The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1913-08-16
Continued fron,,a Last week.

Continued from Last Week. Il
Law begins as the product Of the
| automatic action Of society, and be-
comes in time cause OF the con-
| tinued growth and perfection of So
ciety. Society cannot exist without
1t. or exist without producing it.
Ubi societas ibi lex. Law, therefore,
| is self-created and self-existent. It
is the form In which human conduct
that is, human life, presents itself
under the necessary operation of the
! causes which govern conduct.
1nasmuch as conduct is necessarily
controlled by *previous thought, and
! such thought is determined by indi-
vidual constitution, that is, character,
and the environment, nothing can d.
rectly control conduct, which cannot
control both character and environ
ment. ~
1t Is not therefore possible to
make law by legislative action. It's
| utmost power is to offer a reward or
threaten a punishment as a conse-
quence of particular conduct, and
thus furnish an additional motive to
influence conduct. When such power
is exerted to reinforce custom and
prevent violations of it, it may be ef-
fectual, and rules or commands thus
enacted are properly called laws; but
If aimed against established custom
they will be Intellectual. Law not
only cannot be directly made by hu-
ma 1,,k 1>> =
| or changed by such action
I now present some further para
graphs from this book, which show
the spirit and force of the authors
reasoning and commentary:
The Written Law is victorious
upon paper and powerless elsewhere
The attorney-general is sensible of
| the feebleness Of the command rest
ing upon him to enforce a law the
enforcement of which would send
hundred of the most eminent citi-
zens to Jail and throw the Industry
| of the country into confusion" (p.
213).
1.-The popular estimate of the pos
sibilities for good which may be rea-
| lied through the enactment of law
ed. Nothing is more attractive to the
| benevolent vanity of men than the
notion that they can effect great i'm
provement in society by the simple
process of forbidding all wrong con-
| duct, or conduct which they think is
| wrong, by law, and of enjoining all
good conduct by the same means;
| as if men could not find out how to
| live until book were placed in the
hands Of every individual, in which
the things to be done and those not
to be done were clearly set down.
(p. 221). . i
| THE principal danger lies in the
attempt often made to convert into
crime acts regarded by large num-
bers, perhaps a majority, as inno-
cent-that is to practice what is. in
fact, tyranny. =. While all are ready
to agree that tyranny is a very mis-
chievous thing. there is not a right
understanding equally general Of
what tyranny is. Some think that
! tyranny is a fault only of despots,
and can not be committed under a
republican form Of government; they
| think that the maxim that the ma
jority must govern justifies the ma
3or1ty in governing as it pleases, and
| requires the minority to acquiesce
with cheerfulness in legislation Of
! any character, as if what is called
self-government were scheme by
which different parts of the COM
munity may alternately enjoy the
privilege Of tyrannising over each
/ nfh A -
tyranny arise from the instrument
tally which it employs, which 10 al
ways force" (p. 246).
when law is made declaring
| conduct widely practiced and widely
| regarded as innocent to be a crime,
the evil consequences which arise
upon attempts to enforce it are apt
to be viewed as the consequences Of
| the forbidden practice, and not Of
| the attempt to suppress it; and It is
avoiding, or doing away with, these
consequences is to press the efforts
at: enforcement with increased en-
ergy. But when a mistake has been
made, its consequences can not be
avoided by a more vigorous persist
ence in it. The best means Of in
culcating caution in this employment
of criminal legislation is to have
clearly in mind it's evil consequences.
The species Of criminal legislation to
which sumptuary4 laws belong fur
nishes an apt illustration of them.
Besides the desire of doing good,
the selfish determination is formed
of carrying out a purpose, and the
purpose comes to seem SO important
that no inquiry is made concerning
the means except to consider what
: will be most effective. It suits the
judgment of some and the temper of
others to convert the practices they
deem SO mischievous into crimes and
prevent indulgence in them, the fear
of heavy punishment will at last be
effective, and indeed many think that
the force of law IS so great that the
mere enactment Of prohibition will
accomplish the desired end, and all
are inclined to believe that even If
the laws are ineffective for the pur-
they will at least do no harm.
But men forget that their acts
whether in enacting and attempting