The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-08-25
Heedless Legislation.

Mobile Register.
 A most wholesome outlook in pub lie reform has its initiative in the earnest and candid manner in which the more thoughtful minds in journal ism are discussing the reckless legis- lation In the several States during the past decade. The Jacksonville Times Union declares that the bad laws the silly laws and the unnecessary laws cimplicate the situation in every State in the Union," and observes that 1t Is problem of much moment and one which 1t is the duty of the press to discuss, with the view of starting the trend of the public mind toward put ting into operation the needed renl- edy," which, obviously. is the exercise of greater caution and discrimination on the part of electors in the selection of their lawmakers.
 The Dallas News believes that the remedy consists in Hess legislation" Unquestionably, this remedy would bring the desired relief if thereby were eliminated only "the bad laws, the silly laws and the unnecessary laws" There- in lies the rub. Only the most discrim- mating mind has the discerning fac ulty of differentiating between the good. the bad and the indifferent meas ure while it is under legislative con- sideration. Its wholesome or it's un-, wholesome effect must therefore be left to practical experimentation. The result IS that the experiment remanQS the work to the courts to winnow out the bad laws, the silly laws and the unnecessary laws" The legislator either from lack of capacity or from a demagogic spirit that panders to popular caprice. too often loses sight of the solemn obligation that his pub lie trust entails and leaves the wrong he has perpetrated to be righted at the expense, annoyance and inconvenience of the litigant victim by the judiciary And yet the public marvels at the in- creased and rapidly increasing volume of public and private business in the courts.
 The Nashville American, in it's dis cussion of this questtSn, eoncurs in the contention that the remedy is less leg islation," and exclaims:
 God speed the day when such may be the rule rather than the exception in every State in the. Federal Union. and in the National Government as we'll But 1t will never be until we drive the fools and worse from the halls of legislation by reducing the number of lawmakers, incre asing the pay, and putting integrity, intelligence and stateSmanship a pove medtocrity and mere eXpediency. There is not a State In the Union which is not today suf- fering from too much legislation. the product of mediocrity. The national statutes are surfeited with it; State statutes are loaded with it. Every re- curing Legislature, every new Con- gress enacts more, and so it goes until no man knows what are his rights un- der the charts made by the forefath- ers."
 When it is recalled that a result of the winnowing process of the courts the major part of the bad, the silly and the unnecessary laws" are found to be thus defective because they are in contravention of some familiar con- stitutional provision, is to be wondered a that their enactment IS accredited to the ignorance of the legislator? Whenever the organic law of the land Is brushed aside the field for legisla- tive exploitation becomes limitless No scheme is then too speculative, no plan too impracticable or penalty so harsh or unreasonable. that 1t will not find advocates, receive serious considera- tion, and frequently actual enactment into statute
 The popular idea that tho Legisla- lures are the peoples protectors against encroachments upon personal rights has, of recent years, been exploded An able and conservative judiciary, with a proper regard for the structural principles of the republic. has proved the defender of those public and per- sonal rights so often threatened by the needless legislator.