Evening capital and Maryland gazette. (Annapolis, Md.) 1910-1922, 1920-04-10
CRUELTY TO ANIMALS
MEANEST OF CRIMES

Next Monday, April IL, VIII be the
beginning of the BE Kind To Animals
! Week" which will eliminate with
! Humane Sunday on April is.
The week viii be observed in some
special way throughout the nation, es-
/ pecially where there are societies for
4 the Prevention of Cruelty 10 Animals
| Cruelty is our meanest crime" said
some one Longfellow said:
How can / teach our children gentle
ness,
And mercy to the weak, and reverence
for life.
When by your laws. your actions and
Your speech,
You contradict the very things
teach?"
LoNGFELLOW.
Hiram Powers said:
The greatest need of America is more
education Of the heart
And Hon. l.. T. Dashiell, Speaker of
! the House of Representatives of Texas,
said:
The lack of humane education is
the principal cause of crime
SHOW me the laws of state for the
prevention of cruelty to animals and
l in turn will give you correct esti-
mate of the refinement. enlightenment,
integrity, and equity of that common
wealth's people,
On the playground fence teacher
put a cake for the birds, telling her
pupils of their usefulness and intelli-
gence, and the wrong of injuring
them. Next day her most unruly boy
ate. only half his lunch and put the
other half on the fence. Kindness is
contagious and example is powerful
That fence is now the favorite perch
Of many birds even when the yard is
iilled with noisy boys, and the unruly
boy has changed for the better. Sure
" those boys will all be nobler men
and better citizens for the tuition of
such a teacher.
While every child should be intel
lectually educated it is certain that
education of the heart is even more es-
sential TO the welfare of society and to
he individual happiness, and children
are entitled to both.
noted American has said THE
spirit of cruelty is the deadliest enemy
TO high civilization" and Humboldt
said Cruelty to animals is charac
teristic vice of a vulgar people," AS
all crime is cruel, to abolish cruelty is
10 abolish crime.
The San Francisco Call SAYS:
To-day the Jefferson School is one
If the most orderly in all the city.
The children don't fight as they used
to; they don't stone cats. or tie tin
pals to the tails of dogs, or modest the
sons of the Flowery Kingdom. And
why? Becauce every school child
down that way, as soon as he is old
enough 10 write his name, is made a
member of the army for the proven
ton of all the old evils. and no blue
trocker brass-buttoned guardian of the
peace could ever have done 1.-THE of
the good that those children have ac-
complished. For four years the 'prin-
cipal has been organizing the pupils of
all the various classes into Bands of
Mercy, and now every child seems
proud of his enrolment. There are
about $50 members"
A strict regard for the rights and
feelings of whatever has feeling is the
cardinal principle of civilization, of
courtesy and of Christianity. Children
are fond of animals, and by no other
means can kindness be so thoroughly
inculcated in them as by humane
teaching. Il find it the best kind of
discipline, and worth any amount of
effort" writes an able teacher after
two years trial. Such is the uniform
testimony of those who teach kind
ness to animals.
Sir Arthur Helps declares it "a duty
to treat animals with courtesy" and
Mr. Rarey insists that "a horse should
be treated like a gentleman" The car
dinal doctrine of humane education is
that it is impolitic and Ubiquitous to
infiict avoidable suffering on any crea-
ture. Teach children as they would
be done by.
1T is not only the suffering of the
animal that we are trying to prevent,
it is also the moral degradation of the
person who causes this suffering. Ii
is the ignorant person who is cruel to
animals."-B. j. TICE. A. NJ.