The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-04-09
RIVER AT 8 A. M.
LAW AND GOD.

A communication published else
where from Mr.. Louis Nash exhibits
the characteristic failing of his school.
They mix up inextricably divine and
human law, and in their minds the
words state" and "God'' are synony-
nous. Between moral law and civil
law, statute law and divine law. our
correspondent draws no distinction.
The thou shalt of Mount Sinai he
would have repeated by congress and
by every state legislature, and would
endeavor, in a republic which can do
no more than obtain an average Of
minds. to establish the absolute Ger
tainty and the dOgmatism of action
that attach to the theOcracy. Given q
law of conduct that is at least believed
to emanate from an aIl-wise, augood
and all-powerfuI being, and 1t may
very we'll be couched in mandatory
terms. Thou Shalt belongs to God.
The passing over of this language or
of this attitude to the state, which is
q mere summing up of All OF Us, is a
transfer as illogical in principle as it
Is impossible in practice. It might
occur to our correspondent that there
are a good many chou shalt nots"
laid down in sacred writ which even
moral and religious people today, eX-
cept Of certain beliefs, do not sub
scribe to. He will find a lot of prOhi-
billions in the Old Testament, and a lot
of prescriptive rules about food ana
dress and ceremOnials from which the
good people of the present day excuse
themselves upon the plea that they are
living in the new dispensation." AS
q matter of fact however, as refer
ring to conduct, it ought to be inter
esting to the writer of these articles
to notice that the you must of holy
writ is of exceeding rare occurrence.
In the ten commandments it is the
negative and not the positive side that
predominates. Aside from the COM
mandments to love God and to honor
parents, the decaIogue is a list Of pro-
hibitions. The state may safely pro-
hibit those actions in which an individ-
ual attempts to limit the rightful lib
erty of his fellow. So far the state
also says thou shalt not" If it went
no further, we should have much less
to complain of than we do.
The important thing, it seems to us
for all who are inclined to think as
Mr. Nash does, is to realize that the
state is not God. 1t is not a source tC
which we can look for inspiration. OF
from which we can draw infallibli
wisdom. 1t is not safe TO place
Unnecessary power in the hands
Of the state, nor IS it reason.
able to expect from it Il better
conduct of enterprise or better regu
Iation of industry than from individ
uals. For, remember, the state i
only an assemblage of certain person
selected out of the whole mass of US
and, being elected by majorities, the,
represent a fair average Of the whole
They are neither the best nor the wors
men in the community, but somewher
in the middle. The state, therefore
like the average individual, is selfish
greedy, narrow and open to influence
that are hostile to the we'll being c
the greater number and to the ad
vancement of the community. 1t is nc
one whit more reasonable to eXpeC
far-reaching reforms from "the state
than it is to pick up a man and ca
him king and give him absolute powe
and then sit down and wait for I'll
millennium.
We are no more patient of evil tina
Mr.. Nash, and we believe that IL
system which Christ taught was NJ
only a system of religion, but a pc
fectly practicable and the only SUI
cessful industrial and economic sy
tenn as we'll. You will no more fore
1t on men until they have grown up
1t morally than the believers in Il
Master could bring the world over
His side in a day, or even save Hi