The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1904-03-30
Hindrances to Reform.

Hindrances to Reform.
Justice Brewer Of the federal SUI
preme court, yesterday addressed with
much force the municipal lecture as
ISOLATION Of Chicago on obedience to
Law, the First Civic Duty
One point he made was that reform
movements are so often short-lived
and ineffective because some Of the
active promoters areS1nterested only SO
far as there Is hope that there may be
a change Of administration and a
chance for them to get public office;
others show activity only so far as the
movement is intended. to carry out
their particular views, and. If things
do not go as they wish, they relapse
into stubborn indifference. Reform"
said the Judge, will come only thru
the conviction that reform must be
sought for reforms sake alone and not
for personal advancement, and that
the crank is not a safe leader in re-
form movements
The motto Of true reform move
naents is '+civ1c purity, righteousness
and obedience to law" said the judge.
He was addressing Chicago audience
of civic reformers who are making q
really earnest fight for reform in mu-
nicipal affairs and for public order.
The last term of his motto should
have been placed first. Obedience to
law is the direct pathway to civic
purity and righteousness, Righteous
ness, in fact, Is conformity with divine
law and human, law, based upon the
divine law Of right doing. The right
eous seeker after civic, purity is on the
right track. He has no use for
cranl<s. He knows that, as Campbell
Morgan says, 1.-THE man who has a
right to rule Is the man who knows
how to be ruled, and the only man
fit to issue orders is the man accus-
toned to obey orders
Unfortunately there is reverse
side. The combinations Of the corrupt
in our large cities are usually stronger
and under more astute leadership than
the combinations of reformers in the
interest Of civic purity, righteousness
and obedience to law. The New York
state capitol is impregnated with Job
berry and robbery from ground floor to
final. The cellar alone absorbed
some millions, and it was thus all the
way UP. Tweed held the taxpayers. Of
New York city by their throats while
ing of Cato touching morality in his
day that ope who STOLE from a private
person ended his days IN chains and
letters, while one who stole from the
public ended them in gold and purple.
The late James Parton. addicted to
reform ideas, held that the chief evil
to be remedied was the tenure. sOfs.of-
fee in this country. He held that, If
all the public offices were sold to the
highest bidders at auction, and sthe
successful bidder had to comply, with
very stringent terms as to squalifca-
tons to protect the public from dis
honesty and incompetency of official
administration, we would have pub
lie service adequate to the demands Of
civil. service reforners- He would
give officials long terms and very large
salaries. Justices of the supreme
court would be provided with houses,
as well as would be cabinet officers,
while their salaries would be four
times what is now paid. Parton's ideas
have never taken hold of the Ameri-
can mind.
There is no real relief from the pre-
vailing INSTRUMENTATION to law, with it's
| concomitants of corruption, wide
spread .lawlessness In the home, irrev-:
| erence for sacred things, such as max
ing a door mat of the sacred marriage
relation. and a widespread tendency
to social degeneracys in various forms,
except in reform which leads to the
reinthronement of law, with it's, abso-
lutte demand for obedience and APP
pealing to the consciences Of rational
! human beings. ~ .*