Humanitarian League

The Humanitarian League was a British radical advocacy organisation based in London that operated from 1891 to 1919. Founded by Henry S. Salt with Edward Maitland, Ernest Bell, Howard Williams, Kenneth Romanes and Alice Lewis, it promoted a general principle of humaneness, opposing avoidable suffering to any sentient being, and pursued reforms across both human and animal concerns.

The League campaigned against capital and corporal punishment, hunting for sport and vivisection, compulsory vaccination, and for changes in criminal law and prison practices. It disseminated its views through its journals Humanity (1895–1902), The Humanitarian (1902–1919) and The Humane Review (1900–1910), as well as books, pamphlets and public meetings. Membership and activity declined during the First World War, and the organisation dissolved in 1919. Former members subsequently helped to found the League for the Prohibition of Cruel Sports (now the League Against Cruel Sports).

In The Ethics of Diet (1883), a history of vegetarianism, Howard Williams proposed the creation of a humane society with a broader scope than any that existed at the time. This idea was later developed by Henry S. Salt in an 1889 article on humanitarianism published in the Westminster Review, where he argued for a consistent principle of humaneness applied to all sentient beings.

In 1891, Henry S. Salt founded the Humanitarian League, also serving as its general secretary and editor of its publications. Other founding members included Edward Maitland, Ernest Bell (chairman of committee and treasurer), Howard Williams, Kenneth Romanes and Alice Lewis (treasurer). Its inaugural meeting was held at Lewis's house, 14 Park Square, London, and she remained treasurer throughout the League's existence. Many of the founders were also members of the Shelley Society.

The provisional committee of the League in April 1891 consisted of William E. A. Axon, R. H. Jude, Alice Lewis, Edward Maitland, R. E. O'Callaghan, Rev. G. J. Ouseley, Kenneth Romanes, Howard Williams and Salt.

The League's guiding principle was that it is iniquitous to inflict avoidable suffering on any sentient being. Its manifesto declared:

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.

The League opposed corporal and capital punishment, hunting for sport, vivisection, and compulsory vaccination. Many members were vegetarians, and the League aimed to reduce animal suffering.