Stray cat joins orchestra, nuzzles up to conductor

David K. Nelson says:

In the late 1940s the legislature of Illinois in its collective wisdom passed a bill to protect migratory birds which required cats to be restrained at all times and not permitted to run free, and allowed the trapping of any stray cat. Then Governor (and soon to be Presidential candidate) Adlai Stevenson vetoed the bill and his veto message has become a classic of its kind, a veto that is also great literature:

“I cannot agree that it should be the declared public policy of Illinois that a cat visiting a neighbor’s yard or crossing the highways is a public nuisance. It is in the nature of cats to do a certain amount of unescorted roaming. Many live with their owners in apartments or other restricted premises, and I doubt if we want to make their every brief foray an opportunity for a small game hunt by zealous citizens—with traps or otherwise. I am afraid this Bill could only create discord, recrimination and enmity. Also consider the owner’s dilemma: To escort a cat abroad on a leash is against the nature of the cat, and to permit it to venture forth for exercise unattended into a night of new dangers is against the nature of the owner. Moreover, cats perform useful service, particularly in rural areas, in combating rodents—work they necessarily perform alone and without regard for property lines.

We are all interested in protecting certain varieties of birds. That cats destroy some birds, I well know, but I believe this legislation would further but little the worthy cause to which its proponents give such unselfish effort. The problem of cat versus bird is as old as time. If we attempt to resolve it by legislation who knows but what we may be called upon to take sides as well in the age old problems of dog versus cat, bird versus bird, or even bird versus worm. In my opinion, the State of Illinois and its local governing bodies already have enough to do without trying to control feline delinquency.”

It is appropriate to quote Stevenson at a time like this. It was he who, as our ambassador to the UN, demanded that the USSR explain itself as to the matter of its missiles in Cuba. The Soviet ambassador evaded the question. Stevenson: “I am prepared to wait for my answer until hell freezes over.”

Music Lover says:

Darius Miaouw?