The star-progress. (Opelousas, La.) 1917-1921, 1921-03-02


courts to the public judgment IS an
even more startling innovation.
It is well known that we have at
tempted in many states the expedient
of Iegislating at the ballot box, and as
a result it is generally recognized
that we have enacted in recent years
a mass of ill-digested laws, many OF
them representing merely some tran
STORY phase of the public mind.
From 1909 to 1913, partly under
the urge of the direct legislation idea
we have enacted $1,000 new laws, in
terpreted by $4,000 court decisions
contained in 631 volumes of reports.
AS we read history we see that
multiplicity of laws, difficult of popu-
lar understanding, have been a fire.
ouent source If national danger and
even CT national downfall.
One of the secrets of great bust
ness success is to choose careful men
of ability and integrity for given du-
ties and then to allow them full scope
in working out their problems.
This same principle is fundamental
in a republican form of government,
We select the best men in the COM
munity (and l know full well that if
sometimes other kinds of men are
selected the fault is ours alone),
and then give them our confidence.
This is the way men work best in
private enterprise, and it is the same
with public servants. They will well
come constructive suggestions, but
will act unwisely under the implied
coercion of clamorous majorities.
Management
A republic works in much the same
fashion as a business CORPORATION.
The latter is managed by officers ap-
pointed by the board Of directors,
who are chosen by the shareholders.
SO in a republic the legislatures, con-
gress and the executive elected by the
people appoint the managers. The
shareholders cannot themselves dl-
rectly manage the business of the
corporation, and endless confusion
and hopeless inefficiency would re-
suit if they attempted to do So Who
would wish to ride on a train operat-
ed according to the complex and var
ious whims of the many shareholders
Of the road, rather than by the def
mite rules established by the properly
appointed officers and executed by
skilled subordinates?
And if in private enterprises, in the
hands of a comparatively limited num-
her Of owners, mass management IS
utterly destructive Of the orderly con-
duct Of bushes, how much more is
this true Of a state or nation where
the voters, intensely absorbed as they
are in their own affairs, run into the
millions?
The great and wise men who franz
ed cur constitution, conscious of the
solemn duties imposed upon them,
avoided the one extreme of an aris-
tocracy where privileged classes alone
could rule, and also the other extreme
where an irresponsible mass might
put into effect the fleeting prejudices
and passions Of the hour They not
only avoided each of these dangerous
extremes, but guided by the light of
ancient and modern experience they
deliberately established a representa-
tive republic, which ensured liberty to
all, not only by the precepts set up
but by the prohibitions ordained to
prevent oppression of the minority by
the majority.
The Constitution Interpreted
Dr. Nicholas Murray Butler, presi-
dent Of Columbia University, New,
York, gives a clear definition of the
underlying principle of our govern
ment
THE making Of the American
constitution was a stupendous
achievement of men who through
reading, through reflection,
through insight and through
practical experience, had fully
grasped the significance of the
huge task to which they devot-
ed themselves, and who accom-
plished that task in a way that
has excited the admiration of
the civilized world. Chose men
built a representative republic;
they knew the history of pther
forms of government; they knew
what had happened in Greece, II
Rome, in Venice and in Florence
they knew what had happened
in the making of the modern ma
tions that occupied the continent
of Europe. Knowing all this,
they deliberately, after the most
elaborate debate and discussion
both of principles and details,
produced the result with which
we are so familiar This govern
ment was founded by men whose
minds were fixed upon the prob
lens involved in the creation of
political Institutions They were
thinking of liberty, of representa-
two oovorr m mt 0f rrOkoo+;or