Elmore County Republican. [volume] (Mountain Home, Idaho) 1910-1915, 1912-01-06

ans TO something good anu way u
the end which its lovers are really
seeking. The dream of infinite and
unreasonable liberty is the halluci
nation of the anarchist; that Is, OF
the individualist gone mad" Men are
lawless because they can only see In
law something which infringes upon
their personal liberties.
We also find very low conception
of law itself. To many, law Is moth
ing more than the mere will OF a
majority. This is one Of the dangers
of a democratic government. II We
have nothing higher behind our state
authority than a written statute sub
ject to repeal by a change OF the
party In power, we throw the door
wide open through which may enter
every form of political corruption
and tyranny In fact the logical end
ing of such state of affairs can
only be chaos. We have sat for a.
bout century at the feet OF men
who have taught a theory of the
state utterly repugnant to true NOR
al sense. We have repudiated the
theory of the Divine Right of kings
and saddled ourselves In fact with
the divine right of local barons (Wit-
ness, Mr.. Baer of the Reading r,
R.) railroad magnates, ETC., etc.
If government be nothing more
than social compact, there Is an
end to all hope Of stability. II we
have deliberately sowed this seed,
what must common sense expect? |
believe that | am well within the
truth when ! say that such Is the
dominating idea in our political life.
AS natural result we are called
to look upon a political situation
which is all but anarchic-when laws
are but the intrigues Of politicians
and the interests Of class; what
respect can we claim for them from
the great mass who are outWitted
and victimized? 1t Is hard to see
how intelligent people can respect
laws made as many Of ours are. We
are living under government OF
Wall ST.; by Wall st. and for Wall
st. The political faith Of our nation
teaches that what the majority wills
Is right; THAT RIGHT AND
WRONG ARE DETERMINED BY
COUNTING BALLOTS. Balancing Of
expediences and compromising of in
terests is handed out to too cred
ulous people to be accepted instead
what is inherently right. They would
teach us that laws are MADE (manu-
factured) instead of DISCOVERED.
Lax and partial administration of
law may well be charged as cause
for lawlessness. The presence OF
any favored lawless class in COM
munity has always a demoralizing
effect
In this matter we must be fair
There are many forms of lawlessness
abroad but the lawless striker Is the
correlate of the lawless trust mag
nate We cannot close our eyes to
the fact that great corporations are
setting at defiance the laws of God
and man; as witness, j. p. Morgan
and the steel trust, ETC., etc. Then
again the wealthy murderer escapes
punishment. The thief who takes
something to provide for a starving
family is sent to prison but he who
robs bank of a million, makes no
restitution; shows no signs of repen-
lance, but is pardoned within a
year II he does not escape entirely !
milford in The Nation gives this
solemn warning: 1T Is day of evil
for a people when 1t comes to re-
gard the punishment of crime only
as the sequence in some legal form
ula, or determined in some social
contract, or some law Of expediency,
and when its statesmen lose all con-
seriousness of divine obligation that
crime must be punished, and wicked
men must meet the consequences of
their deeds.
Then, we tolerate many crime-fos-
tering agencies, by form of law
which have no rightful place in an
advanced CIVILIZATION.
Finally there is the dominance OF
the old barbaric idea that might
makes right" True we have trans
ferred the exercise of the might"
from the physical to the mental re-
aim; 1t is, however none the less
barbaric because 1t still leaves the
weak prey to be exploited at will
by the shrewd and INSCRIPTIONS.
While any cry for justice seems to
fall upon ears deadened and dulled
by preiudice and self interest