Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current, 1915-04-02
\ NENlTABIE NATIONAL
PROBLEM
From Houston Post.

From Houston Post.
Commenting upon the settlement Of
former Senator Elihu Root that In five
years prior TO 1914 there Were $1,000
statutes passed IN State legislatures
and cungrrs and 5000 decisions made
by courts 81 last resort. the New York
World declares these figures reflect q
veritable national passion for manu-
featuring new laws.
Suppose. however. the record of
twenty years were At hand. How a.
founding il would bc. cur Legislative
and judicial nills have been grinding
out law ccasciessly for a generation.
and there W little indication that the
high tide has been reached. Indeed we
think u safe 10 say that the tide ~
rising highcr all the Time.
Statement who raise their voices in
protest against this passion for Iawmnk
ing ary promptly declared ~ hr rrac
tionarN and enemies uf progress. The
people are taught that everything may
be accomplished hy law. and So it hap
pens that The most trivial affairs OF
" tfAA Ah HNANNNtN w. III iNAilNN q NHl NV iNMN
iASr. tNzr NJ statutory limitations.
= The multiplication ~ laws has re-
suited in greatly increasing the cost OF
government. u has resulted iu the rrca
ton III counties, commissions and board
II has resulted in the palpahlc %rrStrir
ton of the liberty ~ the indiN dual.
II has evet placed marked limitations
upon the parental authority OF the
homes of the land.
We 10 not mean to SAY that there
are not many good amt wholesome
measures iu this vast mass al Icgisla-
turc-madc and judgemadc laws. but it
does seem 20 MS that the atmosphere
would d. considerably cleared in the
United States Ill congress and each lr-
giSldiurr. ciiy council and other bodies
possessing the lawunking power
were L. devote onc session 10 "a rcli-
sion nf the laws enacted during the
past twenty-five years.
There ARE ln Texas hundreds 81 Sta
tItcs that might br repealed or greatly
modified. There are thousands of de
%ciSionS which might b. discarded -
rubbish by some same process Of Judi
cial reform. Texas ~ no exception. The
conditions here find their counterpart
IN every State of thu Union and 20 the
Federal governments.
We think that even those who have
been most active in inflirting this mass
OF legislation upon the people and in
strcs>ng the numerous fadS and iSms
OF the time Viii admit that the country.
rs i rule. has profitrd little from an
'NIiS Legislative and Judicial activity.
In ~ matter uf crime. ID seems that
instead az improvement the country has
been going back. and civil litigation
has increased 90 such am extent that ID
has been Impossible ID rour vast and
intricate Judicial establishment to dis
pose Al ID cN~prditiuuslv.
Where the legislators and Judges be-
come law-mad. the people follow and
become litigation mad. II j. All waste
OF the most expensive kind and nh cm-
barge upon our real progress H. 4 na
tion. Surely III experience has demon
stratcl that with all the laws and de
ciSlolS. all the reform waves ami all
the c%ru~adcS. ihr morals M the nation
are not improving. thu time has come
when Wc may well question the wisdom
~ continuing indefinitely activity Of
the statute mills.
We have heard occasionally the
faint sound uf the slogan. Fewer and
Better Laws, hut ID has mot aroused
the attention ~ the masses. 1T alone
The Legislative bodies who seem 10 think
that the pathway 10 perfect cilivization
lies through Legislative halls. III would
b. 4 Fortunate thing for the people III
the big men a. the bar were Ia unite
in cry ing out against this most danger
Gus tendency Ca hamper our social and
material progress hN too much lcgisla-
1ion.