Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1922-03-24
4 Misplaced Emphasis.

To tho Editor or The Times Dispatch:
Sri read with keen interest rr.
Maclachlans sermon based on the
t,Nt. For you are not under law.
hut under grace" NHom. 81. 10 J
huv" also read III" abstract of It
under tho misleading headline. Mac
lachlan Raps Faddis,s Who forrc
Views" over tn" sermon itself Was
placed the h"adl!n. "rr"hihir."u 10;
Making People Moral" both tn"
newspapers were running tru" to
form in featuring that part OF the
sermon In which they supposed there
was uuas. Endorsement %; their
own criticisms against the prohibit
ton movement.
DIR. MaClachlan evidently feared
something or this kind. so he entered
his own cavcat: "Do not mIsundcr-
stand mo. | ain heartily In favor Of
any legislation that shall help ."
make people more sober. healthy
cIcauly and virtuous. so far as their
outward acts arc concerned. and /
am pnssionately interested in all tn.
laws that make for the extension OF.
the principles OF social and Indus
trial justice In the land believe
in tho enforcement OF law. have
always thought that the custer law
should have hcen enforced long ago
IN this state against unworthy and
corrur, officials
The newspapers OF Richmond lost
hnc opportunity to heartcn every
honest official in Virginia by falling
To emphasize that cavea, And by
III" same token they gave encourage
m"pt 10 every vlola,or OF tho pro-
fihition laws by emphasizing the
protest AGAINST tho means used in
bringing him to the bar Of Justice
'ar!El" said that every wrong * "A
'ari"a;urc OF right. In other words
'hc moral sense Is never quitc los,
IN any responsible" human being
rn""nrhgv TIA" hn"tl"rrcr to believe
'h'' 'h' law h" IS violating is wrong.
H"" go" encourage him TO go on in
ms lawlcssncss Ana This Is the
n"rH br Maclachlan faced in what
II" SAID about the search and
seizure law. Precisely. too. II was
inns feature "f his sermon that in
Srir"d The misleading headlines and
th" cd!tor!ai Endorsement IL received
y" Intelligent person really be-
iit yes that personal morality can
ever h"coin" a matter for human
i"riSlat!on The slogan "You cant
max" people good by law" never
did have grain OF sense in IL.
mat was never the purpose OF any
h"EatiN" law since tho world began.
tn" ten commandments themselves.
IN 'h"'r prohibitions. were "protcc-
tive" AS all social Legislation ought
to be. And surely no ono who knows
the evils OF tn" !nh"rcntiv lawlcss
liquor traffic can deny that civillza
ton cries out for protection against
IT,
II | may b" granted personal
reference. more than seventy wears
ago saw drunken man come
through tn" front gate at nv child
mood nome. watched nv father
with wonder as h" took tho drurl,rd
hN inc arm and gently led him off
IN" premises !, was ono of my
'"r''"St i"SS"ns In regard Ia tho hor-
'"'S "' drunkenness. | yield to no
.'"'' III my 10Y" Of freedom, but I
nav" no difficulty in thinking tbot ~
there had been in tina, hone p, hD,,in
or jug Of liquor thar was likely
I" nc used for tn" drumkard's further
und"ing. or for making "A drunlard
OF me- IL would have been in accord
WIN IN" S"undcst morality to de-
S'r"T u by any reasonable method
y" man has any moral right to
abuse the social compact of which
ny the v"rv necessity Of tho case
n" is part. And when he does so
anus" IT, by using his person or his
promises To defeat the law. he pro-
claims himself bigger than the COM
mun''N. Anarchy lies that way.
certainly He who abstains from
crime only for fear OF detection and
punishment Is at heart criminal
npt 'ha' is his own affair. His
crimes. when he ovcrcomos hie f.,r.
and begins to act on, what was al
ready III his heart. affect society
Ana society. as represented hv law
must take protective measures
moreover fet no one forget: tho
'hi"f objector to law is the criminal
S. NJ. PROVENCE.
Richmond. Va, March 21, 1922.