The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1913-10-17

lty!, In this connection We recall
how in the long ago Demetrius, sill
versmith of Ephesus, who made sill
yer shrines of Diana, and brought no
little business unto the craftsmen"
epudiated the teaching of the apostle
Paul, because he sand Our business
has come into disrepute," and there
fore that ancient CRATER played on
the preiudices of the people and filled
them with wrath against Christiani-
ty by raising the popular cry Great
is Diana of the Ephesians," to divert
their attention from his personal in
terest in the matter.
There is no such thing as liberty
versus law. Liberty, freedom, can
only be had where the majesty of the
law is upheld. But here in Tonnes
see we have the most difficult form
of lawlessness to deal with. Anarchy
is an open enemy We know how to
deal with anarchy. But when law
| lessness sits in the high places of our
civic life, and attempts to control the
forces created to make and execute
| the law, we are face to face with a
solemn and desperate situation. How
are we to deal with public servants
who have a low sense of responsible
| ty, or cunning greed of self inter
| est and polluting passion for ambi
| tious promotion through the dark av
enues Of vice and graft? Certainly
| the remedy is not through system
, which grants to each city independ-
| ence of the sovereign laws of the
state 1t is just as logical to suppose
state can defy and nullify the laws
of the nation, as to insist that our
towns and cities be made independ-
! ent of and superior to the laws of the
state in those things which affect the
we'll being of the whole state. But
we must not be satified to explain
away our difficulties upon the plea of
executive remissness" We must
remember that the law is in sense
an abstract thing only concrete and
alive in its officers who represent its
power and majesty" Such officers
can, however, be prevented from cum
ming connivance at crime and the
shutting of their eyes to petty infrac-
tons of the law, by placing RESPONSE
biIity and power co-equal somewhere
WHERE? The logical place Is in
the hands of the chief executive of
the state. 1t is a manifest absurdity
ITO invest a man with solemn and
grave responsibilities and then divest
him of the power and authority to
successfully execute the trust. Make
the governors responsibilities def
mite, then give him power to faithful
| ly employ his stewardship. Certainly
| it is neither fair, common sense,
craftsmanship nor prudence to burden
man with great responsibilities;
then bind him hand and foot and mag
unanimously leave off the gag that he
might tell you what he would do if he
could, and you in turn have the pleas
nre of cussing him for not doing it.
There are doubtless some good men
! in Tennessee who may not believe in
the wisdom of state wide prohibition
laws. There are no doubt good men
in Tennessee who do not believe such
laws can be made effective. There
are unquestionably good men in Ten
nessee who are honestly afraid to in
vest the chief executive of the state
with arbitrary powers. But there are
no good citizens in the Volunteer
State who do not wish to see the
majesty OF the law respected, its au-
tbority upheld, and its mandates i'm