The treasurer of the London Auxiliary of the Vegetarian Society and, subsequently, of the London Vegetarian Society, was Mr. Ernest Bell, M. A., of the firm of publishers, Messrs. George Bell and Sons. Mr. Bell has been a Vegetarian for nearly a quarter-of-a-century, his attention having been first directed to the subject by the writing of Dr. Nichols. There are few men who have worked more persistently in a quiet and unpretentious way on behalf of humaneness, or endeavoured to diminish the sufferings of living creatures to the extent that Mr. Bell has done. Consistently with his views on the subject of cruelty to animals, he has supported Vegetarianism as striking more at the root of evil than many other reforms; but, in spite of a busy life, he has found time to associate himself with many efforts on behalf of the animal creation. He is chairman of the Committee of the Victoria Street Society for the Protection of Animals from Vivisection, and occupies a similar position to the Humane Diet Committee of the Humanitarian League, of which organization by the way he has been from the first one of the moving spirits.
In addition to this he is associated with that useful institution the Cats’ Home in the Harrow Road, and with the Bird Society. In point of fact it would need a lengthy list to enumerate the societies with such objects as the above with which Mr. Bell is connected in some capacity or other, and he has not been satisfied merely to dole out an occasional subscription, but has taken an active personal interest in the class of work on every possible occasion. Whether his association with men like Mr. Salt has conduced to the development of somewhat socialistic tendencies on his part, it is not easy to say, but it is certain that, in addition to his humane leanings, he has become year by year a more willing disciple of those who teach simplicity of life. Mr. Bell’s education and business training, combined with his natural abilities, and the means at his disposal have enabled him to render assistance to Vegetarianism and allied movements, the value of which can hardly be sufficiently appreciated. Mr. Henry Salt has already referred to in connexion with Vegetarian literature, his writings since the days of the Food Reform Magazine having been remarkable for their incisiveness and logic. As secretary of the Humanitarian League, Mr. Salt has found a congenial sphere for his energies, and has succeeded in accomplishing work of a character that hardly comes within the scope of existing organisations. The Humanitarian League has endeavoured to alleviate the sufferings of horses, and attacked vivisection, cattle-ship cruelties, private slaughter-houses, cruel sports, the prison system, etc., whilst its impartiality has been demonstrated by the fact that it is vigorously denounced the working man’s rabbit coursing, and that abominable anachronism, the hunting of tame deer by Her Majesty’s Buckhounds. A lecture delivered under the auspices of the League* some months ago, dealing with the cruelties of the Jewish system of slaughter resulted in a deputation (Mr. Bell, Mr. Salt, and Mr. Forward) waiting upon the Shechita Board, on which occasion the Jewish authorities listened with considerable courtesy to all that the deputation had to urge, and assured them of the wish on the part of the Board to introduce any improvements that would alleviate the sufferings of the animals killed under their supervision.
* By Mr. Forward
Charles Walter Forward
Fifty Years of Food Reform, 1898, pp. 135-138