The Manawatru Standard (PUBLISHED DAILY) The Oldest Daily Newspaper on the West Coast. THURSDAY, MAY 29, 1884. A USEFUL INSTITUTION.

Manawatu Standard, Volume IV, Issue 155, 29 May 1884, Page 2

The Manawatru Standard (PUBLISHED DAILY) The Oldest Daily Newspaper on the West Coast. THURSDAY, MAY 29, 1884. A USEFUL INSTITUTION.

It lias been found necessary m Auckland ho form a Society for the Prevention of Cruel' y to Animals, and we note that already il has found much work to do m the repression of acts of cruelty to animals and neglect as regards the treatment of the brute creation. The Auckland Herald points oat that the aim of the society, commends itself sufficiently to the sympathy of the general public to ensure a. good attendance and a liberal support. Tf it cannot be called philanthropic, it is, at all events, preeminently humane. It U, moreover, more closely allied to philanthrophy than might at fi>st appear, inasmuch as the man who treats with gentleness the lower animals will, as a rule, be found laud m his intercom se with bi« fellow-creatures : whereas he who either thoughtlessly or deliberately subjects tho former to harsh and brutal usage, is not usually characterised l>y ii.i'lulg«nl. fi-eiing^ toward* th<? I;iU<r, Our eonteuipoiaiy pro- | cecd.s Lv i'eui-ut>. Liial il may look

like a parody on our boasted civilisation that a society of this nature ■should bo cmIKmI fur, seeing that t,lw» refinement of tie taste and consideration, which forms the distinguishing feature of civilisation, induces, or ought to induce, a revulsion from all nec'Uesfcs severity and suffering. Bui civilisation like life itself, consists largely m oonirasts, and hence alou^ with a highly developed sensitiveness may be found an intensified coarseness marking human conduct. It i* pehaps impossible to prevent these j contrarities of manifestation, but this much is quite clear that they impose mutual obligations on those m whom they are revealed respectively. It becomes the duty of the humane to place some re strictions on the inhumane, and it is incumbent on the inhumane to become amenable to these restrictions. Thus only can the indulgence of innato or inconsiderate cruelty be kept within such limitations as are essential to the genial character of society. Were it not for the recognition of this obligatory relation, carrying with it the force of law, that personal liberty bich enters so strongly into our modern civilisation would speedily run into license, and the treatment of dumb anituals m these days of enlightenment would contrast unfavourably with that practised m barbarous ages. Even with the restraint thus exerted and recognised, it is doubtful whethei on the whole the lower animals did not fare better m barbarous times than as a rule they do at this clay. The time was when there may have been some ground for saying, as was said, that m the colonies cattle and sheep and ho\'sns were more highly valued than men; but that time has gone past, and though all may be agreed on how much more value a man is of than a sheep, the progress of settlement has produced an opposite extreme m public sentiment, and the habit of regarding- the feelings or instincts of dumb animals as deserving of no consideration has become only too common. The primary object of the society, as of every kindred institution, is not prosecution, but prevention ; to induce m the community generally, and especially among those tempted to neglect its culture, that state of feeling which fosters the desire to see suffering even when unavoidable reduced to a minimum, aud wholly free from the caprice and lawlessness of passion. Its existence and operations thus become a substantial contribution towards the moral education of society, m elevating it into that truly civilised condition m which not only men and women, but also horses and dogs, will receive the consideration and treat ment they are entitled to by virtue of the law of kindness. In this town n>aoy persons have spoken to us from time to time of the necessity for the establishment of some such institution, and we believe that were a society of the kind inaugurated, it would fo'n'l. a considerable scope for the beneficial exercise of its f unc- } lions.