A.F," PAMPHLET SERIES
TREATMENT OF ANIMALS
BEING A SPEECH DELIVERED AT THE
KENSINGTON TOWN HALL ON
DECEMBER 15, 1913, AT A MEETING CALLED
TO PROTEST AGAINST CRUELTIES TO
PERFORMING ANIMALS
BY
JOHN GALSWORTHY
ANIMALS' FRIEND SOCIETY
YORK HOUSE, PORTUGAL STREET,
LONDON, W.C.
Price Twopence^ post free
THE "A.R" PAMPHLET SERIES.
Price 2d. each, post free.
The best and most comprehensive Series dealing with the
Treatment of Animals,
THE PITIFUL STORY OF THE PERFORMING ANIMAL. By An
Ex-Trainer. Edited by C. R. Johns, with Preface by Ernest Eell.
Just published^
TREATMENT OF ANIMALS. By John Galsworthy.
A speech delivered at a Meeting "to protest against cruelties to performing
animals. Just published.
FOR LOVE OF BEASTS. By John Galsworthy.
Four Dialogues about Animals. Reprinted from the Pall Mall Gazette,
WAYS OF HELPING. By Lettice Macnaghten. Illustrated. [Price id.]
Makes suggestions of ways in which all may give some help towards lessening
cruelty to animals.
HORSES IN WARFARE. By Ernest Bell, M.A., and H. Baillie-Weaver,
LL.B.
A plea for the inclusion of horses in the merciful provisions of the Geneva
Convention.
A PLEA FOR HORSES IN WAR. By the Hon. Mrs. Charlton.
HORSE-RACING, A CRUEL SPORT. By Ernest Bell, M.A.
A serious indictment of our National Sport,
DOCKING AND NICKING. By J. Lee Osborn.
Shows the foolishness and cruelty of these fashionable mutilations as practised
upon horses.
DOG-STEALING. By C. R. Johns.
A full account dealing with the Reasons, Methods, Treatment, Dog Shops, the
Legal Position, etc.
SPORT. By G. G. Greenwood, M.P.
Mr. Greenwood reviews in turn the chief blood-sports: Fox-Hunting, Wild
AND Tame Deer-Hunting, Pheasant-Shooting, Rabbit-Codrsing, etc., and
pronounces against them all on the grounds of humanity and reason.
THE HUNTED OTTER. By Joseph Collinson.
A comprehensive account of the otter and his ways, and a trenchant condem-
nation of the otter worry.
HOW SEALSKINS ARE OBTAINED. By Joseph Collinson.
An account, based on the evidence of eyewitnesses, of some of the methods by
which the seals are hunted.
CRUELTIES IN DRESS. By Jessey Wade.
A consideration of the cruelties involved in procuring furs, feathers, and gloves.
MOTHER LOVE IN THE ANIMAL WORLD. By Jessey Wade.
BIRD-CAGING AND BIRD-CATCHING. By Ernest Bell, M.A.
An attempt to show that the caging of birds necessarily involves much cruelty
and is unjustifiable.
HUMANE SLAUGHTERING. How to wprk Petitions to Local Authorities,,
with Preface by R. O. P. Paddison.
Continued oh pagt $'.
TREATMENT OF ANIMALS
BEING A SPEECH DELIVERED AT THE
KENSINGTON TOWN HALL ON
DECEMBER 15, 1913, AT A MEETING CALLED
TO PROTEST AGAINST CRUELTIES TO
PERFORMING ANIMALS
BY
JOHN GALSWORTHY
ANIMALS' FRIEND SOCIETY
YORK HOUSE, PORTUGAL STREET,
LONDON, W.C.
Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen, —
I am here to say a few, very few, words — not on
the particular object for which this meeting has been
called — but on the whole question of the treatment of
animals by our civilised selves. For I have no special
knowledge, like some who will speak to you to-night, of
the training of performing animals, I have only a certain
knowledge of human and animal natures, and a common
sense which tells me that wild animals are more happy
in freedom than in captivity ; domestic animals more
happy as companions than as clowns. And— quite apart
from definite question of inhumanity — of which I per-
sonally have no right to speak — it is perfectly clear to
me that these animal shows are among the many sur-
viving evidences, the lingering symptoms, of a creed
that — thank heaven !— is beginning to pass, and must
pass, from us. That creed said : We human beings
have the right, for our pleasure, convenience, and dis-
traction, to disregard in the m^atter of dumb creatures,
those principles which our religion, morality, and educa-
tion have fixed as the guiding stars of our conduct
towards human beings. (In parentheses — please note,
that I do not to-night touch on the question of our
rights over dumb creatures in so far as our actual self-
preservation is concerned ; I limit my words for the
moment to pleasure, convenience, and distraction.)
Now: '*Do unto others as you would they should do
unto you ! " is not only the first principle of Christianity,
but the first principle of all social conduct ; the essence
193002
of that true gentility which is the only saving grace of
men and women in all ranks of life. And I am as
certain as that I stand here, that the word " others " can-
not any longer be limited to the human creature.
Whether or no animals have what are called ** rights "
is an academic question of no value whatever in the con-
sideration of this matter. But, lest there be anyone who
wishes to take up this point of abstruse philosophy, I
will admit at once that animals have no more rights than
have babies under the age when they may be said to have
duties (on which rights, as we are told, depend), that
animals have no more rights than imbeciles, or those
who are deaf, dumb, and blind. Rights or no rights, I
care not ; the fact remains that by so much as we inflict
on sentient creatures unnecessary suffering, by so much
have we outraged our own consciences, by so much have
we fallen short of that secret standard of gentleness and
generosity that, believe me, is the one firm guard of our
social existence, the one bulwark we have against relapse
into savagery. Once admit that we have the right to
inflict unnecessary suffering, even on a fly, and you have
destroyed the very basis of human society, as we know it
in this age. You have committed blasphemy— the only
blasphemy that really matters — blasphemy against your
conscience. For the true conscience of this country has
ranged itself definitely against the infliction oi winecessary
suffering on any sentient thing. And the concrete proof
of this lies in the wording of the law against cruelty to
animals, with its definition of " cruelty " as the infliction
of unnecessary suffering; for, mark you, in a country
like this, the law does not precede, but follows, the true
conscience of the age.
I should like just to quote to you shortly the law, and
the latest judicial dictum upon it.
Section I. (i) of the Protection of Animals Act, 1911.
** If any person (a) shall cruelly illtreat any animal
... or being the owner shall by . . . unreason-
ably doing or omitting to do any act . . . cause
any unnecessary suffering," he shall be guilty of
an offence.
Mr. Justice Darling, on November 19th last, in the
Court of Appeal, said: —
'* Where unnecessary suffering is caused by some act
of an owner, it cannot be justified on the ground
of old custom, and of benefit to commercial
persons."
Ladies and gentlemen, nothing so endangers the fineness
of the human heart as the possession of power over
others; nothing so corrodes it as the callous or cruel
exercise of power ; and the more helpless the creature
over whom power is cruelly or callously exercised, the
more the human heart is corroded. It is the recognition
of this truth which has brought the conscience of our
age, and with it the law, to say that we cannot any
longer with impunity regard ourselves as licensed tor-
turers of the rest of creation ; that we cannot, for our
own sakes, afford to admit the infliction of unnecessary
suffering on any living thing.
In all this matter then, of the treatment of dumb
animals, it comes to the definition of the words * unneces-
sary suffering.' And I say this : All suffering that is
inflicted merely for our pleasure, distraction, and even
for our convenience, as distinct from our preservation, is
unnecessary and an abomination. And the fact that it
is inflicted on creatures unable to raise hand to help
themselves, or voice to tell us what they suffer, makes it
ever the more black and abominable. Whether it be
the destruction of mother-birds (with their whole families
of nestlings) for the sake of their nuptial plumes, to be
worn in the hats and hair of human mothers; or the
painful docking of the tails of horses, their sole weapon
against the torment of stinging flies, for the sake of a
hideous fashion ; whether it be the treacherous sale of
horses worn-out in our service ; the snaring of rabbits in
needlessly cruel traps ; the turning adrift of friendly but
unwanted dogs and cats ; whether it be the unnecessarily
slow and painful slaughtering of animals for food ; the
godless keeping in captivity of wild songbirds; the
prisoning of eagles, hawks, and many another creature
that cannot bear confinement, in zoos and other places ;
whether it be any of these, or this sometimes distressing
and always unnatural training of performing animals — in
all, suffering is inflicted for our pleasure, distraction, or
convenience, and all of it is unnecessary, all of it is against
the conscience of the age.
To those who are tempted by the devil of irreflection
to say: *' But this is the creed of sentiment and soft-
ness," I feel bound to answer : *' I fear no man ever
became a stoic, no man ever acquired the virtues of
fortitude and courage, hy inflicting pain on others,''^ There
is nothing in this new creed that prevents anyone from
inflicting on himself diS much hardship, risk, and privation
as he considers needful to make him hard and brave.
Let me draw your attention to a strange anomaly,
which accounts for most of our callousness towards the
sufferings of animals. Nearly everyone who witnesses
1
with his own eyes the infliction of unnecessary suffering
on an animal, feels revolted, and even hastens to the
creature's aid ; yet the vast majority of these same men
and women, merely hearing or reading of sufferings
inflicted, passes by on the other side, with the feeling
that to pay attention would be either credulous or senti-
mental. Now, in regard to credulousness, it is worth
noting that it is hardly ever to the interest of anyone to
draw attention to cruelty, certainly not to fabricate such
a charge ; very much the contrary. And in regard to
sentiment, there seems to be a slight confusion as to the
meaning of that word. A man only moved by cruelty
seen with his own eyes is no wit less sentimental than the
man who takes fire at the mere recital of it ; he is only
lazier in mind, more deficient in understanding, more
sluggish in blood. Just as sentimental, but less sym-
pathetic. The longer I live, the more I become convinced
that people only use that favourite reproach — ^sentimental —
to stigmatize sympathy with sufferings that they themselves
have been unwilling or unable to realise. The moment
they do realize, they become just as " sentimental," just
as moved by pity and anger — for that is what the word
sentimental truly means — as those at whom they sneer.
Let that be put into the pipe and smoked ! For this
sluggishness of our imaginations is the very heart of the
matter.
Oh ! says the public, but even if there be suffering
to the animals, the pleasure that their freaks or their
luror their feathers give us is greater than this suffering;
we are entitled to weigh the one against the other.
Yet, not one-tenth of that same public would dream
of saying this if, with their own eyes, they had seen that
suffering, for then the pleasure they talk of would have
vanished in the memory of those quivering visions of the
unhappiness or torture of dumb creatures. Out of sheer
sluggishness of imagination, out of mere laziness of
mind, then, is made that truly pitiable plea — our pleasure
is greater than their suffering.
Yes! Nearly all the suffering we inflict, whether on
human beings or on animals, comes from our not
thinking. I know, of course, that many people gravely
distrust that practice. For all that, I venture to suggest
that a little more thought will do no harm to any of us.
Friends, we pass this way but once, but once tread
this world, but once live in communion with these furred
and feathered things, many of them so beautiful, in a
thousand ways so like ourselves, often so friendly if we
would let them be, and yet who, one and all, are so
simple and so helpless in the face of our force and
ingenuity. Shall we, as, each one of us, we pass out,
say : '* I have lived my life as a true lord of creation,
taking toll from the captivities and sufferings of every
creature that had not my strength and cunning ! ''
Or shall we pass out with the thought : ** God forgive
me, if I have given more pain than I could help to any
sentient thing ! "
JOHN GALSWORTHY.
THE "A.F." PAMPHLET SERIES. -Continutd.
THE SENTIMENTAL VEGETARIAN. By M. Little.
While admitting the claims of the hygienist and moralist, Miss Little sho^vs
that the Sentimental Vegetarian has the strongest position of all.
ANIMALS UNDER BRITISH RULE. By the Hon. Mrs. Charlton,
With seven half-tone Illustrations.
This is a concise illustrated description of certain cruelties practised in India,
including flaying goats alive, branding with hot irons, manufacturing mon-
strosities, the torment of thirst.
ANIMALS IN THEIR RELATION TO EMPIRE. By the Hon. Mrs.
Charlton. Reprinted from the Ninet'enth Century.
A serious indictment against the British, who are largely responsible for the
treatment of animals in India,
CRUELTY TO ANIMALS IN INDIA. By the Hon. Mrs. Charlton.
Being extracts from " Heirlooms of Empire." Reprinted from the Nineteenth
Century. i
HUMANE TEACHING IN SCHOOLS. By Prof. J. Howard Moork.
A plea for humane instruction in schools as the most important item in
education.
THE TEACHING OF INHUMANITY. By Emily Cox, M.A.
The object of this pamphlet is to show that much of the cruelty or callousness
which we are apt to regard as '• innate " in human nature is not really innate at
all, but is the direct result of our inhuman teaching of children.
^HY DO ANIMALS EXIST ? By Ernest,'Bell, M.A. Written to combat
the very prevalent idea that animals were created for man's use and pleasure.
THE RIGHTS OF ANIMALS. By Eri^est Bell, M.A. An inquiry into
the theoretical rights of animals and their practical application in daily life.
AN AFTER-LIFE FOR ANIMALS. By Ernest Bell, M.A.
An argument that the reasons which point to an after-life for humans apply also
to the 8ub-hum:^n races.
Price IS. 3d. per Set of 16 Cards, post free.
The "Animals' Friend" Kindness Cards.
A Series of i6 Coloured Picture Cards, 6 X 4i inches, witli
simple and instructive letterpress on the back.
The object of these cards is to enlist the sympathy of children and uneducated
^people, to whom pictorial representation appeals most readily, and to give them, in
simple language, some reasons for taking an intelligent and kindly interest in the
animals who live with us. It is hoped that they will be found useful both for
instruction in schools and also in Bands of Mercy.
193^='-^^
"ANIMALS' FRIEND" LEAFLETS
Price ^d each, or 50 for 1/-, post free.
THE HORSE'S PRAYER, also as a Poster. Price ijd,
THE COLLIER'S DOG. By Moses Lie.
DRIVING. By A. F. and C. Carter.
IS HORSE RACING CRUEL? By Ernest Bell.
QUINEA-PIQS AND WIVES. By G. G. Greenwood, M.P.
THE CHAINING OF DOGS. By Ernest Bell.
A LETHAL, BOX FOR CATS. By Horace Snow.
SEALSKINS. By Joseph Collinson.
FUR C0AT5. By Jessey Wade.
THE COST OF A SKIN. By Prof. J. Howard Moore.
HATS AND THE WOMAN. By Jessey Wade.
EGRET PLUMES. By W. Dutcher.
OSTRICH FEATHERS: A Dialogue. By Ernest Bell.
IS IT CRUEL TO KEEP BIRDS IN CAGES? By Ernest Bell.
CHRISTMAS CHEER: What it Means. By Ernest Bell.
LITTLE FATHER CHRISTMAS. By Jessey Wade.
HUMANITY AND DIET. By Ernest Bell.
WHAT ARE THE RIGHTS OF ANIMALS? By Ernest Bell.
'*PASS ON" LEAFLETS (Supplied Free),
HORSES IN WAR. By Ernest Bell.
THE CHURCH ATD CRUEL SPORTS. By Joseph Collinson.
TORTOISESHELL: How it is Procured. By Ernest Bell.
TINY DOGS : How they are Manufactured. By Mrs. Kenningale
Cook.
THE OTTER WORRY, By Norman Gale.
THE PITILESS HUNT OF THE OTTER. By Joseph Collinson.
HUNTED FOR SEVEN HOURS.
MR. ANDREW LANG ON OTTER HiJNTING.
THE CRUEL STEEL TRAP. By Jerome K. Jerome.
WINTER CRUELTIES. By Jessey Wade.
JUVENILE CRUELTY. By Ernest Bell.
ANIMALS' FRIEND SOCIETY.