SIMON CAMERON - MANUSCRIPT LETTER SIGNED 04/20/1872 - HFSID 46937

SIMON CAMERON
About passing laws "which prevent cruelty to our 'dumb friends'".
Manuscript LS: "Simon Cameron" as U.S. Senator, 1p, 5¼x8. Washington, 1872 April 20. To William F. Pettit, Philadelphia. In full: "I have this day endorsed your note, and that of Miss Pennington, to Mr. Frelinghuysen who succeeded me as Chairman of the Committee having in charge the bill to which she refers. Be kind enough to assure her of my voice and vote being enthusiastically in favor of the just and merciful measure she favors. I make no doubt we shall succeed in engrafting on our laws soon the elevating act which prevent cruelty to our 'dumb friends' and, at the same time, secures additional health to ourselves." On April 23, 1872, three days after Cameron wrote this letter, it was reported in the Journal of the Senate that Mr. Frelinghuysen, from the Committee on Agriculture, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 694) to prevent cruelty to animals while in transit by railroad or other means of transportation within the United States, reported it without amendment. Passed by Congress and signed into law by President Grant in 1873, it provided that "Animals [were] not to be carried in cars or vessels for more than twenty-eight consecutive hours without being unloaded for rest, food, &c., for five consecutive hours, unless, &c. to be fed and watered". The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) was founded in 1866 "to promote humane principles, prevent cruelty, and alleviate fear, pain, and suffering in animals". SIMON CAMERON (1799-1889), U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania (1845-1849, 1857-1861, 1867-1877), was Lincoln's Secretary of War (1861-1862) and Minister to Russia (1862). FREDERICK T. FRELINGHUYSEN was U.S. Senator from New Jersey (1866-1869, 1871-1877) and Arthur's Secretary of State (1881-1885). ¼-inch separation at right blank horizontal fold. Slightly shaded edges. Rectangular paper loss, ¼ x 1, on verso. Fine condition.