Evening star., 1921-08-21
BY THoMAs n. MARsHALL.

By THOMAS n. HlARsHALL,
Fsrner Wise PresiAs.t 81 the q. ..
THE universal contempt which
the people seem to feel for
the law. with its man-made
crimes and misdemeanors.
is only greater than their disgust
with executives for its non- enforce.
ment, because there are more laws
than executives.
He would be in serious danger
Of facing a commission In lunacy,
who soberly declared that the
statutory criminal laws Of this
country were observed by the peo-
pie and enforced by officials. The
attitude Of the average American
Is "Catch me II you can" This Is
not caused by viciousness upon the
part Of the people. II is the re-
suit of the legislative attitude Of
mind. Legislators find 1t easy to
listen. to the entreaties OF q buzz-
ing lobby and to pass q criminal
law. getting rid thereby Of tho
lobby and feeling quite certain
thst the law will be enforced only
If the people want It; that other
wise It will be forgotten. This is
in startling contrast to the Eng
lish system. There an enactment
follows an overwhelming public
sentiment. and that sentiment. Of
course. proceeds to enforce 1t. In
this country any one can get
criminal law enacted and no one
feels called upon to enforce it.
All this was bad enough, but re.
Gently we were given spectacu-
lar reason for contempt Of the law.
Gov. Small Of Illinois-or the
small governor Of Illinois. as you
may happen to view him-was
regularly indicted by the grand jury
Of Sangsmon county. Straightway
he rediscovered that the king
could do no wrong. and It would
appear that he was told by coun-
sci that he was above the law. In
accordance with his contention. he
occupied Q unique position. His
theory being correct. he could muir
der his enemies, steal the state
treasury, kidnap the lieutenant
governors wife-all with impun-
ity. He could not be arrested or
tried or punished for any -offenss.
His omcial duties were higher than
his duty to answer to an indict-
ment He must be left free to sign
the commissions Of notaries pub
lie and to pardon partisans from
the psnitentiary: no one could per-
form these grave duties for him.
But the Judge Of the circuit
court gave him . lesson in history
when he informed him that there
were no kings in Illinois: that no
one in that state was above the
law. Then the chief executive
stayed away from the capital. He
"inspected" the highways OF IL
linois. Surely. the governor did
not realise what . frightful exam
ple he was setting to all the VI
cious and lawless elements OF So.
ciety.
It seems that In the peculiar
situation Of Illinois law the gov
ernor could be arrested In some
co6nty where ne might find a Judge
who would issue q writ OF habeas
corpus: that Notwithstanding the
indictment Of the grand jury this
Judge might discharge him and enc
the prosecution. In view Of that
contingency the sheriff OF SAN
canon county refused to arrest
him in any other county OF tho
state. Trained to the practice OF
law in Indiana, this seemed to mo
like . scene from medieval history
In my state, and I hope in nearly,
every other commonwealth. CONT
plete answer by the sheriff to the
writ Of habeas corpus would have
been that, he held the defendants
body by virtue Of bench warrant
issued upon an Indictment regu!
larly returned in the circuit court
by the grand jury Of the county.
Realizing no doubt that his con-
duct was prejudicing him in the
minds Of people who. like myself.
did not know him and knew
nothing about the. facts in the case.
the governor engaged in . propa-
eanda, asserting that the prosecu-
tion was by interests which he had
opposed in his official life. Just
what this had to do with his guilt
or innocence the common or garden
variety of man could not see. He
reminded me Of tho western con-
Eressman who went home to face
charges concerning his life in
washington. In addressing his
constituents he admitted that it
was true that frequently he was
intoxicated, that he had lost
great deal Of money playing poker,
that he had been involved In q
scandal with q woman clerk in one
Of the departments. But. thank
God" he fervently exclaimed. mo
one has ever dared to attack my
moral character"
Ordinarily. I am SO conservative
as to be ashamed Of myself at
times. But even 20 conservative .
man 40 myself must realise that
many reforms may we'll be put into
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