Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1922-12-29

Lawmakers see in it an index to the
attitude of the public mind. They
see In 1t the revelation hat Americans
subconsciously are Interpreting for
themselves the laws Of the land and
are making a difference between what
laws they are willing to obey and
what laws they %cheerfully violate
without any feeling of compunction,
IAne Between Legal and Moral
q Wrongs.
The serious point which is SO deep
ly concerning the lawmakers IS that
the line between legal wrongs and
moral wrongs is being o%bliterated.
The equally blithe violation Of the
Volstead act and Of the laws against
perjury is an illustration of how
sight Is being lost Of the fundamental
! difference in laws. a..,
I A prohibition law~is a sumptuary
law. 1t long has been recognized by
the great legislators Of the world that
there Is a sharp difference between
that which is wrong because there is
a statute forbidding it and that which
Is fundamentally wrong as a moral
proposition. 800
Two good examples are the Gus
law and the law against murder,
1t IS unlawful TO smuggle dutia BILE
goods into the United States because
the statutes say that all persons must
declare such goods and, pay a tariff
on them. However, 10 is not, of itself.
morally wrong. to bring goods across
an imaginary line or take them ashore
from a boat without payment. It
Is wrong only because it is forbidden
BY law. There is a law against muir
der.but it Is an entirely different sort
of law. Everybody, from the most
I'm Iaffnrnd &C NO 20 ~ <h- 49,
ed scholar, knows it Is wrong to com-
init a murders It is not wrong merely
because the law say it is wrong: it is
morally wrong as a fundamental fact,
The analogy drawn by officials at
Washington is that there appears to
be a danger that people will lose sight
Of these differences. The Customs laW
and the prohibition law are both of
sumptuary nature. It is wrong to
smuggle and it is wrong to drink he
cause the law forbids these actions.
Both laws are frequently violated but
most Of the violators do not feel, that
they have committed any moral sins.
It. is wrong to murder and 1t is wrong
to swear a ~falsehcod. not only be
cause there are forbidding statutes
against those actions, but because
those crimes are innately and OF
Themselves wrong. q
To show the case in another way:
there arc many people in the United
States who would vote to repeal the
prohibition and the :, customs laws:
there probably is not a single citizen
in the whole lapd who would vote to
repeal the statutes against murder
and perjury!
To state the case in, that. n
suggests the probable safety-valYe in
the situation which the president and
his advisors are worrying about. It
suggests that the people will make
up their. minds in the mass concern
ing what is good law and what in ar
tificial law and will not permit the
laws deeply grounded IL the moral
code Of mankind to degenerate very
much.
The president is eager to have a
moral awakening III the country on.
this subject of law and have the peo4
pie realize. the da niger inherent in the
h~arbcring tooSlong Of a contempt for
the statutes OF the nation.
ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS.
Q. What per cent Of deaths ID
caused by pneumonia x. b.
A. One-tenth5 Of the deaths In the
United States are caused by this dis