The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1889-01-18
INIRADIUABLG EVIL.

Legal determination.
Jackson (4ich,l Patriot,
Radical differences OF opinion exist
among thoughtful and conscieuti PEG.
pie concerning the nature and perma,
hence OF evil in its various forms, and
these divergent views naturally cause
marked differences Of opinion as to the
wisest method Of treatment by tho civil
law, This is true Of the social us well as
Of other evils,
The, controversy as to the nature OF
evil ia as old us intelligent human
thought. sophocles, the Greek poet,
said;
LID not doubt III evil never dies;
The gods take care Of that II GuGht there be
FHudiul and vile, It's safe,
And in the Bible, in the writings of
the great Prophet Isaiah, we read this
utteranCe; ~ am the Lord, and there
Is none else. ! form the light aud create
darkness; l make peace and create evil,
l the Lord do all these things"
Many OF the purest and best thinkers
Of our own timeshold to the belief that
evil Is q necessary condition OF proba-
tionary life upon tho earth that Il can
not be eradiC0ted by human ediCts, de-
crees or enactmentsj aud that, Us an In
evitable consequence, all prohibitiye
statutes fail TO accomplish their intended
purpose.
Evil exists. That much We know.
Man, a free moral agent, is hero endoW.
ed with liberty and power to choose be-
tween good and evil, taking the conse.
Quences, and this freedom OF choice con.
slitutes his title to manhood. But for
this liberty man would be an automaton.
And, choosing, is an individual matter
for each human being, to be exercised
as, passing from childhood, the rational
faculties are developed. During child
hood the home is the supreme influence
in giving direction to that choice.
The uplifting forces OF society are
moral, but they are subject always to in
dividnal freedom Of choice. 1t seems to
be impossible for society to wipe out any
evil by prohibitOry cnaCtments. The
wlllot majority cannot prevent freedom
OF choice for minority, and even the
majority, however, radical their prohibit
tons may be, will exercise that freedom.
Laws are compulsory, back OF them Is the
constable's warrant and the pOliceman's
club, and their last resort Is the soldier
and his bayonet. These agencies restrain
eyil.disposed from doing harm to others
or punish the commission Of the overt
act, which Is about all that statutory en-
aCtments can take CognizanCe Of; and
hence their very necessary Limitations,
saying nothing about the nature OF evil
Itself, prevent them from abolishing and
destroying 1t.
Thus far in the worlds history evil
has existed and II still exists. Civiliza-
ton has refined itsomewhat MS 1t rehnes
everything else, making 1t less coarse
and brutal than II was, but we see no ev-
idence that it has diminished, much less
exterminated, any form Of 1t. The So
Cial evil is more repulsive and offensive
an outrage Of the vilest sort-in the
lumber and mineral regions Of Michigan,
Wisconsin and Minnesota, because so.
ciety is less civilized there than in the
southern part of tho State, hut there Is
much larger percentage Of ii In our
cities and rural villages now than there
was twenty-five years ago. 0flate years
moral forces have been supplanted to q
considerable extent by legal repression
for lesseuing some OF the greatest evils,
and they have increased. We are in.
Clined TO think that society, acting
through prohibitory enactmonts, will
fall TO eXterminate or even TO lessen
them. More moderate means, looking
less TO the State aud more to the home
for saving influences, especially to TINT
early moral training which the State
cannot give, will be likely, after trial
OF the severer measures OF the law, to
commend themselves to the judgments
OF those people who desire that the
most efficient practical methods for sup
pressing evil and exalting good shall be
adopted.
Arecent writer, Professor Morselli, In
his admirable work on Suicide" says:
"They Judge wrongly who think that
evils Of civilized society, such as misery,
disease, prostitution, madness, suicide,
are accidental aud avoidable, but 10 those
who look ut things from the positive
side II appears clear that they are the
effects OF the same law OF evolution
TO which all living beings are subject,
and the aim OF which Is the well-being
OF animals, and for man that state Of
moral and physical perfection uncon.
sciously desired by nature and which
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. define as the future
happiness OF the Individual"
We have no pride Of opinion TO main
tain, but choose to look at the worlds
medley Of good and evil MS 1t Is, and,
guided by the light Of experience, not
resort 10 tho arbitrary methods Of law in
q vain attempt to abolish Gvil-methodE
that are often destructive Of that liberty
which Is essential 10 the development
Of all that Is nobleSt and best In hui