Page:Bird Haunts and Nature Memories - Thomas Coward (Warne, 1922).pdf/243

Rh is the Economic argument. The lay and commercial mind understands this line of reasoning. Your animal is or may be of value—to whom or what?—to mankind in general; of value commercially; of value as a means of checking the increase of, or even of destroying, something else which appears detrimental to human welfare; of value as food for some other creature whose body or products are a commercial or agricultural (one and the same thing) asset for man. It must therefore be protected, not for its own sake, but for the welfare of another, must indeed be exploited for that other—man. For this reason (and, are we ashamed to say, for this reason only?) exists our Board of Agriculture and Fisheries, striving to regulate the numerical proportions of certain creatures, and to instil its doctrines into a rather slow and old-fashioned constituency.

So far so good: since man has a right to exist, even though we class him as but a competing animal, he must use all his arts and sciences, the product of his superior brain, to accomplish his ends. I do not condemn him; indeed, I strongly uphold the study of economic zoology and botany, and especially advocate that sensible assistance should be given with this end in view to our schools and universities. Unless we treat such delicate matters in a truly scientific manner we shall find ourselves in a more parlous state than we are at present. It is not to the academic mind that we need to appeal, but to the great body of electors whose duty it is to send as representatives men who will realise that science is the driving power in life, and that science without education is impossible. The economic argument may not be disinterested, but it is important, very important indeed.

The second argument for protection is the Æsthetic one, and this, with a few exceptions, is confined to propaganda on the subject of bird preservation. Bird