Evening star., 1923-06-25
Text of address at Denver
:. Assuring La,U Enforcement
State Modification of Codes Aiding Fed
eraI Officers VIII PrOUe Great His
tOric Blunder, President Declares.

The text OF President Harding's
address at Denver today on law
enforcement follows:
Ny Countrymen: 1t has been
said that "Of the making of books
there is no end" Quite as truth
fully 1t might be paraphrased,
"Of the making Of laws there Is
no end" We Americans undoubt-
edly hold all records for the
making Of multiplicity of laws,
State and national. If we were
as assiduous about obeying ana
enforcing obedience to them as we
are in demanding and enactlnS
them, there would be no par
ticular occasion for me to address
you today on the general SUBJECT
of law enforcement. We all
recognize that to secure effective
administration of the laws, 10
establish in the public mind an
attitude of willing acceptance
and obedience to law. is the most
impressive mark of ciViilzeo
Laws, of course, represent re-
strictions upon individual liberty,
and in these very restrictions
make liberty more secure. me
individual surrenders sometnins :
of his privilege to do as he pieases
for the common good, and so or
ganized society is posslDle. II
Is successful just about in pro-
norton as laws are wise, as theY
represent deliberate and intelli-
gent public opinion, and as they
are obeyed Civilization had to
travel a long way before 1t came
to be commonly accepted that
even an unwise law ought to be
enforced in orderly fashion, pc
cause such enforcement would
insure it's repeal or modification,
also in orderly fashion, III that
were found desirable.
Answers Criticism.
At this point it is worth while
. to raise a voice in protest against
the vast volume of half-baked
criticism that is constantly aimed
against Americans. on the ground
that they are alleged to be an
undisciplined and rather lawlesS
community. The criticism, OF
course, arises out of the fact that
during the period of very short
national life, during which the
currents Of human affairs and In
terests have moved more rapidly
than in any other period of his
tory. we have been under the
necessity to establish institutions,
laws. modes of administration,
which would meet not only the
requirements of new community
established in a new world, but
would permit adaptation to rap
idly changing conditions. 1t
comes also Of the very err
nationals that our liberty Is Ii
cense. instead Of guaranteed free
dom under the law.
p Older countries have had the
privilege of developing laws and
institutions slowly gradually,
painstakingly, through multiplied
centuries in which change was
commonly extremely slow. Amer
lea had to build on the founda-
tion OF long-established European
models not always adaptable to
our requirements. and therefore
necessitating many experiments
in modification and -readaptation.
Moreover. we started our expert
ment just at the time when the
old medieval order was being
changed at high speed by the pro-
cial revolution which marked
emergence from the later middle
ages into the onrushing era of
modern industrialism, modern
science. and modern democratic
procedures in government.
Sees Justification.
The founders OF our country
were compelled to establish in
stitutions here. in a time when
their whole inheritance of intel
lectual. moral. political. and in
dustrial traditions was being
wrenched by the most amazing
revolution that human society has
known. In the circumstances, their
achievement in laying the founda-
ton, and our later one in build
ing our present superstructure
upon 1T. represents an accomplish
ment I believe without parallel.
Thus viewed. / think we will. find
all Justification for satisfaction
in our progress thus far, and
confidence in an assured future.
Our problems are the problems
of a relatively new country. and
of a new form Of political or
ganizatfon. in a time of social =
fiux We shall not succeed If we
attempt to solve them all at once:
but no more shall we succeed il
we assume to ignore their exist
ence, to shut our eyes to the fact
that they are before us. The very
basis of our political establish
ment Is the idea of a dual SOW
erefgnty, of the states and the
nation: the idea Of concurrent
authority and concurrent respon-
sibility. That Is so elemental in
our system that to do away with
it would amount to demolishing
our whole scheme Of government.
Must Have Cooperation.
Certain functions and respon-
sibilities have been imposed upon
the national government. while
others have been reserved to the
states. Between these two au-
thorities there will always be
unavoidably something like twi-
light zone. Personally, I have
never liked that phrase. I have
regarded it as peculiarly un-
fortunate and misleading descrip-
tion. The intermediate zone
which receives light from two
sovereign luminaries ought to be
the best, not the worst, illumined
region. l believe it can be made
exactly that-if- we will but realize
the necessity for real cooperation
between national and state au-
thority, IL we. will only develop
effective means for the exercise
therein of concurrent Jurisdiction.
The problem of concurrent jur-
isdicticn is not a new one brought
to US with the eighteenth amend.
ment. 1t Is as old as the federal
government. 1t has required to
be dealt with by Congress and
legislatures by executives and by
courts, in a multitude of relations
to commerce, finance, transporta-
tion, and indeed the whole realm
of concerns in our complex society.
1t has demanded our attention in
all the multitude of issues rang
ing from the regulation of trusts
and transportation, and even of
certain relations with foreign
governments, to the proposal for i,
uniform statute of marriage and
divorce.