Weekly Arizona journal-miner., 1905-06-07
CRITICIzEs THE PRESIDENT.
The recent hunting trip in which

ny NN"' Hut'hiS UP III "hiSh
President Roosevelt INDUCED has
aroused the ire of George T. Angel,
the Boston humanitarian. Mr.. Angel
is PRESIDENT of the Massachusetts So
ciety for the Prevention of Cruelty to
Animals, and the editor of Our Dumb
Animals, a little paper well known
among school children.
In recent issues of this periodical Mr..
Angel has criticized the President most
severely for his addiction to bloody
sports. His remarks became so caus-
tic that the Superintendent of Schools
for the District of. Columbia forbade
the circulation of the May number of
Our Dumb Animals among the school
children, giving as his reason that it
contained insulting articles liable TO
prejudice their youthful minds against
the chief executive.
Not everyone will approve this po-
lice method of suppressing unfavorable
comment on the President. Objee-
ton will be made not so much to this
particular instance as to the whole
theory of censorship. There is no
doubt that young children, at an age
when their Judgment is Uniformed.
should not be made party to controver-
sizes of any kind. but the principle on
which the entire issue of paper may
be eonfscated will be regarded by
many as an extremely dangerous one.
Apart from this, however, there will
not be much division of sentiment as
to the justice of Mr.. Angeles STRIFE
lures. Such language as the following
will not commend itself to many read
ers:
"'What a bad example President
Roosevelt sets to the youth of our
country by these hunting expeditions.
He teaches them to believe that hunt
ing and war and bloodshed are the
chief things in life. The President
has good qualities, but his humane ed
ucation has been neglected
''I consider him an educated bull
dog. with the humane side of his make
up lacking. I have always opposed
his holding the various important of
fees that he has held. on the ground
that some time he would get us into
a dangerous war, as in my opinion, he
got ms into the s'na~-- wa
Mr. Angel is a man of years; he is
spoken of as venerable" so this in
temperate language has not the excuse
of youthful heat or enthusiasm. On
the other hand. it is far from posses
sin that logical quality which is sup
posed to characterize the utterances of
ripe wisdom. His eollocation of words
is unjust. To place "hunting and
war and bloOdshed" in one senenee and
to imply by so doing, that all three
are equally bad, is to take an unfair
advantage of young readers, for, of
course. no one capable of thinking for
himself is deceived by such verbal Jug
Cling.
President Roosevelt is man of Wig
orous constitution; he delights N
rough. dangerous sports, especially
hunting. To call him on that account
an educated bulldog with the humane
side of his makeup lacking is to pursue
a course not calculated to bring the
work of the humane societies into great p
repute.
The true purpose of society for the !
prevention of cruelty to animals is set
forth in its name. It's members are
clearly within their rights when they
prosecute those guilt of inhieting I'M
necessary suffering on dumb beasts.
The rider who uses a cruel bit and the
lend who fortunes dog are the pro-
yer subjects of their attention. But
uniting is not cruelty; it is legiti-
nate form of sport recognized and
egulated by law. Neither is bear
uniting mere slaughter. 1t is a pas
ime strongly spiced with personal
LANCER; a pastime, by the way Gas
resident Roosevelt's experience show
d), which may be pursued for days
Tithout any of the bloodshed to which
Ir. Angel takes exception. To hear
man called names because he salts
es perfectly healthy instinct by
ursuing and shooting grizzy bears is
cry irritating to those who love fair
lay.
Mr.. Angeles objection is based on a
and false notion of the
ights of animals. The same spirit,
l an exaggerated form, prompted
ertain women in Nebraska to draft a
i'll limiting the "labor" of monkeys
sed by organ grinders to eight hours
day.