WHAT MAKES A POULTRYMAN? 5 



The beings under the dominion of man must, then, 

 appeal to him, through their weakness, to his sympathy 

 and his sense of justice. The sympathy of one man 

 will be aroused by the thought of a bird as a pet, which 

 his feelings will not allow him to kill. The sympathies 

 of another will be far more practically shown in the 

 kind care and regular attention to their needs which he 

 apportions to the creatures under him. That this is pre- 

 cisely what tends to make them most profitable is cause 

 for thanksgiving; were it not the case, life might be one 

 long torture to the subject animals. While many are 

 too kindly natured to feel justified to raise animals for 

 the express purpose of killing for profit, yet the dominion 

 of man is oVer the lower animals, and the greater pain 

 which accrues to them through his handling comes from 

 his neglect of their daily needs and hourly comfort, 

 rather than in death ; since they do not usually antici- 

 pate death and it can be made painless by the use of 

 the right methods. We need to assure and reassure 

 ourselves that it is especially hunger and fear and pain 

 from which we are in duty bound to defend the lower 

 creatures, to whom we are as gods. Maeterlinck appre- 

 hends and expresses this attitude of the creatures, when 

 he makes the dog in the play, " The Bluebird," address 

 the man as " My little god." 



As the sympathy and the sense of a certain social 

 kinship is aroused in the dominator, man, toward his 

 underlings, he grows into the attitude of a protector for 

 justice's sake, rather than merely for profit's sake. It 

 is at this point that every method of manipulation of 

 the flocks turns into " good luck " in his hands. His 

 chicks grow rapidly and evenly ; his hens sing joyful 



