The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1917-05-02

of law? Is the layman any more COM
petent to make law than to practice
law?
: If the layman is competent to pass
upon every proposition that comes up,
why have any specialists at all? Why
have military schools and experts,
lawyers, doctors, &c? Why rely SO
implicitly upon the judgment of the
representative that practices law and
insist upon debating arbitrarily to the
representatives that make the lawss
Why ask for an attorney in court and
a cipher IN Congress?
Wal is the court of nations-of last
resort. 1t is che highest tribunal on
earth. It's decisions are harsh and
final. We have been summoned to this
Court through no choice of our own.
1t is no time in indulge in Unnecessary
delays or chances, for there is no
appeal from it's decisions on the
ground of errors. It is no time fer
fddling on tbs part Of has. IN charge
al the national destiny. There is no
necessity for it-no excuse for it. The
path of duty and wisdom has been in
dicated too plainly by the present war.
1t has demonstrated more forcibly
than all the wars of the world CON-
bined, just two things-what efficiency
and in~eficiency can and cannot do.
And one of the things it has proven
as all other "a have, is that vol
untary service is inefficient and cannot
be depended upon-that it results in
the unnecessary sacrifice and slaugh-
ter Of chat minority that always re-
spends most quickly and freely to any
call of their country. 1t is not fair or
just to them, or to the nation, and it is
not any more practicable than the vol
untary payment of taxes.
Wease denying to the Commander
in-Chief of the Army as much power
as is vested in the Sheriff of Lefore
County. There is not a Sheriff in the
United States that cannot summons,
under compulsion, such assistance as
an emergency may demand.
Why not now, for all time, give
every citizen of the United States
to understand beyond cavil or ques-
ton, that he has no intesa.s para
mount to THAI ~ the United States
that this is the theory, the principle,
upon which all governments are found
ed, whether monarchy or republic
that faithfully and ~impartially he will
be called upon to discharge every duty
devolving upon him as a citizen or
soldier, and that his person and prop
erty, if need be, are at the beck and
call of the government-that he has
no more right or reason to expect i'm
munity from service, if needed, than
from taxation, if subject thereto. This
is what war means. 1t is what eff
cheney means. 1t is what success at
the least cost of life and money means.
Var is the supreme test of national
existence. If the nation cannot COM
mand its citizens, it's resources, in such
a crisis, it's government is a failure.
It is not founded on the single thing
absolutely essential to the preserva-
ton of the national life-the ability,
without delay or question, to CONSOLE
date every individual and of
the entire nation into a perfectly Or
ganized effort and unit for it's defense.
The more quickly we recognize this
fact, and commonsense necessity for
it, and the nor cheerfully, gracefully
and periodically we acquiesce, the
safer our government and liberties be-
come, and fewer the dangers of war.
AS a nation we are prone to an
exaggerated idea Of the nature and ex-
tent Of our rights and liberties. It is
a mistake to assume that in all mat |
ters we have a right to do as we
please. Too much freedom breeds an
archy. Ones rights end where anoth-
er's gebin. Nor can we demand more
rights and privileges Of = government
than we are willing to accord, in de-
Tense Of it's existence. A free govern
ment can be no more nor less than
a mutual exchange of rights, and lib
critics and protection, between the in
dividual and the community. If the
rights were all with the individual, it
would be anarchy. If with the gov
eminent, a monarchy. If equally div !
ided between the governed and the
government, an ideal republic.
Let Us be fair to our government
in this crisis, and concede to it the
right to defend its honor and exist
ence in the quickest and most efficient
manner possible, along the lines sug-
gested by the emergencies Of the sit
uation, and by the experts whom we
have provided for its guidance, rather
than by our sentiments in the matter.
Respt, F. HERR.