, 1922-03-25
The Godlessness of Lawlessness

6ranted, there nre limits to the
power OF the state to control tndi-
vidunl custom; granted. II ts dcbatable
whether sumptuary legislation can ef-
feet a moral change: granted. It Is i'm.
polite to enact laws implying moral
standards above popular conviction:
granted. there is room for honest diff.
ference OF opinion as q the wisdom
OF 81 radical a law. stIil. II is the
law. the law Of the land.
II It is n mistake, repeal IL.
Untl It is repealed. enforce II.
Enforcement Is, proverbially, the
surest way to secure the repeal of
an obnoxious law.
II II was unwise, enforce II. to prove
its u~nwisdom; IL II was wise, enforce
1t for the sake of Its wisdom.
In any case. enforce it bccause It
is the law.
Last week, On a state highway, Mt
the very door OF the shnck where he
had bought his mo%onshine, I picked
up a drunken foreigner INT gave him
4 ride. He was laxative, chiefly on
topics relating to potations. He
opined that the prohfbitory Law ought
to be repealed IL the country's free
1om is to be preserved.
He has many fellow mourners who
bewail the loss of their personal lib
erty-pcrsonal Hberty-what is It?
Tho traffic officer who restricts my
freedom OF locomotion at the crowded
corners is the real g~uarantor Of The
liberty OF the road.
Every good law limits freedom and
every good, law enlarges freedom.
Where the white pine forests are
worth saving from tho blight, the
state denies ms the right to grow cur-
rants INT gooseberries.
To protect the public health. the
state may condemn my COWS to
slaughter.
The men and women who with
travail OF soul achieved that IegisIa-
ton which Is so obnoxious to Amer
icanism of the fou per sent brand.
were not ambitious to Impose a des-
potism upon us: they sought rather to
relieve US of n despotism-the despot-
ism OF that traffic which for genera
.tions has denied us safe highways,
has wusted the fruits OF our fields. and
has chained multitudes OF our broth
ars in a debasing sersitude.
Five years ago we were Mt war In
Franco. In the neat of midsummer.
some Boy Scouts OF Cranston. r. l.,
were sweating in a corn field. planted
to raise funds for the Red Cross so
ciety. Across the road from the field
there was a licensed liquor store. In
the shade of Its doorway its owner
'oafed n ridiculed the boys at their
work. n haiiing them, tried to dis.
courage their efforts.
He was tru to form.
He was typical
He symbolizes the American LIQUOR
trade. The essential result of It's en-.
trenchment, the means of its perpetu-
alton. was the appeal to Incidence. the
destruction Of the ideals of youth, the
blighting of boyhood.
In all its departments and branches
it nov toward the deterioration of
IL society.
The gflded life of the metropolitan
hostelry blasted the bloom and beauty
of humanity and made its music dis
OF the rural ~roadhouse.
The luxury of the banquet, the So
cial bowl. coarsened the fiber of the
cOul5 VI iith atd Woiicn Gus 6uftly
as does the moonshine swiIled in the
I roadside shack.
In h baked promise of the dear
companions of our early years, in the
degradation of III kith and kin. in
the falling from the ranks Of gifted
comrades and colleagues, we have
had our portion OF the bitter u of
slavery.
And you. professors emeritti, re-
GREETING h lower-priced wines of
other days, you socially superior
people. you legislators who hold your
place by playing up to the baser.
binder instincts of the crowd-an of
you. with your -four per cent Amer
icanism. are trying to replace on his
reeking throne that cheap tyrant.
with his belly for his God.
Here Is the issue-Four Per Cent
| Americanism. or One Hundred Per
Cent Americanism.
REaak h laa arada tho law d.