Evening star., 1926-05-03
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL.

Two men in white aprons came out
| Of the rear of the wholesale house,
| escorting a bleating calf. One grabbed
| the animal by the neck, the other by
its tail, and between them they slung
| it into q wagon at the curb.
Then one man, evidently not salts
| fed with putting the weight OF the
| calf upon its appendage, deliberately
struck the creature on the shoulders,
knocking it off its legs upon the floor
| OF the wagon, where 1t lay as II afraid
to get UP.
The man turned belligerently toward
spectators, as If to say, well. what
are you going to do about it?" One
woman started to take a hand in the
proceedings but was restrained by her
companion, who said, What can we
say to such preliminary cruelty. when
we achieve the ultimate cruelty by
eating the poor little cuss?"
Unnecessary cruelty. man toward
end? Not, perhaps, until that more
perfect day of which the poets of all
races have sung. and toward which
the saints have pointed.
Anger and cruelty are near allied,
yet there are essential differences.
The former is often spoken of as a
distinctly animal trait, a residue in
man of his primal ancestry. The lat
ter may be present without the
former
1t may be pointed out. however, that
the animals show anger only when
thWarted or teased, whereas men
often are angry over nothing at all.
AS for cruelty, the animals know
not what they do" whereas many men
are mean. vindictive and cruel out
OF sheer Wantonness. seemingly.
4 X !; X
Wherefore it comes about that we
have never been able to excuse our
own fits Of anger by pointing TO the
animals. What with them is natural,
with us is shameful.
The works of the ancient Sages are
full Of remonstrances against this
true sin, the lack Of which, If man
could once conquer it, would do more
toward bringing about universal peace
than all the pacts ever signed.
Greek and Roman authors, as well
as the writer's of the Hebrew scripts,
We'd with one another in CHASING hu-
man anger as pernicious. not only to
the welfare of nations, but also to the
interest of the individual.
Plutarch, father of history, spoke out
strongly on the subject. Those inter
ested are referred to his Morals" I"
which may be secured in several good
translations. A handy volume is that
in the Everyman edition.
Seneca, best of Roman writer's, has
several pertinent thoughts upon the
subject. The aphorisms Of the Bible
on anger are many and we'll put. and
are more familiar to most readers
Wise and true sayings, however. do
not end evils. If they did. the world
would be better place to live in today
than it is, for the sins Of human ma
ture have always been recognized, and
have always been inveighed against.
1t IS not for want Of talking and writ
ing that men wage unnecessary wars
today, that cruelty exists on every
hand. that otherwise good fathers
work themselves into RACES upon the
slightest provocation, that children
still delight in torturing animals.
Seemingly these traits are inherent
in human nature. With all our prog
ress-and it is large-the essential
human traits remain much the same.
Mass thought has forced the fear of
God" into thousands of hearts, but at
bottom they are as evil as ever.
What Is to be done about il?
In the individual conscience Of man