Contents -BIBLIOGRAPHIC RECORD

Upton Sinclair, ed. (1878–1968). rn The Cry for Justice: An Anthology of the Literature of Social Protest. 1915.

Murder by Statute

Mencius

From “The Sayings of Mencius”

(Chinese classic, B.C. 300)

KING HWUY of Leang said, “I wish quietly to receive your instructions. Mencius replied, “Is there any difference between killing a man with a stick, and with a sword?” “There is not,” was the answer.

Mencius continued, “Is there any difference between doing it with a sword and with government measures?” “There is not,” was the answer again.

Mencius then said, “In your stalls there are fat beasts; in your stables there are fat horses. But your people have the look of hunger, and in the fields are those who have died of famine. This is leading on beasts to devour men. Beasts devour one another, and men hate them for doing so. When he who is called the parent of the people conducts his government so as to be chargeable with leading on beasts to devour men, where is that parental relation to the people?”