The Newberry herald. [volume] (Newberry, S.C.) 1865-1884, 1883-05-31
GAN ACT TO AMEND AN ACT EN-
TITLED, AN ACT TO AMEND AN

TITLED, AN ACT TO AMEND AN
ACT"
We have read somewhere that
certain ancient ruler decreed that
any person vino wished to offer an
amendment to the existing laws
should do so with halter about his
neck, so as to be ready for the
hangman, if the amendment was re-
iected. So wholesome was the ef-
feet of the decree, the historian in
forms us, that for the space of
hundreds Of years, not one amend
ment was proposed. While we can
not approve this extreme measure
of the sagacious ruler, the incident
shows that the disposition to make
new laws and to amend old ones, is
not an evil Of modern growth. The
disposition is now running riot,
however, and we feel that it would
be wise to put a sharp check OF
some kind upon it. If the average
modern legislator had been present
when Moses came down from the
mountain, with the ten command
ments, can anybody doubt what
would have been his conduct ? He
would have called some one to the
chair, Mr.. Aaron, in all likelihood,
and have moved ''that the report Of
the committee be considered by
sections" Then would have fol-
lowed amendments and alterations,
adjourned meetings and mutilations,
till the decalogue would, like the
code of South Carolina, have swell
ed into nine pounds and three
ounces of law, miserably s'bound in
library sheep
The veriest miser might, with
perfect safety, offer reward for a
man who does not regard himself
as wise enough to make laws. In
deed, so great confidence have We
in our law-making skill and wisdom,
that the modern statesman is not
v--s9l1llr eouuecttiiozst fei1sror5 fes5i1fsrtor5
who decided that the colony should
be governed by the laws of God
unta they had time to make better.
But this capricious tendency to
multiply our laws is due in great
part to the fact that the Legislators
are not their own masters; that the
statesman is measured by the num-
Der Of speeches he makes and bills
he introduces. The people expect
all the ills Of government, even in
the executive and judicial depart
ments, to be cured by legislation,
without rejecting that laws can be
made effective only by being en-
forced. They see, or fancy that
they see, an evil demanding legis-
lation, and they forthwith begin a
clamor for new law. The press
sets up a howl, and lashes itself in
to froth and fury; and To- the poor
Legislature, stormed at by dailies
and weeklies, with big guns and
little guns, takes refuge behind can
Act to Amend An Act; and there
is your new law! What we really
need is an amendment to human
nature, that will give the people a
greater willingness to submit to the
execution OF the laws. Unfortu-
nately, they have become, like
Balaam's ass, wiser than their riders,
at least in their own estimation,
and they want to take the bit be-
tween their teeth and follow their |
own sweet will. The law-maker is
in the hands of his constituents, and
it is hard to tell where this careering
disposition to make new laws will
pause. The whole difficulty grows
out of the weakness that must charac-
terize any Republican government.
The people must be pleased. We
say, Let the laws be enforced
"Give us new laws say the people. |
And we take off our hats to the !
people.