The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-09-16
Letters to The Editor.
Enforcing the Law.

Editor The Advertiser:
 The city of Montgomery as the capital of the State has, doubtless, a great tnfiu- enee over other municipalities in the commonwealth, and there are many who are watching with interest the present agitation winch is going on regarding the closing of stores on Sunday. There can be no doubt as to the ordinance, requir- ing the stores to be closed on that day; the only point at issue is whether or not the Mayor of the city will enforce that ordinance.
 His Honor the Mayor, did not create that ordinance; 1t was enacted by the lawfully constituted legislative branch of the municipality. The honorable Board of Aldermen were of the opinion that It was right and proper in order to the con servation of the morals of the city, to re- quire places of business, except those nam ed in the ordinance to be closed Sunday The Mayor of the city was elected with the understanding that he was to enforce and execute the laws as they are found
 on the books And when he was inducted into office he solemnly made oath to do
 that very thing. The Mayor is not the lawmaker, and he should be the last man in town to be lawbreaker. Instead of
 calling off the police and nullifying a
 statute on the books of the city. he should give orders to his chief to see that the law is exactly executed without fear or favor. It may be terrible strain on the nerves of the Italian fruit dealers, simply to sit idly by all day Sunday and watch their wares without the compensation of selling them: 1t may be very exasperating to the habitual drunkard to find that he cannot get his usual amount of swll on Sunday; it may inconvenience the saloon men to find their coffers empty on Sun day night but with all that the honorable Mayor has nothing to do. His duty is clearly nominated in the bond" and he has. under his oath, no more right to annul the ordinance against Sunday open ing than he has the right to annul any other ordinance of the city code. If that ordinance is bad law, let it be abrogated by the same authority that enacted it; if 1t Is a good law let 1t stand. Rut in all events let the honorable Mayor do his duty regardless of who may be incon- venienced thereby.
 That ordinance Is a good law. There are many people in this city who would like to have one day in the week for rest. And to take 1t away from them. by requiring them to work on Sunday, is to deprive them of a God-given right. The retail clerks have done well to demand their rights in the premises, but 1t is ra ther a reflection on the executive branch of the city government that 1t has to wait for outside pressure to be brought to bear on it to have the plain laws of the city enforced. By the way. why don't tbe ministers of the city and all the good people unite in a respectful suggestion to His Honor to enforce the ordinance as it stands? But the Mayor should not wait for that he cannot afford as the Mayor of The Model City of Alabama" to set such an example in the practice of law breaking, in failing to execute the laws he has sworn to enforce. If the law is a bad one the best way in the world to break 1t down is to enforce it; but in the name of all morality-without which no people can long be prosperous or hap py, let the law be enforced, as long as 1t stands. h the meantime, where Is the grand jury? Spectator.