SANITATION- -PERSONAL BENEVOLENCE 



part, by the elimination of that element which is the 

 central vital impulse in the life of an ant commune the 

 production and nurture of the young. When the larvae 

 and pupae are removed from ants they soon degenerate 

 and decay. Is it different in human communes? Under 

 natural law, can it ever be so ? 



In the various phases of sanitation considered we 

 observe that ants attack the problem by precisely the 

 same method of communal labor that prevails in other 

 departments of public service. Just as every citizen 

 is a warrior without a board of war, and a policeman 

 without a police department, and a worker without a 

 board of public works, so without a board of health every 

 citizen of these emmet republics is a sanitarian. No 

 street commissioners are needed to purge the public 

 highways, for every citizen feels in herself the responsi- 

 bility of a street commissioner. Literally, every ant 

 looks out for her own premises; and not only so, but for 

 her neighbor's premises as well. In fact, there is no 

 distinction in this regard, for every part of every street 

 is held to be equally the charge of every ant. What a 

 paradise of wholesome purity our city streets might be 

 if citizens would take such an attitude, or if they would 

 go as far as unanimously to abstain from causing litter 

 and scattering filth! We shall never reach the ideal 

 City of Health until the individual conscience has been 

 educated and elevated to the duty of entire cleanliness 

 within the dwelling and around it, and upon the public 

 streets and parks, as personally due to community. 



It is perhaps due to their overmastering patriotism 

 that one fails to discover individual benevolence in ants. 

 Friendships and personal affection in the limited and 

 specialized sense familiar among domestic animals are 



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