeons or other
 birds are used as targets for the deadly | pellets and l ask every newspaper in | Alabama to join me in making the pro- l test felt wherever the barbarous prac-
 tice is in vogue. Furthermore, will you not join in a united effort to prevent
 the violation of State laws protecting