The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1910-01-29
BY WILLIAM Z. ELLIs.


BY WILLIAM T. ELLIS.
r1WO reasons are given or ad-
- united by considerable Gle
ments in present day society
which would abolish law.
The first is, that certain peo-
pie count themselves above
law; the other is a rank avowal that
they are opposed to law. one group
looks upon Jaw as an edict, and the
other is in open hostility to it, The
latter comprise the lower grade Of law
breakers, who think that law inter-
feres with their prosperity or com
fort. They count themselves enemies
of the police. and all for which the po-
lice are supposed to stand They want
anarchy because anarchy would per-
nit them to prey upon other elements
in society.
AS William Allen Whites recent
novel portrayed, the first group talks
airily about 1.-THE larger good" and
speaks condescendingly of law as Tor
merely the Little folk. Unable to re-
peal the statutes, it evades them. This
type represents what we find in the
intellectual realm, combating all the
frammels and usages of society, con-
tending for free love. and general
1rresponsibii:y.
President Taft was right in point
ing out the peril of lawlessness in
American life. Kipling pointed the
same moral earlier. The influence OF
fle WuQefnCSA ana the plOAc6E SpilAI
Is still upon this young Western life.
We have not the deep esteem for the
sanctity of law which characterizeS
older civilization. There is nothing
more deeply needed in our national
life than an obedience to the law, and
a spirit of reverence for the law on
the part of judges, lawyers, corpora
Gions and the plain people. Eth1cally
and intellectually the need and the
remedy are somewhat similar-a re-
Hs4we 10 which
the centuries have proved good and
true, less lawless thinking and law
less action, less anarchistfc lndlVid-
ualism and more respect for the com
mon welfare which is embodied In the
usages of civilized society.
The Great Law Interpreter.
All this is suggested by the fact
that an innumerable company of peo-
pie are about to study the laws of life
as interpreted by Jesus Christ He
came with the frank avowal that his
doctrine meant the fulfillnlent of law,
not the abrogation of it. He was no
leader of a new esoteric cult, which
flouted all the proved ways of life.
His teachings gave no salVe TO the
conseiences. Of the men and women
who had run counter to truth and pro-
priety. Instead, he came teaching
more law, rather than less, but larger
law rather than little. Just as Amer
lea is afflicted with too much laWless-
ness. IL IS also dIIlICIeQ WIN lOO
legislation. We are mad for putting
things on the statute books of the
state. Evils that should be remedied
in the thinking of the. people, We try
TO cure by {. new enactment OF con-
gress. Jesus pointed the way out of
this wilderness of liberalism into a
large deep spiritaof law which went
clear down to the root of thought and
conduct. Nor was She averse to
pointedly designating the lawlessness
- Of his time the
Pharisees. They kept the letter of
the law. but they broke it in the spir-
It, even as powerful interests today
employ the most learned counsel to
keep within the exact letter of the
law. while violating its essential pur-
This stern spoken though gentle
rabbi did not hesitate to point out
that the men who led others astray
with respect to the law;ewho despfsed
the commandments of God, and who
ignored, or antagonized, the law, was
an enemy of heaven and earth. 1t
Is a perilous responsibility which men
take upon their heads when they start
TO lead the world astray by ideas that
are counter to the truth.
The Laws Present Peril
In the time of Jesus, the law had
been interpreted to such fine points
that its main meaning was obscured.
It was rendered for special purpose.
Inc LCdCllcI was stunning ut GIL clOuoO
which is still common. Law is law,
equally applicable to all.
Tho Spirit of the Law.
Law is more than enactment.
Righteousness is more than a COM
znandment obeyed. Law is a spirit
of justice and benevolence,. underlying
all human relationship. Jesus brush
ed aside the technicaiities of his legal
1stic times and penetrated to the spirit
of the divine ordinances. He looked
not upon outward conformity, but in
20 inner attitude. Thus he enuneiated
she great truth that a man could be
= murderer at heart, while his hands
were free from bloodstain; that he
could be an adulterer at heart, while
conforming to the commandments.
ne is''--that is the Jesus way of meas
uring character.
Tnis is high ground That was the
mission of Jesus, to lift life UP to high
inward parts" He abhorred phar-
isaisrn. He had little patience with
3OtTnality. Simple sincerity was his
own practice. So he interpreted the
law of ages in the terms of genuine
ness and brotherhood. Only thus, he
declared, could the law-the immut-
ably eternal law--be fulfilled.
What Is Crime?
1t is not an occasional death that
counts as 1t is the spirit of murder
in the hearts of men. Jesus pointed
out that the heart of anger and UNI
lovingness is essential crime. To hate
ONES brother is to enter murders row.
To treat fellow man contemptuously
and provokingly Is to incur real judg-
ment. tf
More manifest is the principle as
Christ laid It down in the case OF
adultery. His piercing vision discerned
that a state of rotten mindedness il
equivalent to the sin of adultery It.
self. The merely careful. shrewd and
self regardful ones who abstain from
sin and crime for the fear of the con-
sequences get small consideration
from him. We look with horror upon
the outbreakings OF social evil as re-
,nrdad in the 1leEzSna I1eIs. Ear yEnrse