The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1906-06-14
DIR. JUDSON URGES
SOCIAL REFORMS.

possible. Is this the prevailing condi-s
ton, the habitual social attitude in our
eountrya A student of life in the
IN states. both at the present time
pressed by the wide prevalence of dis
posed by law. Whether this is more
marked today than in the past it is not
easy to decide. The republic is more
populous, richer, filed with a vastly
more complex and strenuous life than
ever before, and what once were
minute laws appear now as huge riffs.
I, 1t may be that we have more law
iessness u the aggregate, but not more
fathers. But American inheritance and
education together seem to have imbued
the. national life with an instructive
restiveness under legal restrictions We
like to get at the heart of the matter
at once without waiting for the OBJ
servanee- of established forms.
Virus Lies Deep.
.s:'sI go virus Of lawlessness lies deep
4 IN our social slife#and thought. Lynch
ling IS by Sno means confined to the
tsouthl or to- negro: victims. The gross
pngslcal Violence which often accom-
panles strikes is, eomplacently justified
| as necessary to secure the success Of or
ganized labor. Men Of large wealth
eYade laws of nation and state in order
to reap richer gain.
- The essence Of the difficulties with
/ !, Mnlch ", we are now laboring seems to
lie IN disregard for law. It is idle to
denounce ANY one man or set of men IN
as arch criminals. Public life, is NO
,,EWorse than private. business and ali
forms Of industry are implicated in one
/ way or another. What we need is not
SO much to punish our neighbors as to
/ reform ourselves. We. need q great ma.
tional revival, political, social, CONNER.
.elal and industrial, Of old-fashioned re,
habit. ~' '@'',r''1 =
:, eve. are not. by nature worse NOR.
Ally than other nations. 1T may be
that what we may Justly call our ma.
tlonal attitude Of depreciation Of lay
can be traced far back to the very
sources of the republic. The first set
tiers on the New England coast were
refugees from law which they; detested
4 Our nationaI independents was the re
suit of riot and rebellion. The million.
Of immigrants who focked to, our shores
In the following decades were escap
ing from tyranny. Our greatest SO
tcial problem, slavery, was settled b,
" physical violence, not. by calm states
1sx,~%"' Violent Remedies. 81, -: : i ;
7 SaThds like scarlet thread thru til,
russell: and gold of the fabric of OH
history runs this proneness to violen
remedies in place of the, more remot
securities Of legal process. We ar
proud of our constitution, and urge OF
the people Of all lands the. adoption 8
; constitutional government. The essenc
OF such government, we say, is that
is government by law and not By Cd
price, All free government should b
that. But is the violence Of aemob, 0
OF OF m IRE L. ..slssggerssH, permitted by tn
!. any less an act of caprice than is til
+ tyranny of an autocrat? If a wealth
! man evades paying his legal taxes, j
he not substituting Individual caprric
! for the uniform operation of lawS
the mayor of "a city selects at his ow
: fancy the laws which he chooses to Ell
! force and those which t'he will s.ne glec
is he not substituting caprice for law
rs gtfLaw> should s.Ebe respected. an
Sd obeyeds by all good citizens. Whenitha
: iss~ the case; Legislatures Wills hesitat
: before inficting on the community: tn
3 tundigested mass, of statutes2 from whic
! we. now suffer- If law once enacte
: FAnfail ingly has effect, legislative: bodie
Il must haze 3keener sense: of 7respons
7 il.ollAty; TanG personal responsibility
u what fsevery ncitizen of the republ
E should never for a moment fail.
I realize. = &C. - 900 -. II = ,sz+
d Passion for Education
i DR.. ,,Judson dwelt upon the. old Ne
J. England passion for education and i
o bearing upon the development ssof r
81. spect for law. He spoke Of the: sac1
3. fees upon which many a college educ
9 ton had been based, and Chopped tt
t. prairies of the northwest will. increa
/ ingly, reproduce the spirit of New. En-
g land: !" Then he went. on: - -.
lt] tive are not so much in need
g new laws as of "a higher social stan
e ard. When the ambition of the Tho
i sands Of homes scattered thru o,
y northland lis set rather On college f
= the sons and daughters than on a lar
y balance in the bank; when music al
g Fnrt and literature rank higher in pc
= ular estimation than bridge whist al
II automobiles, then we shall have. lie
G. trouble with our politics and our bus
IS ness. Lofty, social ideals ARE all tn
= will really remed y disturbed publ
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