The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1921-01-29
THE BLUE LAWS
SUMPTUARY LAWS SURE TO
PROVE FAILURE, SAYS FosDIck
LAW CANNOT TAKE PLACE OF
HOME, SCHOOL AND CHURCH
ATTEMPTS OFTEN AMUSING.
(By N. C. w. C. News Service. J

(By N. C. w. C. News Service.)
The attempt to coerce men to rem
der unto Caesar the things that are
Gods must always end in failure. The
law cannot take the place of the home,
the school, the Church and other in
fluences by which moral ends are
achieved. 1t cannot be made to as
sumo the whole burden of social con-
troll. Permanent advance in human
society will not be brought about by
night-sticks and patrol-wagons, but by
the cultivation, in neighborliness and
sympathy, Of public opinion which
will reflect it's soundness in the law
it enacts and in the approval it gives
to their enforcement"
Raymond B. Fosdick
In view of the present agitation for
a revival of blue laws" and the
Puritan Sunday" the new book by
Raymond B. Fosdick, american Pc.
lice System" from which the forego.
ing statement is reprinted, will be of
special interest.
An abstract of his book has been
issued under the title, Crime in Amer
lea and the Police" In this abstract
are found Mr.. Fosdick's principal facts
and conclusions regarding sabbatarian
and sumptuary statutes.
UnenforceabIe Laws.
In analysing the reasons for the al
legged inefiiciency of the American po-
lice systems, Mr.. Fosdick deals with
various factors, including "unenforce-
able laws" On this subject he says:
"a final disadvantage under which
American police departments are Ia
boring is to be found in the presence
on our statute books of laws which,
because they interfere with customs
widely practised and widely regarded
as innocent, are fundamentally unen.
forceable. The willingness with which
we undertake to regulate by law the
personal habits of private citizens Is a
source of perpetual establishment to
Europeans"
In hardly any country in Europe is
an attempt ever made to enforce
standards of conduct which do not
meet with general public approval, or,
at the behest of what may be a minor
ity, to bring particular code of be-
havior within the scope Of criminal
legislation, Mr.. Fosdick says.
with us, however, every year adds
its accretion to our sumptuary laws"
Mr. Fosdick continues. ut suits the
Judgment of some and the temper Of
others to convert into crimes practices
which they deem mischievous or un-
ethical. They resort to law to supply
deficiencies of other agencies of social
control" .
At this point Mr.. Fosdick quotes,
seemingly with approval, the state
ment of James Coolidge Carter, who
said: Nothing is more attractive to
the benevolent vanity of men than the
notion that they can effect great inn
provement in society by the simple
process of forbidding all wrong con-
duct, or conduct which they think is
wrong, by law and of enjoining all
good conduct by the same means"
Citing a recent attempt to enforce
antique ordinances in Baltimore, Mr..
Fosdick continues:
Zone hundred and thirteen people
were taken into custody in one day
and 223 summonses were issued.
Those arrested included druggists,
drivers of ice cream trucks, BARRIERS
and bakery shop keepers. Two men
were arrested for balancing their
books in their own homes. Selling a
child a stick of candy constituted a
heinous offense and the buying OF
piece of chewing gum or a loaf OF
bread caused the arrest of the store
keeper. One man was arrested for
painting the gate in his back yard. Po-
licemen did not hesitate to approach
man who happened to be smoking
cigar and question him as to how he
came into its nossession. Eff
forts were made to persuade the police
to allow few men to continue work
ing in garage on the ground that
hundred motor trucks stored there
would freeze If not attended to. The
police, however, refused, and two ar
rests were made of men who attempt
ed to preserve their property.
Equally ludicrous results follow
everywhere from legislative incursions
into the sphere of morals. In Mas
sachusetts where golf-playing on Sun
day is illegal, certain golf course lies
partly in one township and partly in
another. The authorities in one ju-
risdiction enforce the law, authorities