The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-02-13
sATURDAY, FEBRUARY Is 1904.
ro pRorEer. THE HORSES.

It is reasonable to suppose that Nature is not in the habit of making mistakes If we sometimes find an animal or vege- table freak 1t is more than apt to be the result of conditions which twisted natures designs out of shape and sub stituted monstrosity for the perfect work designed by her and her laws.
 pid any one ever see a colt foaled entirely without a tall? If such an animal ever appeared it was violation of mother natures laws and fit only for piace in a museum or show. The animals are born with tails, and. con sequently. tails are necessary. They are both useful and ornamental. "A bob tailed bull in fly time" is looked on as fine specimen of inappropriate helpless mess. but he isn't any worse off than is a horse with his tail cut off or docked. A flowing, well-groomed tail is one of the chief beauties of a horse, and one of his most useful appendages. Deprived of 1t he is uncouth and lacking in beauty, be- sides being at the mercy of his insect enemies. Nature knew what was needed in the formation of a physically per feet horse and he was moulded accord ingly. ....
 Man thinks himself wiser than Nature and thinks he can improve on her plans and better her handiwork; consequently, he docks. bobs and otherwise botches the tail of his horse. spelling his beauty, in- terfering with his comfort and making freak of the handsomest member of the animal creation. Therein man shows himself bungler as well as a cruel and unfeeling master. Why does he do it? Because he is a blind follower of some misdirected fashion-monger and a conceit- ed believer in his own superior intelli- gence. Every horse whose tail is cut off, docked or otherwise altered Is not only subjected to unnecessary cruelty, but is robbed of some portion of his good looks.
 It is comforting to note that Congress is taking steps to prevent this inhuman practice, so far as the District of Colum- bia is concerned. Congress doesn't \ always do the things it ought, and does do some things 1t should not, but when 1t  of horses within the District over which 1t has exclusive Jurisdiction it Is doing good work. Of course 1t could not en- force such a law in any of the States but 1t can do so in the District, and a bill is now before 1t with this provision:
 The bill requires that all bob-tailed horses within the District at the time of the passage of the act shall be registered within ninety days; and at the expira- keeping, racing, having in possession, or using of any unregistered docked horse will subject the person so offending to a fine of not less than $100 nor more than $500, or imprisonment in the workhouse, not less than thirty nor more than ninety days, or both, at the discretion of the court
 This bill was framed and presented on the part of the citizens of the District and is championed by Mir. Babcock, Chairman of the District Committee. We notice. by the way, that Congressman DalEell. who represent part of Matt Quay's State of Pennsylvania, wanted to treat the matter as a joke and tried to get funny in discussing 1t. He seemed to think that it would not be possible to prevent a man from bringing his own horses into the District. however badly their tails may be treated, but he was given to understand that the Committee Is in earnest, and that it expects the bill to pass and be enforced.
 If Congress passes this bill all humanI- tarians will be disposed to forgive some of its shortcomings, and if the District authorities will enforce it strictly we shall have increased good opinion of the city administration. If in only one place in the United States the horses can be pro teeted from mans .iuhumanity there will he snmethinE gained.