The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1913-08-09
On the Enforcement Of Law ia Ciltiiee
4 N9N.. BRAND W11Ir1ocE
continued,
BY BRAND WHITLoCK.

.,h -.
have shown that all the city, or
dtnances bearing upon the subjects
you :1entsora--and Ill other city or
dznances, Tor that ,aaatter--are be-
Ing enforced; at least that we are
earnestly. sincerely trying to enforce
them, and succeeding to a degree be-
You'd that hitherto achieved in this
town. : '"t .' =
Coming aow TO the statue IN refer
ence to Sunday slosing-there being,
as shall show later, 40 municipal
ordinance on that subject might
say with truth. that the saloons prob
ably obey the statutes as strictly as
the generality OF men or Of bust
nesses do: that Id general the saloons
give a formal observance to this
statute. which Is as much as many
statutes receive, and, indeed. Is more
than is required in most large cities
of this or other states.
But do not wish to bubble or to
be distingenuous,. nor do claim that
| the ideal or theoretical condition
which was in the minds OF those who
framed this statute has been achieved.
In the present divided state Of pub
lie sentiment 1t could not be achieved
and officials therefore must do the
best they can Under the circun1-
| stances.
This is one of the most difficult
problems with which municipal
| authorities have to deal and the
| police have enforced this statute &C.
cording to the policy Of admin
| strativee repression already referred
to. They have earnestly tried to re-
press all open violations and all in
decencies, and in every instance
where complaints have been made Of,
or attention has been entirely drawn
| to, disorderly or notorious places, the
| police have acted promptly and many
! such places have been entirely sup
pressed. In cases where there have
been disorder. or noise or music or
activity or even a display Of lights,
officers have been posted at the door.
But this subject warrants, I think,
a more extended discussion than any
Of the other topics you have preached
for the reason that it raises the whole
question Of what is generally referred
to as the problem of law enforce
ment in cities. There are certain
statutes intended to compel obserw-
ance Of the Sabbath. They were
passed by state legislatures long ago
in all states, ana are enforced in
none. If there were only one city in
the country where they are not OBJ
served, the effect might be attributed
to the laxity Of local officials but the
fact is that they are observed and
enforced in no large city for any
length Of time and tho fact further
is that where it has been attempted to
enforce them such action has not
had the support Of the public.
have been rather close and in
terested student Of American munic-
ipal conditions, and I know of no
city where these Jaws have had any
but a spasmodic enforcement I am
aware that those who contend that
these laws should be enforced base
their faith On what seems to them to
be logic. They are committed to a
syllogism, and they postulate their
| argument thus: AS a major premise,
all laws should be enforced; as a
minor premise, the statutes relating
to Sunday observance are laws, and
as a conclusion, the statutes provid-
ing for Sunday observance therefore,
should be enforced. Many speak as If
this were accepted by everybody and
could not be otherwise than accepted
by everybody, as if it were impossible
that it should be controverted, and
that if any one disputes it he is either
| hypocritical, cowardly, disingenuous
or dishonest.
Let us see. The first premise, that
! all laws should be enforced, is I'm
doubtedly correct. the second, that
the statutes relating to Sunday OBJ
servance are laws, contains in it the
possibilities, at least, of discussion.
We are led to enquire at this point
| just what a law is. I shall try to
avoid any purely academic treatment
| of this question for I do not care to
bore practical business men like
yourselves and so shall not attempt
any review of the. several definitions
| that have been given by jurists and
philosophers such as Demosthenes,
Xenophon, Cicero, Hooker, Kant,
Savigny, Austin, Hobbs, Bentham,
Dernberg, Blackstone and others. A
course in their writings would simply
lead us to agree with Sir Frederick
Pollock in the statement that 1.-THE
greater a lawyers opportunities of
knowledge have been, and the more
time he has given to the study of
legal principles, the greater will be
| his hesitation in face of the appar-
emily simple question. What , liz
! law?" Such discussion, while not
altogether beside our purpose, is un-
necessarily in this place. In a mon
| archy the law is the will Of the mon
arch, who used to declare that it was
also the will Of God. In an arts
tocracy, the law is the will OF a
select few,-selected OF course by
themselves. i; - ~ -
! In a democracy the law is, on
theory. the will OF the people or of
a majority Of them, though even In
democracies there are continual at
tennpts. frequently successful, to sub.
stitute for the will Of the people the
will Of a very few Of the people, who
consider themselves wiser, or, morally
better. or in some other manner su-
| Derior to other nanrle. That IL. the