St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1895-02-24
AMBROSE TIGHE.

There is Pm impression more or
less prevalent in the community that
there is something sacred about acts
of the legislature; that certain
divinity attaches to them. 1t is not
easy to understand how anybody
who has had any experience or ac-
quaintance with the people who pass
them can think so. But perhaps
those who believe Providence has
selected our legislators as it's vice
gerents on earth include this &C.
centricity along with the other in
scrutable performances they are so
fond of attributing to Providence.
In point of fact, half the laws on
the statute books have not the re-
deeming feature of intelligibility, to
say nothing of the odor Of sanctity.
A man could not obey them if he
wanted to, because he has no way of
learning what they mean. When
they have to be interpreted, law
yers wrangle over them and judges
make a stagger and guess at what
the Solons at the capitol "had in
mind when they enacted them. In
the end, every one concerned is usual
1y dissatisfied at the decision, and the
Judge who wrote it, if he is conscien-
tious, is the most dissatisfied of ALL
The executive of necessity has to use
a good deal of discretion when it is
called on to enforce laws of this sort.
AS to the other laws which an eX-
ecutive officer is called on to en-
force. a good many belong to the
class which are passed under the
notion that it is the governments
business to try and make people
good. Nothing could be further from
the truth than this idea. People no
doubt ought to be good, but it is not
a governments function to persuade
or compel them to be. The govern
ment has no power and no right to
suppress sin. It is all wrong for a
man to eat too much or too little,
to drink too much, to smoke too
much. 1t is wrong for some men to
smoke at all or to drink at all. But
a law forbidding smoking or drink
ing, or even regulating the amount
any individual shall smoke or drink,
would be unenforceable except in
sporadic instances; and, If enforced
in those and not in general, it would
work oppression and injustice. 1t is
ONLY when sin takes the form of an
offense against society at large that
it legitimately can be brought within
the region of governmental inter-i
ference. If man gets drunk in his
own room and stays there, he makes
a brute of himself, to be sure, but
the police are not to be called on.
If he gets drunk and makes a noise
on the street, the municipal court,
thereby acquires jurisdiction of him.
The laws commonly fail to make
any such distinction as this. Per-
haps they cannot properly do so
without emasculating themselves to
a degree which would render them
valueless when they are really
needed. The consequence under
some administrations is to make
one law for the rich and another
for the poor The saloon, which is
1.-THE poor mans club" is closed on
Sunday because it is easy to get at.
The rich mans club is unmolested-
because the porter at the door can
give warning of the policies ap-
proach. The poor man who throws
dice in a bar room is arrested. The
rich man who beggars himself by
playing for high stakes in the pri-
vate parlor Of hotel goes I'M
moIested. And it may be aoueo tl.d,
the net result in the one case is
about as effective as in the otter,