A STEP BACKWARD. 170 
_We might venture that no tax would be more cheer- 
fully paid by the average citizen—if necessary—than 
for the arrest and conviction of a person guilty of ex- 
treme cruelty to dumb animals. 
North Dakota’s vast territorial expanse has been 
almost completly settled upon and its tillable land put 
under cultivation within a comparatively few years’ 
time. People from almost every race and nation are 
here. The swarthy Assyrian, the blue eyed Northmen, 
and even the Turk is here and has taken up government 
land and made themselves homes. The city artizan is 
here, the Canadian woodman is here, the Icelander is 
here; and the hardy Russian from within the battered 
walls of Sebastapol or the sunken Sea of Azof, is here. 
With this incongruous mass of would be-farmers most 
of them have recommenced life under new conditions, 
but a few of the many of these settlers—heretofore— 
have not had experience with stock of any kind—and 
there is the rub. To do farm work horses and cattle 
must be used—and in using them properly both mercy 
and judgment are required. 
Who among us that have lived in North Dakota 25 
years or more, but has witnessed many a case of the 
abuse of stock and suffering from the owners’ or drivers’ 
ignorance and who of us but has not witnessed the un- 
merciful beating of an overworked horse or ox for no 
other reason than the brutal whim or pure cussedness of 
the owner or driver. 
For reasons here outlined we hope to see local Hu- 
mane Societies established in every county, and that 
future legislation will sustain their good work. 
" 
