62



Mr. J. Lewis Bonhote



unbiassed observer, have the protectionists any right to dictate to the

rest of the world what may or may not be killed ? Wild nature is

common property, and the non-protectionists have equal rights

with those whose pleasure is merely to watch nature or to enjoy a

satisfaction in knowing that it exists unharmed.


On the other hand, those whose business leads to the des¬

truction of these beautiful creatures must remember that others

have rights as well as themselves, and that they are only entitled

to take the interest and not the capital, so that if they will not

restrain their hands from deliberate extermination, strong laws

must be passed against them. The cruelty aspect offers, of course,

no argument—civilisation sets its face against cruelty of any sort even

to the humblest of creatures, and while recognising the full rights of

man to take to his own use a percentage of Nature’s abundance, the

trade would, we feel sure, be the first to put down any cruel methods,

were they approached in a reasonable and not in an aggressive spirit.


For every product of life Man is dependent on Nature, were

the Prohibition doctrine carried out to its logical conclusion, Man

would at once cease to exist and were this law “Thou shall not kill ”

pushed still further, life of all kinds would cease except, perhaps, for

the lowest organisms which find their nutriment from the chemical

compounds in the earth and the rain.


This is the logical reductio ad absurdum of an entirely prohi¬

bitive policy, and we must thus accept the inevitable Law of Nature

that Man has a right in common with all living things to take from

Nature what he can get.


Man, however, from Iris high brain development has the

power of storing, bartering and exchanging, so that his toll from

Nature is not directly limited, as in the case of other animals, by

his own immediate needs. It therefore becomes necessary for laws

to be passed to regulate the yearly toll which may be taken from

Nature so that future generations may still find food, adornment

or an aesthetic enjoyment.


As ages roll on, however, Man has enormously increased both

in numbers and in his needs for life — the rough fare and primitive

clothing of savage tribes are not sufficient for civilised man and pari



