El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1900-11-23

their apparent powerIessness in the
are so widespread and so aggressive
that they call for more than passing
notice There is some cause for this.
and our duty is to find the cause as
preliminary to some effort at correc-
ton of the abuse.
There Is an element of people who
are continually crying for more laws;
as If the laws were in themselves pow
erful. This is a characteristic Amer
lean trait. this calling for a new law
for every little thing Legislatures and
municipal councils are all too ready to
pass laws by the bushel. since they
know by past experience that passing a
law that somebody asks for will quiet
him and interfere with nobody II is a
fact. lamentable but indisputable that
the average legislative body. in city or
state. does not think OF it's laws and
enactments as intended to be generally
and rigidly enforced. except in the dis
| erection of petty executive officers, and
then only occasionally. to quiet some
agitator.
The secret of present disgraceful con-
ditions. in this city and throughout the
country. lies in the failure to enforce
the laws and ordinances
II is true that here. as in every city
in the country. mayor. sheriff. grand
juries. prosecutors. violate their Of
fetal oaths every day in their failure
to administer the laws of the state
But official oaths in this age have come
TO have modified meaning. They are
considered as merely a form To be gone |
through with upon assuming office. |
with no more binding force than would |
attach to the recital of verse from |
Shakespeare. II is not necessary at |
this time to discuss the moral aspect |
of this common form of perjury this /
universal blasphemy. but only the prac-
teal side of IL.
Men make laws. they appoint other
men TO represent them in administer
ing these laws. but the executive
officers fail to do so. There is a re-
course. The men who. through their
delegates. made the laws. and those
who elected the administrators. can
Tending parties. But the same men
who made the laws did so in the
that they would not be
strictly enforced. The mayor and the
sheriff knew when they assumed Office
that their official oaths were but the
a h.sttr L. nf
and that they would not stand in the
way of any line of action il might he
desired to adopt They knew moreover
hat the majority of the people appar-
entity do not desire to see the laws en-
orced. and consequently they can fall
back on the will OF the majority when
,ver they are cornered.
This thing is absolutely i'm the hands lo
If the people themselves II is a ,
heir duties as citizens. And healthy /
hip that confesses the inevitableness q
If boss rule. What's the use?" is the i
ry of the weakling. The people can ]
egain control If they want it. II the IL
of the people are really cor
upt, then ii must be admitted that a
orrupt government is inevitable. But +
the majority are decent. then il is
heir own fault. and not the fault of the :
July elected representatives OF the cor
upt minority. that they have not good d
[
We so often hear the cry reform"
Reform what? Not the individual of
ice holders. not the system of govern =
nent. not the corrupt machine of the
'arty in power. but reform the citizen a
That is where the work must begin
Individual voters must be reached and :
nd honesty. Individual voters must v
'e brought to a better realization of =
heir duties as citizens. And a healthy .
'ublic opinion must be aroused s
Arouse the women. Arouse the young
nen and young women, as well as the q
BUSINESS and professional men,
No corrupt gang can withstand an r
reused. active. organized public opin $
on. Admitting the impossibility of l.
citing corrupt men or men subser-
lent to boss to enforce the laws ad-
hitting the advantage of the party in I
'ower possesses in its control of the @
rand juries and courts. even these can \
lot stand out against an honest ma
ority of the ballots. o
We believe in majority rule. This h
means that government will always be 4
Constituted upon a basis of only av-
rage morality. used in the broad sense.