The Meeker herald., 1906-07-14
The Reign Of Law.

The Reign Of Law.
1t is fortunate for the race that stat
utes made and provided" by men are
not the only check upon evildoers. Be-
hind all the "be-it-enactsds" stands the
natural law, governing the whole uni
verse and every living thing in the or
ganic world. Human legislation may
fail Of its object. We may hide from
the sheriff, dodge the prosecutor. forfeit
our bonds to the court. but we cannot
get away from the natural law. It Is as
fixed as fate, as certain as death, as in
exOrable as the lightning's stroke. We
cannot escape 1t, we cannot evade it,
we cannot avoid it. II we neglect the
laws Of health, the punishment is sure
In the shape OF consequent disease.
Every farmer knows that the success of
all his operations depend primarily upon
observing the natural law. There must
be heat and moisture combined to pro-
duce crops; the stock will not thrive
without suitable and nutritious food;
the butter comes only from cream of
proper temperature. Water will not
run up hill. grass will not grow on
stones, nothing will thrive without care
and cultivation. Human laws can do
something, but they operate only on
men, and 1t is Old Nature, after all,
that Is the supreme architect, the chief
director, the main manufacturer. Run
counter to her unwritten rules, disobey
her plain mandates. and failure awaits
experiments of the daring innovator.
Contrary to the opinions of many,
natural law reigns in the business as
well as in the inorganic world. Punish
ment falls of itself upon abuses; short
sighted greed has penalties to pay. The
occurrences Of the past month show
that a swifter loss than any restraining
legislation could possibly inflict upon
the packers, they suffered by the falling
of in their trade. consequent upon dis
trust of their business integrity. They
escaped the Federal prosecution by rea-
son of Judge Humphreys hair splitting
technicalities. They succeeded in cheat
ing the courts restraining order But
public opinion. which is the bailiff Of
the natural law in human affairs, pun
ished them much more severely than
could have been done BY any decree of
court. In France there arose something
like boycott OF American meat pro-
ducts; English consumers became CON
cerned and determined to withhold
orders. II half the current reports be
true, the sales of canned goods in this
country are being badly cut into. This
is one Of the finest ways of regenerating
sinful business known to tile theOlOg-
ians. 1t is an instance also of the pun
ishment exactly fitting the crime, as the
packers were reached In their tenderest
spot by the loss of money, which they
prize above honor, reputation, charac-
ter or anything else in the world.
Achilles was vulnerable only in his heel.
A trust magnate is to be wounded only
in his pocketbook. Like Falstaff, he
thinks all the honor in the world is not
equal to beef or dollar.
Adulteration, false weights, goods be-
low contract, skimping, disregard of
the health of both workers IN the manu-
facture and consumers in the market
all these things are an abomination to
business, as well as to the Lord. They
are bad business, !" as all men can see
when the exposure comes. And rest as.
sured the exposure will come sooner or
later. Nemesis pursues long but event
ually she overtakes. The grafters, il Il
they had any moral sense. would know
that their sins would find them out,
even if the process servers cannot locate
their hiding places. In the highest
standards of business honor, in products
kept up to grade, the highest profits are
to be made. taking the years together.
1t is not necessary to invoke either an
avenging government or an avengin9
angel; angry consumers, tricked custo-
mers. buyers frightened away, will exc
cute punishment. Enlightened selfish
ness. if no higher motive, and the law