The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1917-02-07
South Randolph. Vt, Feb. 6, 1917.
John w. Gordon's Address.

! Editor, Times:
The recent address by Hon. John w
Gordon before Washington County Bal
Association was indeed able-ham
mer squarely ON the nail. Sparkling
with diamonds from beginning to end, it,
accumulated light shows what everybody
ought to know, the folly and harm oil
over legislation-23 100000 laws piled up in
the State House at Montpelier and al
the present rate, 10000 a year, 100000
in the capitol at Washington.
Pick from the state pile the one bes,
law in each hundred. You have 1900
presumably good laws-enough for Yer
mont. Make the same choice from the
national pile. You have $4,000 good laws
enough for the nation.
But 200 needless or bad laws still
remain in the state pile and 5,544 900 in
the national pile. Pile the two piles into
one stack. Touch the match Smoke
and ashes better serve the people.
Still, legislators are at it "hot and
tight" Take glance at our assembly
in Montpelier. Senator Peck, the first
moment possible, PUSHES to the front a
batch of six bills, then more and more.
Peck soon becomes bushel, while each
of the other PA members is crazy to
push his bushel first to the front
This game is yearly played in every
state. Yet, in each bushel of all the bills
you shall find but two kernels of wheat
The rest is chat. The chat Is not
burned, but made into laws. And laws
made of chat are bad stuff. That's
what's the matter with eur country.
Other countries are at il about the same
way. Hence the worlds greatest curse is
over legislation. That's what's the mat
ter with the world.
Therefore, naturally enough, the
worlds greatest benefactors have been,
not law givers, but w-repealers--Cob-
dens repeating the English corn laws
which so long oppressed tens of thous-
ands of English working people; Luthers,
with protests ringing in heaven, repeal
ing laws which burned at the stake a
hundred million martyrs; Lincoln, with
one stroke of his pen, repeating slave
laws and lifting four millions into "life,
liberty and the pursuit OF happiness"
And Wilson-What? Could his peace
note fully materialize, repeating laws of
czars, kings and emperors, which now
agonize the whole world with the infinite
hell in Europe.
What the remedy? II is up to the leg
islators. Undo your bad and do only
good work. Your bunch of laws viii be
a hundred times less but a hundred !
times better for the people. Pattern aft |
,r nature. Her laws are few and simple. |
One law Of gravity holds in its proper |
place and action every atom, every world |
IN the universe. The simple forces, light, |
heat. magnetism, electricity, make pos
'ibe all the myriad forms OF animal and |
vegetable life on the earth-clothing the /
,arth itself with white in winter, green /
n spring, growth in summer, abundance 1
n autumn. Then look at natures moral
ode for man How few. how simple the 1
avs of that code One rule bids sixteen
hundred millions on the earth, each 10 do
o all and all 10 each as each and all
would BE- done by. thus to hold in proper
,laee and action each unit of all the mil
ions. Add the ten commandments, with
he oil OF charity TO make the machinery
un smooth and the code j. complete.
No ear. king or kaiser enacted this
odei All it, germs were in man five
hundred thousand years ago when man
rst became man. everm0re te grow with
is growth and strengthen with his
trength.
Surely no law should be enacted by