Marietta daily leader. (Marietta, Ohio) 1895-1906, 1898-09-11


man in origin and superhuman in
power AS man progressed in intel
ligence this belief as to the superhu-
man origin and power of kings was
modified. Instead of being looked up
on as god or demigod the monarch
was considered man invested however
with the divine right to rule. The
king himself was brought degree
nearer his subjects; but his voice was
still thought to be the voice of God.
In theoryvictoria reigns del gratia re-
gardless of the desires of the people.
But it is now only in theory and not in
fact. 1t is reported that on a certain
occasion Gladstone demanded con-
cession on the part of the queen
which she refused to make. But"
said Gladstone, your majesty, you
must" Must" retorted the queen,
do you know who l am" Yes" re-
piled Gladstone, you are the queen of
England; but in my capacity here,
am the people of England and you
must grant this request" And rumor
has it, the people prevailed. Whether
this story is based upon fact or not it
is true that great change concern
ing government has been wrought in
the minds of men. In this country
we deny the kings to rule at all. In
selecting representatives to enact
laws for us, choosing judges to pass
upon them and electing executives to
enforce them we become our own gov
ernors as completely as it is possible
for large bodies of people to govern
themselves. And now the very great
importance of maintaining the majes-
ty of the law becomes apparent. 1t is
our own established rule of action,
formulated by our chosen representa-
tives and if allowed to be violated
with impunity a state of anarchy is
sure to ensue. People, ordinarily law
abiding, sometimes overlook the SER
iousness Of the principle herein in
volved. In matters which they con-
slider secondary in importance they oc-
casionally insist upon going their own
way regardless of the rule of action
which they themselves helped to
make. That this is incipient revolu-
tion which may ultimately lead to
very serious results they probably do
not realize; but nevertheless it is. The
experienced teacher knows that if the
schoolroom law relating to clean
hands is not enforced that it is only
question of time when unwashed faces
and slovenly intellectual work will
characterize her department That is,
once the majesty of the law is not
maintained at any given point all law
loses more or less of its power. AS
an excuse for disregarding it, we fire.
quently hear the argument that the
particular law in question is puerile
and possibly a stumbling block in
mans way, and often the argument is
just But instead of revolution the
same agencies whereby the law was
brought into being should be set in
motion for the purpose of effecting a
speedy repeal. One of the grave mis-
takes of ancient monarchs consisted
in the fact that they governed too
much. and there is constant danger
that republics will inflict the same in
justice upon themselves. Law max
ing should be reduced to the mini
mum, but once law is enacted by the /
peoples chosen representatives and |
approved by the judiciary the sworn
administrator who allows its majesty
to be violated does SO at the peril of !
republics or institutions. In his un-
broken solitude 1t made no difference
whether Robinson Crusoe kept to the
right or the LETT of his beaten path as
he went from or returned to his rude
home. There were no others whose
rights, equal to his own, demanded |
consideration. With no one to please
but himself he could do as he pleased.
But 1t is not thus in the densely popu-
lated quarters of the globe There
some rules must be established where
by equal rights and protection can be
assured unto all. Nor can it be left !
to the different individuals, as now
constituted, to determine which of |
these rules they will obey and which !
they will disregard. Such course
would result in confusion beside
which that said to have attended the
building of the tower of Babel would |
be paragon OF order. Gentlemen,
the majesty OF the law, the whole law,
hI,