Humanitarian League: Difference between revisions

| formation = {{start date and age|1891}}

| founders = [[Henry S. Salt]], [[Edward Maitland (writer)|Edward Maitland]], [[Ernest Bell (animal rights activist)|Ernest Bell]], [[Howard Williams (humanitarian)|Howard Williams]], Kenneth Romanes and [[Alice Lewis]]

| dissolved = {{end date and age|1919|12}}

| tax_idvat_id = <!-- or | vat_id = (for European organizations) -->

The '''Humanitarian League''' was ana [[England|English]]British radical [[advocacy group]], formed by [[Henry S. Salt]], basedand inothers to promote the principle that it is wrong to inflict avoidable [[Londonsuffering]], whichon any [[sentient being]]. It was based in London and operated between 1891 and 1919.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal|last=Weinbren|first=Dan|date=1994|title=Against All Cruelty: The Humanitarian League, 1891-1919|journal=History Workshop|volume=|issue=38|pages=86–105|jstor=4289320|issn=0309-2984}}</ref>

[[Howard Williams (humanitarian)|Howard Williams]], [[humanitarian]]the author of ''[[The Ethics of Diet]]'' (1883), a [[history of [[vegetarianism]], proposed in the book the concept of a "humane society with a wider scope than any previously existing body".<ref name=":1" /> William's idea was developed by, fellow writer and advocate, Henry S. Salt, in an 1889 article on humanitarianism, published in 1889.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Salt|first=Henry S.|date=July 1889|title=Humanitarianism: Its General Principles and Progress|url=|journal=Westminster Review|volume=132|pages=|via=}}</ref>

The League was formed by Henry S. Salt, who was also the General Secretary and Editor. Other founding members included [[Edward Maitland (writer)|Edward Maitland]], [[Ernest Bell (animal rights activist)|Ernest Bell]] (Chairman),<ref>{{Cite journal|last=|first=|date=October 1933|title=Ernest Bell, President of the Vegetarian Society|url=https://www.henrysalt.co.uk/library/obituary/ernest-bell-president-of-the-vegetarian-society/|journal=The Vegetarian Messenger and Health Review|volume=|pages=|via=}}</ref> Howard Williams, Kenneth Romanes and [[Alice Lewis]] (Treasurer).<ref name=":0" /> The League's inaugural meeting, in 1891, was held at the house of Alice Lewis, 14 [[Park Square, London]],<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://www.henrysalt.co.uk/humanitarian-league/|title=Humanitarian League|website=Henry S. Salt Society|language=en-GB|access-date=2020-02-28}}</ref> who remained Treasurer for the League's entire existence.<ref name=":1" /> Many of its founders were also members of the Shelley Society.<ref name=":3">{{Cite book |last=Unti |first=Bernard |title=The Routledge History of Food |publisher=Routledge |year=2014 |isbn=9781315753454 |editor-last=Helstosky |editor-first=Carol |location=Abingdon |pages=186–188 |language=en |chapter="'Peace on earth among the orders of creation"': Vegetarian Ethics in the United States Before World War I |doi=10.4324/9781315753454}}</ref>

Its aimsaim werewas to enforce the principle that it is iniquitous to inflict avoidable [[suffering]] on any [[sentient being]]; their manifesto stated:<blockquote>The Humanitarian League has been established on the basis of an intelligible and consistent principle of humaneness – that it is iniquitous to inflict suffering, directly or indirectly, on any sentient being, except when self-defence or absolute necessity can justly be pleaded.<ref>Preece, Rod. (2011). ''Animal Sensibility and Inclusive Justice in the Age of Bernard Shaw''. UBC Press. p. 153</ref></blockquote>The League opposed both [[corporal punishment|corporal]] and [[capital punishment]]. Its other objectives included the banning of all hunting as a [[blood sports|sport]], and it was also strongly [[Opposed vivisection|opposed to [[vivisection]].<ref name=":1" /> The Humanitarian League thus anticipated the modern [[animal rights]] movement; many of its members were [[vegetarians]].<ref name=":3" /> However, the League was not confined to animal protection. They were also responsible for the advancement of [[human rights]]. For example, they were largely behind the banning of [[Birching|flogging with birch]] in the Royal Navy in 1906 and campaigning to amend the law relating to [[Debtors'_prison prison#Great_Britain_Great Britain (later_the_United_Kingdomlater the United Kingdom)|imprisonment for debt]] and other non-criminal offences.<ref>Gold, Mark. (1998). ''Animal Century: A Celebration of Changing Attitudes to Animals''. J. Carpenter. p. 11</ref> The League also opposed [[flogging]] in schools, [[vaccination]]s because of the pain, and the wearing of feathers and fur.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Marks|first=Steven G.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BoqCDwAAQBAJ|title=How Russia Shaped the Modern World: From Art to Anti-Semitism, Ballet to Bolshevism|publisher=Princeton University Press|year=2004|isbn=9780691118451|location=Princeton, New Jersey|pages=120|language=en}}</ref>

During the [[First world war|First World War]], the League's membership and output of publications were reduced in number.<ref name=":1" />

The League closed down in 1919,<ref>{{Cite journal |url=http://www.henrysalt.co.uk/humanitarian-league/the-humanitarian-league-closes |title= The Humanitarian League closes |journal=The Vegetarian Messenger and Health Review |date=January 1920 |volume=17 |issue=1 |pages=7 |author=[[Henry S. Salt]] |author-link=Henry S. Salt |language=en |access-date=June 16, 2019 |archive-date=8 August 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180808135915/http://www.henrysalt.co.uk/humanitarian-league/the-humanitarian-league-closes |url-status=dead }}</ref> following the death of Salt's wife.<ref>{{CiteCitation book|last=Preece |first=Rod |title=The Psychology of the Human-Animal Bond|chapter=The History of Animal Ethics in Western Culture |date=2011 |work=The Psychology of the Human-Animal Bond: A Resource for Clinicians and Researchers|pages=45–61 |editor-last=Blazina |editor-first=Christopher |url=http://link.springer.com/10.1007/978-1-4419-9761-6_3 |access-date=2024-07-01 |place=New York, NY |publisher=Springer New York |language=en |doi=10.1007/978-1-4419-9761-6_3 |isbn=978-1-4419-97619760-69 |author-link=Rod Preece |editor2-last=Boyraz |editor2-first=Güler |editor3-last=Shen-Miller |editor3-first=David}}</ref>

In 2013, The Humanitarian League was registered as an organisation in Hong Kong.<ref>{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=The Humanitarian League Limited|url=https://www.hkgbusiness.com/en/company/The-Humanitarian-League-Limited|url-status=live|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2020-07-02|website=Hong Kong Business Directory}}</ref> It operates alongside the [[Ernest Bell Library]], republishing historical humanitarian pamphlets and books.<ref>{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=The Humanitarian League|url=https://www.happycow.net/reviews/the-humanitarian-league-kowloon-39395|url-status=live|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2020-07-02|website=HappyCow}}</ref>

Notable members and supporters of the League included [[Annie Besant]], [[W. H. Hudson]], [[Sydney Olivier, 1st Baron Olivier|Sydney Olivier]], [[George Bernard Shaw]], [[Edward Carpenter]],<ref name=":0" /> Colonel [[William Lisle Blenkinsopp Coulson]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.henrysalt.co.uk/library/letter/colonel-coulson/|title=Colonel Coulson|website=Henry S. Salt Society|language=en-GB|access-date=2020-02-28}}</ref> [[John Galsworthy]],<ref>Wilson, David A. H. (2015). ''The Welfare of Performing Animals: A Historical Perspective''. Springer. pp. 30-31. {{ISBN|978-3-662-45833-4}}</ref> [[Leo Tolstoy]], [[J. Howard Moore]], [[Ralph Waldo Trine]], [[Ernest Howard Crosby]], [[Alice Park]], [[Clarence Darrow]],<ref name=":3" /> [[Keir Hardie]], [[Thomas Hardy]], [[Bertram Lloyd]],<ref>Hardy, Thomas; Purdy, Richard Little; Millgate, Michael. (1985). ''The Collected Letters of Thomas Hardy: Vol. 5 1914 - 1919''. Clarendon.</ref> [[Edith Carrington]],''<ref>Edith Carrington (1894). ''Miss Edith Carrington: Portrait and Autobiography''. The Animals' Friend (August), 1:24.</ref>'' [[Christabel Pankhurst]], [[Tom Mann]], [[Enid Stacy]],<ref>[[Hilda Kean|Kean, Hilda]]. (1998). ''Animal Rights: Political and Social Change in Britain since 1800''. [[Reaktion Books]]</ref> [[Carl Heath]], [[Thomas Baty]], [[George Cecil Ives|George Ives]], [[John Dillon]], [[Lizzy Lind af Hageby]], [[Stella Browne]], [[Charlotte Despard]], [[Isabella Ford]], [[Anne Cobden-Sanderson]], [[Michael Davitt]], [[Alfred Russel Wallace]], [[G. W. Foote]], [[Conrad Noel]], [[John Page Hopps]], [[Sigmund Freud]],<ref>{{Cite book |last=Freud |first=Sigmund |title=The Interpretation of Dreams |date=2010 |isbn=978-0-465-01977-9 |edition=New York Basic Books, a member of the Perseus Books Group |pages=189 |translator-last=Strachey |translator-first=James}}</ref> [[Josiah Oldfield]],<ref name=":12">{{Cite journal|last=Weinbren|first=Dan|date=1994|title=Against All Cruelty: The Humanitarian League, 1891-1919|url=https://www.henrysalt.co.uk/assets/images/the-humanitarian-league-1891-1919.pdf|journal=History Workshop|volume=|issue=38|pages=86–105|issn=0309-2984|jstor=4289320}}</ref> [[Jessey Wade]] (Honorary Secretary of the Children’s Department; 1906–1919),<ref name=":02">{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=2019-03-08|title=Meet Cats Protection founder Jessey Wade|url=http://meowblog.cats.org.uk/2019/03/jessey-wade-founder-of-cats-protection.html|url-status=live|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2020-06-28|website=Meow! Blog|language=en-GB}}</ref> [[Henry John Williams]] (Humane Diet department)<ref name=":03">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qifWeY9M8jAC|title=Eating and Believing: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Vegetarianism and Theology|publisher=A&C Black|year=2011|isbn=978-0-567-57736-8|editor-last=Grumett|editor-first=David|location=London|pages=126|language=en|editor-last2=Muers|editor-first2=Rachel}}</ref> and [[Henry B. Amos]].<ref name="May">{{Cite book|last=May|first=Allyson N.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qs3PFiDZSXoC|title=The Fox-Hunting Controversy, 1781–2004: Class and Cruelty|publisher=Ashgate Publishing|year=2013|isbn=978-1-4094-6069-5|location=Farnham|pages=73-7473–74|language=en}}</ref>