Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1921-01-11
Fur and Sentimentallty
By Frederic j. Haskin.

cartoon which depicted iasn'ohap'e
woman clad i'll furs, caught IN steer trap
and dragging herself painfully across the
snow. :, -
The implica ton WAS, OF course that the
trapping of fur-bearing animals Is crneI
business, that every woman VINO Mt'.is .t, ,u'
is n marty TO il. and that she ought there
for To be put in steel trap herself IN oroer
90 learn what it feels ike
This is the kind of scntimentahty that
still makes a hit with a large part OF the
American public, despite the tact that ~
IA as alien to common sense and the facts
of the case As a nightmare. Ii Is IN the
same class with the persistent attack on
the use of living animals for scientlhc
experiment. which involves the sacrifice
of their lives. The prevention OF this use
of animals in the preparation oil serums
and anti-toxins alone would cost thous-
ands of human lives the first year 1t
went into effect.
The fallacy underlying all of these senti-
meutalitics about the killing OF the lower
animals consists IN the failure TO recoghi1I
the fact that man is n carniverous amman
who lives bv killing, and whose only
alternative is TO be killed himself, directly
orindirectlv. 1t is our inevitable destiny
as the species of mammal which doihi-
mates the earth, TO kill all other living Things
in order to maintain that doinination;
And it is our duty as civilized men TO XIII
as cleanlv and painlessly as We can. but
the sentimentality which shrinks III
horror from killing is a symptom OF race
degeneration. The sentlmcntaist VINO
would abolish all killing lives only by the
protection of those who are not SO squeaiil-
ish. If we all became sentimentailsts on the
subject, the race would soon dlsappea,
off the face of the earth At least u Woulo
If we stuck TO our sentlmentalty. AS
matter of fact, we would probabiy IeVei,
to savsgery and recover our iust lot oiooo
Is TRAPPING NECESSARY!
/, NAV be objected that while killing
in general is undoubtedly recessaTy' the
cruel form Of killing represei ted by the
catching of animals IN steel traps IS ho'
necessary. But as matter oi iact II
remains necessary until some other equal
" effective and more humane way u
killing these creatures Is discovered, Anu
not primarily because we reed Their iur
.;,her Thc fur problem is rapidly beng
,olved bv the raising Of fur-bearlng am
mails in captivity. Already rarch-Talsed
fox and skunk furs are standard commoul-
ties. and a great variety Of other iur-bear,
ing animals are being raised IN small
but growing numbers. The ranch-raiscd
fur is better In quality than the WHO Iur'
and il is bound to improve enormously
as tho methods of selective breeding are
spplied to these creatures. CONSIDER "lla'
nan has done with the dog, producing
srorn one or two parent stocks q great
yar;etv M creatures, varying IN size,
form. color and coat, There is no reason
10 doubt that some Of the fur-oearers VIII I'll
10 EQUALLY improved The fur farmer Will
mt the trapper out Of business The
tyapper will no more be able to compete
With him than a man with Fl shot gun co'liu
compete as food-producer with the
owner II wellrtocked poultry larH'
Fur viii then be produced hiunaneiy'
a, least in appearance II gwen ms ch9iGe, H
the fox would rather run wild and be
,ranrsd than live in pen all his life and
hs d.rxned in a bucket. But az least
there u nothing about fur-farrnlng 70
OUTRAGE the sentimen talists
ANIMALS AsUsr BE KILLED.
The trouble is that The trapping VIII
have 10 30 right on. If trappeHs IN almost
every county in the United States dld not
wage ceaseless war on the preoator3 an
mails no sort Of stock-raasinE would De
no~sible anywhere These animals, un-
checked. would resch sn astounding gaouno-
.nce II would be as impossible to raise
ch;ckensin al ordinary farming community
.s !. is nov to raise them IN complete
w;lderne.s. Already the taxpayers OF the
nation. cooperating with those OF
number Of western states, are malntainlne
a little amy OF government uappers TO
keep down the coyotes, wolves aho
ryanthers in the West When the pIIVa te
.trsppers 60 out Of business, So they prona oiS
Will. il viii be necessary TO extend tilis
,rnov enormously. The foxes, skunks,
rsccons and weasels would make hie
lust as hard for the armer in the East as
the larger beasts do in the West, were tneS
not kept down.
HOW TRAPPYRs WORK
psrhsne the sentimentahsts who cam
-,siUn arainst trapping ana wearing ol
f,,r can suggest some better way OF Kill
;rr these animals than trapping II SO
thew should come forward These creatures
cannot be shot because they are nocturh-
81 IN habit. Poison is q less sure ana GU
q more painful way Of killing them thfli
trapping. And the trapper makes ms trap
ping as painless s. business as possioie. pc
cause a frenzled animal Is apt 70 in!uLe
is own fur. Traps for aquatic animals,
snch as nuskrat and bea or, are nearly
slwsv. set attached to 8 sliding pole IN
sr,ch wrv that the trapped animal Is
dragged under water and drowned al
mos inmediateiy. The trapper goes TO
his traps as often as possible because ne
Knows some wild thing Is apt to hnd the
quarry and devour IT. He makes the busl-
ress as quick and painless as ne can
because It pays 10 DO 50.
good example Of what happens when
y flr-bearing animal, or any other cTea-
ture. is completely protected, has taken
rlace In the West. Ia several western
states the beaver was nearing extinction,
and so laws were passed protecting It Tor
q number Of yesrs. No doubt the laws were
broken a good deal on the sly, but at any
rate the beaver have increased greatly
Now the beaver Is one OF the most
harmless and friendly creatures IN the
woods. He kills neither flesh nor fish.
He eats no growing crops. he lives on the
bark Of trees, and the trees which furnish
his favorite food IN the West are mostly
of no timber value. But the beaver viii
build dams, and he win build them wherev-
or YOU let him. Iu many parts OF the West
he mas built dams in such a way
as 70 food whole farms and destroy
whole crops, leaving men poor. II then
becomes case of Kill the beaver or starve
the man. The state game wardens
are kept busy signing special permits Tor
rapping beaver where they have seri-
orslv interfered with farming OF made j.
impossible.
II is too bad that you can't 80 out and
reason with the beaver, but the fact