Pueblo chieftain., 1921-10-22
BY WILLIAM T. ELLIS

BY WILLIAM r. ELLIS
Annapolis Royal, sleepy, vener-
able, dignified and historic city in
Nova Scotia, the second oldest set
tlement on the North American con-
tinent, suffered disastrous fire a
| few weeks ago. The business center
of the city was destroyed, along with
many residences. But the fire was
attended by incidents of more sinis-
ter significance than the destruction
of property. For the occasion lifted
the lid off an ugly phase of contem-
porary life to which we are usually
blind. During the conflagration, and
Immediately following it, when the
noblest sentiments of neighborliness
should have ruled, there was wide
spread looting of salvaged goods.
This was no sudden outbreak of
lawlessness by aliens: the men caught
were of the old British breed, who
settled the Maritime Provinces in the
long ago. They typify fact of the
times: namely, that the spirit of dis
regard for law and right has eaten
like a canker into the very heart of
oak of our civilization. Dark and
hidden forces of anarchy and crime
burst out with alarming frequency in
all sorts of unexpected places. What
happened in staid old Annapolis Royal
is close kin to what happened in Chi
cago and New York and San Fran
cisco. The papers talk of "crime
wave" whereas they really mean
something more than a wave-a ris-
ing tide of lawlessness which is men
acing the whole world. Russia and
Great Britain, Germany and the
United States, Japan and France, are
all being inundated by this pcriIous
spirit.
Civilizations Present Peril
So short-sighted and inconsistent
are we that the very men who are
horrihed at the deadly orgy of motion
picture people in a San Francisco
hotel, proceed straightway to talk
complacently of the trade in contra
band liquor, and to defy the prohibi-
ton laws. They do not perceive that
law is law, and that obedience to law
cannot become eclectic. If everybody
is free to choose the laws which he
will obey or disobey, then the whole
structure of civilization built upon
law collapses. The man who breaks
the laws against theft, as at Annapolis
Royal, is no more an enemy of the
commonwealth than the man who
breaks the laws against bigamy or
against gambling or against the sale
of intoxicants. Lawlessness is law
lessness = and the greatest present
peril of the world.
This is the phase Of the temperance
question that is uppermost for consid-
Grafton as Worlds Temperance Sum
day is once more observed in the Sun
day schools. 1t is an occasion for a
broad and fearless outlook upon the
attitude of the world. There is com
mon sweep of thought. from the crude
law-breaking at Annapolis Royal to
the lack of respect for men and insti-
tutions such Jas we see in the latest
popular books. The "NTirrors of
Downing Street, the "Mirrors of
Washington, Strachey's "Life of
Queen victoria,'' Lord Esher's "Life
of Kitchener and the long-sup-
pressed but now published third vol
umc of Bismarck s Memoirs arc recent
startling evidences of the iconoclastic
mood of the hour.
The Bolshevik is not the only one
busy at attempting 10 destroy ancient
stabilities. The trend of the times is
that way. 1t looks as if things in
general were being prepared for some
vast explosion. Arthur Guiterman's Is
poem, "Causc and Effect" comes to
mind as we see the prevalence of thi-
attitude Of disregard and disdain for
constituted law and authority
"The powder lay in heaps-a threat
OF death-whcrc powder should not
lie;
Some fool threw down cigarette
And flaming ruin rent the sky.
"Whereat, solemn jury met
And laid the blame in wisdom rare,
On him that threw the cigarette,
Not them that left the powder there. |
"Upon the heaps of Want and Shame.
Whercupon men build, one evil day
Some fool will fling word Of flame
And what will follow, who shall |
say?
"But should all earth be overset,
We II lay the blame. in dull despair.
On him that threw the cigarette.
Not them that put the powder
there
Making World-Issuo
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