Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1917-11-23
MUST OUR DOGS
BE HOOVERIZED
Some Economists Declare the
Canine Tribe Is Eating
Too Much
MUST we kill most of our dogs to save

for the passing of everything that increases
the misery of our people"
without exposing the authors of tn"
proposal to popular indignation, let us OK
anime the project, whch-th INK heaven
cXclaim the dog OWNERSHIP is In ncbu-
| lOuS stage.
Legally. it would be perfectly correct to
/ eAtcrlnnate the dog tribe ~ IA matter OF
cNpcdienCy. II Is Il principle arising from
| the law Of the survival of the httest, re-
tlected in the autc-bellum dog massacres
| IN tonStantinoplc. which were ciNlc meas
| ures taken to rid the Turkish capital or
! surplus hordcs of roaming, dangerous, pa
riah dogs. Even the American dog, mastir
or mutt" Is not immune from summary
execution should the powers that be so
decree, 1T is not violation Of the con-
StitutiOual protection of property IN the
! United States to cXtormluatc dogs in the
! publ" interest" says the New International
| Encyclopaedia which points to the peculiar
| position occupied by the dog in the eyes
| of tho law.
! Viewed economically, elimination of dogs
| would be beneficial, resulting in large
| saving in fuodstuffs II is a popular mis-
! conception that bones constitute the dogs
| diet AS a matter Of fact bone Is
| luxury for t'do who polishes II off III the
same manner that man enjoys an after
/ dinner cigar Dogs eat real food; not
! especially prepared meals, but table scraps
actual food that man eats. Discarded dell-
| caCies go into the dogs dinner plate or he
| salvagcs them from the garbage can; but,
| under the war food conservation plan,
/ theoretically there is now no waste, 50
! that the dog must suffer for lack Of the
! scraps of meat that should make our war
! soup and of the odds and ends that should
| be converted into dishes for his master.
! In addition. there is certain quantity of
| food that is especially purchased for the
! classes Of lap dogs. bloodcd show dogs,
! hunting dogs and industrial dogs.
! Food Gone to the Dogs
There are IN the United States about
| l5,o0O. .O0u dogs of high and low degree.
/ This estimate Includes the six great di-
visions of dogs--wolfkc. greyhound mastiff
cwatch dogs). hound thuntinG dogs),
| spaniel and terrer-and their lowly mon
| grel kin, the vast floating population of
| tramp" dogs Each housedog eats about
! four ounces of food day, an average that
| Is increased by his larger cousins to about
! one pound a day for dogs of all kinds This
means nearly 2.7jo.ooo tons Of edbes lit
| orally gone to the dogs" every year. Visions
| of huge armies fed instantly arise,
In the practical scheme of economies the
| dog plays q negligible part. He is valuable
| only in isolated cases. As 4 beast of burden
| he carries milk for the Belgian women COR
| did before the war;, and as a means of To-
| comotion he drags the Eskmos sled over
| the frozen ice fields Of the North lie
| guards the sheep and protects home. AS
! police officer the most intelligent of animals
! is becoming more practiced, In war he has
! proved his mettle; thousands of the brave
! beasts have worked and died as ammuni-
! tion hearers spies messengers and Red
| Cross helpers. but, in the main. the dog
must be considered "A luxury: his true
| utility is as hunter. a pet and a COM
! panion.
! Companion. There is the burr in the
! smooth and cold-blooded proposition to eN-
! terminate Rex and Tige. Who has not
! known the companionship of dog has
| missed much in life and no man who has
| known the magic solace in the trusting
brown eyes OF "A dog would part with such
, camaraderic There is a saying in the
South that mans poverty may he gauged
nverscly by tire number OF "dawgs" in his
/ retinuc, a condition possibly explained by
! A desire to heal world-EcarS by the comfort
! that lies i'm sheer numbers of dogs, he they
| ever 50 can.
| Dog has been mans faithful friend in all
| ages. "Qui me amat. amet ct canem meum,
as an old Latin proverb tells us; or. as
John Haywood paraphrased it in the six
| teenth century, Love me. love my dog
! The ancient Egyptian and the aboriginal
! American Iud II connected the dog with
| life hereafter Poets and orators of every
land have eNtolled his virtues. Dogs de-
! light TO bark and bite. for God hath made
| them So" is Isaac Watts's defense and
! apology. In popular liter lture the nobility
, Of the dog as a theme has resulted in two
canine classics" that are well known and
! carefully preserved
A Famous Eulogy
The one is the eulogy of Senator George
Graham Vest Of Missouri. before "A jury on
behalf Of a client whose dog had been shot
! and killed by another man. Part of it is:
- The one absolutely unselfish friend a
! man may have in this selfish world the
| one that never deserts him. the one that
| nj or nba 10
the dog Gentlemen of the jury, mans
! dog stands by him in prosperity and in
| poverty in health and in sickness.
He guards the sleep Of his pauper master
| as If he We're a prince. If fortune
drives the master forth an outcast into
! the world. frendless and homeless, the
| faithful dog asks no higher privilege than
| that of accompanying him. to guard against
danger to fight against his enemies; and
when the last scene of all comes, and
| death takes his master in its embrace
| and his body is laid away in the cold
ground. no matter If all other friends pur-
| sue their way there by his graveside will
! the noble dog be found. his head between
his paws, his eyes sad but open in alert
| watchfulness, faithful and true even to
| death"
Senator Vests client had sued for $500
| damages the jury needed only two min
! utes' deliberation TO award him $500.
| The other classic is stephen Collins Fos-
ter's song "Old Dog Tray" the chorus Of
| which is:
Old Dog Trays ever faithful,
Grief cannot drive him away:
He is gentle, he is kind
/ shall never, never find
4 better friend than Old Dog Tray,
In view of the persistence of man to
regard the dog as a member of the family,
II is extremely doubtful that the proposed
dog determination will ever become more
than a nroposal 1t would be legal. and
II would be economical; but ii would out
rage the sentimentality of man, whose
faithful associlte the dog has been ever
since the curtain first was raised on the
stage Of history. Z. L. H.
WAR BADGES PLANNED
| plans already are being considered by