The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1907-07-05

hesitatingly upon expedients2
TO ~DIsAPPoINr JEFFKRsoN.
There Ia much In our time that would cause
men OF the principles of Mr.. Jefferson the
bitterest disa appointment. Individual oppor-
tunity Is not unhRmpered. The nation has
had in every respect an extraordinary ma
terial development. but the chief instrument
talities OF that development have been at
least virtually monopolized. and the people,
though they created the opportunity and
contributed the labor. have not shared the
benefits OF that development as they might
have shared them. This has not been due
to the operation OF our institutions: IL has
been due TO the operation Of human nature,
which is alike under all institutions and which
has perhaps had freer play under our institu-
tions than It would have had under any others.
as Mr.. Jefferson wished that 10 should have.
The m ost obvious characteristic Of the men
who gave the nation voice and power was
their profound regard for law. They did not
fling on from the mother country because
they wanted now rights but because the
rights they had time out OF mind enjoyed
as free men under the laws and Constitution
Of En- gland and the rights they had been
promised as oolonists In q new country with
a life Of It's own had been srbitrsrtly disre-
garded and withdrawn. They wanted. not
less law nor even better law but law they
could rely upon and live by.
Ahtig " Nv tOh8t my hVpN w
liberty Is. Liberty consists In the best posi-
BILE adjustment between the power OF the Gov
eminent and the privilege OF the individual;
and only law can effect that adjustment.
II was In that knowledge that the founders OF
our Government loved the law.
Those same men. therefore. who revered
law and depended upon its grants and defni-
! lions for their security and happiness were
deeply Jealous Of too much law.
LIBERTY pBYINED.
The history Of liberty In the past has been q
history OF resistance to too much govern
mental control and a careful discovery OF the
best forms n the most prudent degrees
Of legal regulation: and 1t Is clear that the law
which the signers of the Declaration OF INDIE
pendence loved was something which they
regarded not as . body Of powers possessed
by a government but as q body OF rules resu-
lating the complex game OF life. no moro raw
orable to control than was necessary to make
IL a safeguard of individual privilege and q
guarantee Of equal rights. Too much law
was too much government. and too much
government was too little individual privilege.
as too much Individual privilege In Its turn
was selfish license.
Now let us hold this mirror up TO ourselves
and see II we recognize In It the image OF our
own minds. In that mirror we see a concep-
ton Of government which frankly puts the
individual In the foreground. thinking OF
him az the person to be at once protecced
and heartened to make a free use OF himself.
che responsible administrator OF HIS own
liberties and his own responsibilities. and
Of government as the umpire. and which de-
ponds upon law for nothing else than q clear
establishment of the rules Of the game.
That is hardly our notion. We are indeed
In love with law-more in love with 1t than
we're the makers OF the Government-but
hardly in love with 10 as q government OF
mere regulation. For US It Is an instrument
of reconstruction and control. The individ-
ual has eluded US. we seem to say, has merged
and hidden himself in corporations and a.
sociations, through the intrioacies OF whose
structure we have not time to thread our
way In search Of him; We viii therefore meet
the circumstances as We fnd them. treat him
not as an integer, but as a fraction. and deal
with the association. not with the INDIVIDUAL
CORPORATION MORALS
We will prohibit corporations 70 do this
or to do that. and punish them either with
ine or with dissolution II they disobey. T b
morals of business and OF law We will frankly
accept As corporate morals. not individual
NOR ais. and we will not set these corpora
tons. these new individuals OF our modern
law. to watch and sue one another for In
fractions Of the law. they might combine.
and there is no SUFFICIENT motive Tor them
to check one another In Illegal practices.
Neither can we depend upon individuals; they
are now too minute and weak. The moraliSer
and disciplin arisn Of corporations can in the
nature OF the case be none other than the
Government itself. and. because corporations
pread from State to State, can DO none other
than the Government Of the United States.
IL in amusing how we extend this new theory
of law into some Of the new details OF our hf
extend It at any rate In our thinking. II no
in our legislation. We hear IL suggested on
every side. for example. that the true and
effective way to stop the driving OF auto
mobiles along our highways at excessive
rates of speed IL to lock the IT.
self up whenever the speed laws are vio-
lated. so that for a long time at least IL may
OF be used again.
I suppose We shall some day see oncers
Of the law arresting electric cars and steam
locomotives for the offences which their
motormen and engineers have committed.
and the faults Of men everywhere corrected
by locking Mp their tools.
The trouble is that the tools are wanted.
and the lives OF all OF us are Inconvenience
II they are taken away.
Even the Is uselul wnen usoo
with sanity and caution.
And there Ia exactly the same serious trouble
about the way We now deal with our corpora
lions. publishing inanimate things instead OF
persons. When we fine them, we merely
take that much none out Of their business
that ts. out OF the DuslneSs Oh the coun'Iy-
and put 1t into the public treasury. where
there IL generally already a surplus and
where 1t is likely to lie idle.
When We dissolve them. We check and
hammer legitimate undertakings and en-
barrass the business of the country much
more than we shorld embarrass IL were we
TO arrest locomotives and impound electric
cars, the necessary vehicles OF our inter-
course.
NIeuIrIEs OF THE INDIVIDUAL.
And all the while we know perfectly well
that the iniauities we levy fnes for were
conceived and executed by particular in
dividuals who go unpublished. unchecked
even. In the enterprises which have led to
the action Of the courts. And so from one
body OF hidden individuals we turn to an
other and say: go to. we will instruct the
Government to regulate this thing In place OF
The weather.
An area Of high pressure covered all the country
$1,000 A.-Na