The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1910-02-17
ENFORCE ALL THE LAWSl

| Tor when nolNGainN Is uTGeu dS VIC ul'
vino substitute. 1t was extremely bitter
against officials who seem 10 have the
idea. according TO It's haIlucination. that
only a portion of Tho laws should be
enforced. 1t asks pointcdly. "whencc
The illusion that officials in the service
Of tho city have authority to ignore the
evils against which the citizens have
passed laws and ordinances - Sure
enough, Ii is gross illusion for any
official to have that view. II is not only
a gross illusion for a city official TO
have that view; it is also n
gross illusion oF a county oiiicial lu-
dicial district official or State official.
All are equally bound by thc laws and
are sworn for their enforcement.
But the trouble hero is that in the
opinion of the ruling ecclesiasts, Ger.
tain of the laws ought not 10 he en-
forced; notably tho laws against polyg-
amy and unlawful cohabitation. These
officials resent the idea that any one
should even object TO polygamy and
unlawful cohabiIatlon, much less call
lui iHt 'ulbAttHithi VI lHN laws "S"'h''
them. 1t is well understood, also. that
no county, judicial district, or State Off
cial dare mako himself olhcious in the
enforcement of the laws against either
oil these of1enscs The Judge who would
do so would prepare the way
for his own retirement from
Office. The district attorney who
would do so would by that means cut
short his official career; and the county
official who would do it would face the
end of his political career AT the end of
his term Inasmucb, therefore, as there
is such pronounced public sentiment
here against the enforcement Of certain
of the laws. and inasmuch as all the ofa-
ciaIs recognize that il would be the end
of their official careers to make them
selves busy Ill such enforcement, 1t is
no wonder that liberties are also taken
with laws other than the two referred
to.
OF course. ii is all wrong for an off.
cial to neglect his duties in this respect.
Officials arc sworn TO enforce the laws
without any partiality, and without fear
or favor; 10 protect the community
a galnst law breakers Of either high or
low degree. IT is no excuse for an Off
cial for him to say that other officials
do not enforce the laws, and therefore
he will NOT do so. Every official is
sworn on his own account to enforce
the laws within the jurisdiction con
ferred upon him,
We merely point ont herein the fact
that inasmuch as there is such pro-
nounced public sentiment here in favor
of ignoring certain laws, and so vindic-
tive IN punishment of any official that
might make himself busy in the en-
forcement of those laws, it is not sur
prising that some laXity should prevail
with regard to the enforcement of other
laws also. And vet that la1ity is not
in the least on that account,
There should be n strict enforcement of
the laws, and all Of them, against every
no matter under what specious
or fraudulent claims that offender may
TO Justify himself and to
claim immunity from prosecution for his
offensc.
But we point out, that inasmuch as
the sentiment Of the ecclesiasts here is
sufficient TO deter the court and other
officials from prosecuting cases where
the laws against polygamy and unlawful
cohabltation are violated, it is not sing
ular that other laws also should he less
strictly enforced than they ought to be-
Where disregard and defiance of the law
are studiously cultivated under the plea
of religious liberty or other privilege,
it is inevitable that respect for the law,
as law, should fail. and that low com
munity idea of the obligation to obey
the laws should prevail.
We point out further. that when this
natural condition of loss Of respect for
the law, as law. arises by reason of the
pretentIons and claims Of certain reIi-
gious sect, the organ of that sect is in
no condition 10 set up a standard of
rigor, with respect 10 obedience to other
laws, when it is in q class and as the
organ of that class, ii is the chief ex-
poneut of the idea that law, as law.
should not govern, but only such law
as the ecclesiasts sec fit TO find binding.
1t is no part Of an ecclesiastical system,
it is no part Of the duty or obligation
of any citizen, or any. officer, TO prac~
ticalIy in each case undertake to say
which laws shall be enforced and which
shall not be enforced, And when the
sect, or the individual. or the official,
sets up for itself or for himself liberty
Of Judging as to the laws that he or it
viii obey, and is able 10 enforce that
standard in The community, the result
is necessarily evil, and it. or he, should
be the very last TO set UP claims for the
strict enforcement Of the laws.
IT is the privilege and the duty of
every citizen TO maintain the supremacy
Of the law, and the duty Of the officers
10 enforce it. Those who repudiate this
obligation must stand condemned at the
bar Of public opinion, and the public