The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1909-12-03
NEEDS OF THE T|ME'
VALUE OF LAW ENFORCEMENT
SERMONS BY MINISTERS.
Too Many Statutes for the Average
Citizen to Know and Obey; School
and Home the Place to Inculcate
Spirit of Obedience; One Pastor
Declares That Reform Organiza-
lions Talk Too Much.
From Mondays Daily.

From Mondays Daily.
At the First Congregational church
Rev. (. l.. Heermance spoke on "Tht
Value of the Enforcement of Law
After giving some illustrations OF
lawlessness and disrespect for law
from this city and the country at
large, Mr.. Heermance spoke briefly OF
the causes of this. He attributed il
partly to tie attitude of the legal
profession. There has been too much
miscarriage of justice because of I'M
important technicalities. We must
have "a reform, a simplication of our
court procedure, especially in criminal
cases, if the law is to regain the
honor due to it from the body of
the people. The reason for having
courts is simply and solely to reach
justice. We must see the bar associa-
lions of the country banding together
for the suppression of crime, as the
medical associations of the country
are working for the elimination of
disease. l understand that such a
movement is already begun.
Legislature Partly Responsible.
Our legislatures are partly respon-
sible for it. The aw-making power
which we delegate to them has been
abused, so much so that more and
more i'll city and even in state govern
ments the people are taking the law
making power back into their Cwn
hands, through the initiative and veto.
We have too many laws now for the
average citizen to know and obey, and
each legislature thinks it necessary
to ad da large volume of new laws.
as long as we give our representa-
tives power to make laws for us, the
laws they make are binding upon us.
But we should impress on ourselves
and on our public servants the sacred
ness of the lawmaking power.
The school and especially the home
have the duty of intoxicating the spirit
of obedience. And the church has a
great responsibility in this matter
If every church member and attend
ant in Mankato, in Minnesota, in the
United States, understood clearly what
law is, why it is, and the value of it's
enforcement, we should 90 long way
toward checking the spirit of law
lcssness now so characteristic of our
country.
What is law? 1t is, directly, the
expression of the peoples will in mat
tiers of common concern. Not the
work of a few politicians or a few
brln1rp1 latp b,,+ ho
the whole people or a majority of the
people, which all the people, majority |
or minority alike, are bound to obey.
The only exception is where obedience
to an existing law goes against a
mans conscience; mind you l say his |
conscience, not his convenience But
back of the will of the people there
ought to be and generally is the voice
of God, the authority of righteousness,
the standard of community well being. !
What is right? What is best for the
whole people? That, when we can
determine it, should be the basis of
all law. l believe that most of our
general legislation will bear this test.
Sunday Law of State.
MI. l1eerHlance TOOK as an llluStra-
ton the Sunday law of the state.
This is not, as some have. supposed,
law put on the statute books by
the church people to compel other
people to 60 to church. Going to !
church is a matter which the individ- /
ual or the family can alone determine. !
The wording of the law itself, and
repeated decisions in this and other
states, show that its aim is two
fold: To guarantee as far as possible :
a weekly rest day to every man, and
to guarantee to the Christian people /,
their right to unrestricted worship and !
uninterrupted quiet on Sunday, or,
as the statute puts it, "to protect )
the religious liberty of the commu- /
nifty" LET us see that this benef-
cent law is enforced. Let us guaran-
tee to every one his day of rest.
Whom we criticise the permission given
by the last legislature for ball games
on Sunday afternoon, let it not be
because Sunday ball playing is NOR !
ally wrong for others THAT is not a
matter that we can decide) but be-
cause it interferes with certain rights |
of the community, the right to quiet |
on that day, the right to worship if !
men want to worship. In the case of
professional baseball, as in the case of
the Sunday theatre, the matter of
labor enters in. In the interest of
the whole community we must guar
antee rest day for every man,
whether tthe man realizes that he /,
needs it, or not. We must resist any
entering wedge of Sunday labor The |
Sunday closing law for the saloons is
not PIT on the statute books, it is
not TO be enforced, because drinking
Nis> more heinous on Sunday than on