The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1913-06-06

ernor having this authority if I. is
the intention that the local officials
shall enforce the state laws, fer if
they do, the power OF removal could
not be exercised, the power coming
to life only through failure of home
rule by reason of the local officials
neglecting .teir duties. | do not.
think it an unfair assumption to say
that the only reason for denying this
recall is for the purpose of having
officials who viii allow the liquor and
the gambling laws to be violated.
The privilege of lawlessness al
ways leads to corruption. st. Louis,
San Francisco and New York have
proven this In the investigation of
the police department of st. Louis
few years ago Il was found that many
of the police had been getting graft
from lawless dramshops and gam
bling places. So appalling were
these exposures that four of the offic-
ers committed suicide rather than
face the results of their acts. The
revelations IN San Francisco, Pitts
burg and New York have made it
clear that whenever the privilege of
Ilawlessness is siven to any class, and
a profit is made out Of that privilege,
some sort IF tribute is always extort-
ed by some of those in authority for
comforting it.
Local option to make laws is one
thing; there should be no such thing
as local option to break laws. Local
self-governmcnt means the right to
select officials whose jurisdiction is
| limited to that locality; it does not
mean license 10 break state laws.
Whether Gel ltain things should be
the law is always q proper subject
of discussion, hut it is demoralizing
and corrupting to have an issue as
to whether tie state laws should be
enforced or not. A majority Of the
| people of county may favor enforc-
ing the laws, but the minority oppos-
ed are always organized, powerful
and aggressive. Any candidate where
there are no safeguards in the way of
/ removal By The governor, who an.
nounces he fayors law enforcement,
would encounter the combined oppo-
sition of these elements and might
be defeated, even thought the senti-
ment OF majority of the people be
the other IVORY The ultimate result
therefore would be substitute law
less liquor sovereignty for state sov-
! ereignty.
There is tendency to confuse
the relation between the different
subdivisions OF the state and the
state government and the federal
government. There is no analogy be-
tween the two, each subdivision of
the state in the nature of things is
subordinate to the sovereignty of the
state. The stale is supreme in all
matters except where the people of
the state have delegated the power
to the federal government, and the
federal government cannot interfere
with the seif.sovernment of the state
except in pursuance of, such delegat-
ed power
"The right Of local self-government
by the people Of the state is one
thing, and the doctrine that each sub
division of the state should have the
right to Guliifo the state laws is
something else. The legislature
should be careful in making laws not
to Interfere in purely internal af-
fairs of the various subdivisions of
the state, and give as large a meas
ure of home rule as is consistent
with state sovereignty On the other
hand, 1t is important that care be ex-