The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1907-08-03
GOVERNMENTAL MACHINERY.

4 machine if at all complicated requires atten-
ton it has to be oiled to keep it running smoothly;
WORKOUT parts must be replaced, and adjustments
must be made so one part Will reciprocate with
other Government is a complicated machine, built
upon the principle that right is right and right
not change with any reorganization of society.
Right is eternal New conditions arise in the af-
fairs of men, and these must be met; the law must
be broadened to include them. The increas-
ing scope of governmental regulation in the past
few years does not indicate any social upheaval5
but rather a readjustment to conditions of
principles which have been recognized since the be-
ginning of civilization. The development of law
has only received new impetus by the developments
of economic evils not known few years ago. We
all agree that special privileges for none" is pretty
sound doctrine. But few years ago we didn't
seem to recognize railroad passes ana rebates and
friendly reduced prices special privileges. Their
we had a moral awakening and these things were
put under the ban of the law
Away back in ancient times the Roman emper-
used to furnish certain favorites with the priv
ilege of free travel from place to place. And in
England it not until the reign of Elizabeth that
exclusive rights were nuLifed by the parliament,
The railroad pass and the trusts which endeavor
to create for themselves a monopoly on their espe-
cia lines of trade are but the old evils springng up
in new form. Efforts to correct them do not indi-
cate any radical departure from the accepted prin-
ciples of equity upon which government rests but
rather do they imply recognition that in the prog
ress of civilization. readjustment of the maehiD-
cry of government is needed Out of chaos has beer
evolved the present complex civilization and system
of law The principles of justice and equity are not
changed by the changes in social conditions and the
efforts of the lawmakers and the desire of all right
minded citizens is to perpetuate those legal and
economic principles which protect the humblest and
the proudest in their respective spheres Reform
ers" who cry out for the abolition of the present
economic order and are trying to do away with the
conceptions of individual justice and opportunity
lack either familiarity with the development of law
and the high standards held by the lawmakers an
cient and modern, clamoring for a reversal
of a machine that cannot be reversed without shat
tering the whole thing and leaving the parts in y
broken and useless condition.
Every citizen of the country, whether he be >
Catholic or not ought to take deep interest in the
solution of economic questions as they affect him
and the country at large. He should try to under
he should be active in any movement calculated to
remove any and all economic evils which develop a.
the race moves onward But he should be Jealous in
keeping clear of any "ism" which teaches any spe-
cies of wild theory on religion, which incucatez
hate, license and revolution and endeavors to brine
about clash of wage-earners and capitalists. to
the destruction of the state whose essential char
acer is reflection of the best as it has come down
to us through centuries of strife No one believes
that civilization has reached the pinnacle of per-
lection or that government is ideally administered
under the most favorable conditions but abuses NAV
be saney righted and the highest aspirations of hui
manity conserved through constant hammering at
the cause of the evils we all complain Of New laws
must be made, old ones amended or repealed to meet
changing conditions, but let us not plunge into
darkness with our eyes open even if we do lift them
unto heaven we leap.