The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1910-06-09
CRUELTY.

CRUELTY. re
Some time ago learned foreigner who
had given much study to the Characters
ties of the people of various nations related
an incident which he declared had made
the greatest impression upon him in the
United States. He had established friendly
and familiar relations with perfectly
natural, unpretentious family, composed OF
cultivated and intelligent people, and fora
time in the late spring formed the habit OF
dropping from his neighboring apartments
in suburb to share the family breakfast
with the adults and small children of the
household. The first real warm days OF
spring awaken the small members of ami
mated nature, and amoug them, as house,
wives know, the ant colonies. The milk
and cream jars which had been standing
on the shelves of the dairy were brought
and were found to have many ants upon
them. ''Put the pests into the fire." adj
vised the practical man, but the two ladies
in unison protested, saying they could not
bear the idea of putting living creatures in
the kitchen range, and so the ants were
brushed out upon the lawn to live, and
perhaps to invade the pantry.
The incident led to an examination Of the
activities of the multitude of societies in
the United States-of the Societies for the
Prevention of Cruelty to Animals; the
Audubon societies, formed for the protec-
ton and preservation of bird life; the tire.
mendous impulse that has been given to
the introduction of nature and animal study
by school children-and from this investi-
cation he wrote upon his return home a
learnedpaper, which was designed to prove
that the present age was far above the best
civilization of any other era, in that the
feeling Of universal pity had been more
highly developed in our time than ever be-
fore in the worlds history.
1t is likely that he was altogether right
in his conclusion. If any one were to at
tempt to characterize the modern civiliza-
ton in sentence, he could not do so more
aptly than to say that it consists in the
wonderful growth of the feeling of pity"
The evidences of the existence of this
feeling of pity, that deep humanitarian
ism is fact in the modern world, and that
brotherhood, love and charity are not empty
names, are to be found in the wonderful
development of charitable, philanthropic
and helpful institutions of every conceiva-
BILE character in this country, and in the
phenomenal activity of thousands of men,
women and children in the effort to aid
their fellows, to abate suffering and to al
leviate hardships and sorrow. The thou
sands of hospitals, the homes for the aged
and crippled, the free dispensaries, the
settlements and the scores of varieties of
charitable institutions are the outcome of
the feelings OF pity, love and kindness
which are the distinctive characteristics of
the best civilization of modern times.
Since the dawn of civilization all pro-
gressive communities made provision by
taxation or "f from the rates" for the support
of the stricken and poor. All progressive
nations now make elaborate efforts to take
care of the unfortunate, but the United
States surpasses them all. Great as are
the contributions from the public in its
corporate capacity, impressive as are the
appropriations from the State Treasury in
Louisiana, for instance, for charitable in
situations, the most impressive development
of the charitable idea in America is in the
private effort and activity. The world
never witnessed anything like it.; The
remarkable feature of the outpourings of
money and aid of every character in Amer
lea is that it is so largely spontaneous,
hearty and eager. This attitude toward
mankind is the result of education, train
ing. The hatred of cruelty, the desire to
aid men and women and children, the aver
sion to suffering in every living, moving
creature, are at the basis of this feeling of
pity. Every possibleinfluence and forcethat
can contribute to the softening of the heart
should be cherished and strengthened.
One of the powerful influences in modern
life which aid in the formation of the char
acter is the way in which animals are treated.
II stranger who did not know the Filipi-
nos, for instance, should be suddenly drop
ped from the clouds into the streets of
Manila, he would at once know that they
were not of the highest type of human
beings simply from watching them pluck
the feathers from the live chickens as they