The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-03-30
BREWER SPEAKS ON OBEY|NG THE LAWS Delivers Strong Address in Chi cago Auditorium CITY LIFE VS COUNTRY More Laws Are Broken In the City Because There Are More
 Laws to Be
 obeyed.
CITY LIFE vS COUNTRY

Chicago March 29.-"Waste no time or
 strength over trivial differences concern
 ing modes and methods Enlist under the single banner of civic purity, righteous ness and obedience to law. Enlist not for
 one campaign only. but for the war; So spoke Justice David J. Brewer of the United States supreme court, in an address here tonight under the auspices of the Municipal Lecture association. His theme was Obedience to Law the First Civic Duty" and his discourse was lis- tened to by an audience that filled the auditorium: Judge Brewer spoke in part as follows:
 Tt is a truism that all should obey the law. 1t is a part of the Anglo Saxon 8 political creed. Especially is this true
 wherever the law Is not made for the citizen. but where the citizen makes the
 law. If a number of men unite in part ] nership on equal terms undoubtedly the
 majority should control and the minority
 submit to their judgment or quit the part
 nership Ours is a government of the
 people, by the people, and for the peo-
 pie. Each man is entitled to one vote and no more. One mans vote Is as good
 and no better than another g. Never,
 however, look upon it as property some
 thing for barter and sale It should De to every true American like the water Of
 life, without money and without price.
 This rule of equality is the basic principle
 of our political life, however short we
 may come of realizing It.
 Declaration of Independence.
 "The Declaration of Independence is still a living and glowing truth
 and not a mere chromo of dead though sglittering generalities. ac-
 cording to this, the majority determine and make the law and the minority must obey or go elsewhere. In our thought
 there Is no place for resistance to law or for revolution to overthrow the decisions of the ballot. We do not live in Panama, and we have no canals to sell. This duty of obedience to the law being conceded, it being confessedly the principle upon which republican government is rounded why stop to consider 1t in relation 10 mu- nicipal government? No one VIII seri- ously contend that there Is an obligation to obey the law of the state or nation and none to obey the ordinances of a city, Therefore, why discuss that which all admit to be true!
 "Although confessedy true there are, nevertheless, some thoughts concerning It worthy of special consideration, some things which make 1t fitting that the duty of obedience to law in a city would be
 pressed upon cur attention. The ordi- nances of a city are its special laws. Undoubtedly the laws of the state are enforced within the limits of the munich pality. The criminal law of the state IS as potent within as without the city linn IA rHx lyf ,,aaD just as much murder as to kill him In
 the country. And speaking generally the
 laws of the state and the nation operate as fully within as without the limits of a city But In addition to those laws are the ordinances of the city enacted by the city authorities and operative only with In the city. There are thus more laws requiring obedience. Further, the ordi- nances are laws of a special character, and by reason thereof justify special at- tention.
 And the first thing which I wish to suggest Is that there is more violation of law in a city than elsewhere This is not
 matter of mere mathematics. It is not
 simply because there are more laws to be
 obeyed the ordinances of the city in
 addition to the laws of the state and na- ton. There is more crime in a city than in the country. As proof of this take the statistics from pententiaries, for in- stance, each year during the last three
 years more than half the convicts came from Cook county. Consider also the
 number in Chicago in ials and other
 places where, lesser criminals are pun
 ished Contrast the criminal doekets of
 your city with those of like courts in the
 country. and then in addition go any
 morning into your police courts and see
 the crowd gathered there for violations
 of your ordinances, and you will have no