Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1918-03-18
g,asu'as'Gs Tvsnias saturday neSsy 1920
Will Probably be Amended.

Will Probably be Amended.
Judging by the opposition manifested
IN the State senate At Dover to the
Defence bill. which passed the House of
Representatives bv large majority. It
seems probable the measure will not
receive the sanction of the Senate in ITS
present shape Nor should Il
The more this stringent and iar-reach-
ing measure IS looked into, the more alarm
tng some Of its provisions appear On
serious contemplation. the average man
andS agha,t a the suggestion that .
l.nd1 ot men should b. created INTO An
,tIicial agency. backed hv all the police
,ower al the state, clothed with SUCH far
Ir.ching and autocratE powers. And
ms. too. without The right Of appeal
reserved Ia any citizen who might feel
that he was seriously aggricvcd and his
inherent and legal rights tramplcd under
,oot, bv il rulings
The right Of appeal 10 = competent
tribunal. with full powers Of revision or
,,,versal. If deemed advisable. i one that
We do not think will he withheld by the
state senate in its consideration Of the
measure Even ii the Senatc should
.inallv fcel constrained to accept the
OIL almost as Il nov stands. a> war
emergency. we do not think u viii con
.ent 70 dcnv 10 our citizens the right ~
,ppeal when they believe the rulings q
he Council Of Defence have been cVrr-
cised IN preiudiced or injurious manner-
Especially should this right of appeal
he established for the protection oi parents
who havc an interest in their children.
The lsv upholds parental control until
the children become OF legal age Under
ths Defence bill as il now stands. parental
authority and control would he ahrogsted.
md parents would la helpless II thc
vent OF their children over sixteen ycars
OF age being drafted and assigned 10 work
IN farms. or IN other branches Of labor,
against their will and desire No parent
.hould he deprived Of the night Of appeal
IN such . situation.
Wh,le il is deSirous that the special
session Of the Legislature should be brought
10 an end at the earliest possible hour
nov that we arc in FOR the evil il Will he
much better to prolong II 10 the extent
ii time Tor pcrfecting the PENDING ieglsia-
ION. rA her than hastily adop' q measure
ma, would bc source Of continual irriia-
tlon and injustice rs long a i was IN
..SiSlence t- ", hnvc ~aid before We
ractmenr ot fhc Dclonca ntll. or any
'hcr uar cmorgcncy measure 81 IT.
nd TIN governor We i,clIcve has
,mpl,. authority u do whatever may be
I,c,.csssrs ."r cordial and effective GO
.peration wirL The Federal adInimstra-
non IN war natter~ under the JOINT reso-
iution adopted by the regular session of
he General Assembly. q year ago. In
tact. the entire procedure of a special
session was an outrageous imposition
ipon hc people of the State But it would
C infamous to make this imposition a
dangerous infection upon the people by
I,asslng "a measure that virtually abro-
gates the liberties guaranteed them by
he Constitution, and make them sub
ject to the arbitrary viii Of specially
ed body. without even the right Of
,ppeal from its DEGREES, no matter how
arrogant offensive. or Subversive Of
personal or public interests they might be
We Therefore JOIN with the Morning
Newe IN it, urgent presentation Of the
duty of the State senate 70 carefully
consider the pending Defence bill and 70
amend IT most radically in respect ol those
provisions that tend To override the rights
of the citizen and substitute therefor the
sill Of small body, entirely extraneou,
70 our regular and long-established sys-
.em OF administration Better do moth
ng 1t all than take a step that would
larrass and unjustly oppress our people