The Huttig news., 1909-03-06
REACTIONaRY LEGISLATION.
The Tendency in Arkansas is to Make liartful
 Instead of Helpful Laws.

The two greatest dangers men aeing the stability of any firmly founded government are evil legis- lation and nonenforoement of ex- isting laws. With all possible safe guards against the enactmeent of laws which are openly contrary to public policy. few of the states sui fer from unWiSe or dangerous leglS- lative acts. The restraining in fuenee of the courts and their power of review are felt by the legislatures no less than by Con- gross and in most of the states, therefore, the question of consti- tutionaHty or of contrayentlon of public rights does not form the basis for an uodue proportion of the tangles which the higher courts have to unravel.
 In certain of the states. however, the ambitious statesman has his ear so close to the ground listening for popular rumbings that he is unable to hear the warnings of common sense, the demand for actual, just administration of rights. Politics. no less than the sensa- tional press, is irresponsible for some of the tangential efforts which tend to bring lavmaking bodies in to dsrepute, making them appear more or less absurd to the well balanced observer. During the last few years the most popular diver sion of. the professional politician in his attempts to secure the pluad- it's of the populaee has been the running to earth of corporate en- terprises. nefarious and otherwise. The lumber trade has suffered much from this source. more par tieularly in those states where tke. processes Of lawnaking are not so well guarded as they should be and as they are in the country at large.
 Doubtless some political agita- tors would be willing to assert thaf the law which provided for the ex- istence of corporations in the first place was wrong. becuse out of t have arisen certain abuses. Yet it is quite impossible to find any arti- ficial or man-made institution that is not subject to misuse in one way or another. The existence of cor porations is admitted by the state because of the well established fact that there are. certain reason ale limitations upon the volume of the business which can be conduct ed by the individual. Therefore. corporate existence is largely for the benefit of large enterprises, and as large enterprises grow, there being no legal method of punishing them for infractions of law beyond eonhseation of their property, 1t becomes necessary for the safety of the state that there be certain reasonable regulations of tGeir af- fairs. Such regulations. however. must of necessity preserve the rights and property of corporations and must not in any way impare their legitimate business; other wise the state itself must be the sufferer in that the confisoation of property. or the destruction of cor porate business, will in time de- prive the commonwealth of large portion of it's revenue. It is on this line of denarcation this point where the reasonable ceases and the unreasonable begins that some of the states seem not to have located, and notable among these in Arkansas.
 Without definite statistics it would be rash to d tempt to esti- mate the amount of useless work that has been done by the Arkan- sas legislature in recent years in attempting to appease a popular clamor for corporation blood. The lumber industry in Arkansas. how