Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1905-08-27
4 MUCH-GoYERNEp PEOPLE.

At every annual meeting of that body
of eminent lawyers, the American Bar
association, reference is made to the
vast amount of legislation affecting the
citizen in all his relations which is en-
acted every year by congress and the
state legislatures. Uniformly the
opinion expressed has been that there is
a great excess Of such legislation, that
much of it is Unnecessary and useless
and that not little of it is positively
bad. At this years meeting of the as
ISOLATION, It's president, Henry st.
George Tucker of Kentucky, spoke on
this line in his annual address, point
ing out the numerous subjects upon
which the state legislatures had adopted
laws within the past year.
Commenting on this great array of
new laws and a growing inclination to.
ward innumerable state commissions,
Mr. Tucker remarked that what inn
presses one most deeply is the number
and variety of subjects of legislation
and the assumption by the state of func
1AOio NAANh III Jul tdl lltl hislOlg NtlO
unclaimed by it. We are a much-gov-
erned people," he declared, land there
is nothing which affects the American
citizen, in his personal, social political
or property rights, which is not the sub
iect of regulation by the state. The gov
eminent, as trustee for society, controls
our rights, our wants, our necessities
and our individual action in their rela-
ton to society. The home is no longer a
mans castle, but it may be a prison
house with the family as the inmates
and the board of health as jailer" He
urged that when the state steps in and
assumes control by boards and commits
sions and other agencies of the safety
of society, of the health and morals of
the people as well as of their property
rights, special care must be taken not
to endanger any of those inalienable
rights of life, liberty and property guar
anteed to every citizen under the law
of the land. For it must be remem-
bered that there are rights which do
not proceed from government, but are
antecedent to government, and are those
for the preservation of which govern
ments are ordained"
1t will hardly be seriously questioned
that the piling up of statutes, many of
them impracticable and consequently
never enforced, is a distinct fault I'm our
legislation, but how can 1t be rene
died2 1t is to be regretted that Mr.
Tucker gave no consideration to this
question, though had he done so he prob
ally would have been compelled to adj
NIT that there is no remedy. AS a mat
ter Of fact a very large portion Of our
legislation is due to lawyers, who dom
mate nearly or quite all the state legis-
latures, but If this were not the case
there is no reason to believe that there
would be fewer laws passed from year
to year or that the statutes enacted
would generally be any wiser or more
useful than under existing conditions
1t is unquestionably true that we are
a much-governed people and some of
the legislation infringes those inalien-
able rights which. as Mr.. Tucker said,
do not proceed from government, but
are antecedent to government. Yet we
are unable to see any way by which this
can be corrected and the eminent law
yers of the American Bar association
seem to be equally incapable of sug-
costing a remedy.