New Britain herald. [microfilm reel] (New Britain, Conn.) 1890-1976, 1928-12-08
HABITS OF LAWLESSNESS


is not one of glory alone.
| Our ancestors. Professor Dodt
says in the Century. fled from
restraint; but then they seized In
dian lands against the counsel o
the British government and made
enemies OF the red savages.
! When tobacco became valuable
commodity British limitations OIL
ocean trade were eyaded with skill
cunning and success. Smuggling
came to be a national pastime, anG
Samuel Adams, James Otis, anG
John Hancock-the professor points
out made great regulations in the
business.
/ After the young republic was es.
tablshed, settlers went into the
West and got lands for which they
failed to pay.
4 Then the slavery question: AL
though slavery was forbidden in the
Northwest as early as 1887, immi-
grants from Virginia and Ken
lucky took slaves there in spite OF
the law. An anti-slave trade law
passed in 1907 forbade the impor-
tation of African negroes into the
United States; but the law was
disregarded and "every year after
1907 there were more slaves i'm
ported from Africa than the aver
age in the years before" The.fugi-
tive slave law of 1850 was consist
entity violated by Northerners who
We're eager to aid escaping slaves at
all costs. The professor adds: THE
result was war, one of the most
devastating and needless wars in
history-a consequence OF long
habits Of lawlessness, and contempt
of the expressed will of the ma
Jority."
The professor adds that the Civil
War settled nothing, point with
which it is hard to agree. We rather
think it at least settled the fact
that slavery was past. But on other
points the professor seems more
logical. saying the Negro was en-
franchised without consent of the
Southern whites, and that endless
violence and brawling resulted in
the South: to this day, except for a
short period during carpet bag days,
the Negro has not voted there, all
of which is in violation of the 18th
and 18th amendments to the Consti-
tuition.
In this same period there bios
somed Jay Gould. Commodore
Vanderbilt. Daniel Drew, and Others
who outdid each other in shady
railroad deals; political crooked
ness was a byword.
The Sherman Antitrust law was
passed in 1888; but powerful men
refused to obey the law, and it was
not enforced. The first attorney
general who was supposed to apply
the law was himself a recent coun-
selor of the corporations he must
dissolve"
BY 1900, We read, the cities were
rampant with vice in the form of
saloons. red light districts, and gun
carrying desperadoes. The Metho-
dists and Baptists began combating
conditions by holding shouting
REVEALS. Ten Nights in a Bar
room" was sample of the emo
tional thrillers that attained popu-
larity. and rip Van Wrinkle was
used as anti-liquor propaganda"
Prohibition developed in Kansas.
Maine and in the South, which
sought to keep lntoNicants from the
colored race. The w c. I. L. took
on new life and great business
corporations began to uphold
sobriety The Navy and the rail-
roads took up the cause, and finally
in 1919 the 18th amendment was
adopted. Men who had liked their
drinks all their lives laid in SUD-
plies; cellars were enlarged and the
demand for bottles and kegs was
steady. Prohibition was good
for the working people. :" But
men began to speak of the boot.
lsggers as they formerly mentioned
buffers and footmen.
Inc professor trots out new
angle to the immigration problem.
Immigrants, he holds, were inclined
TO be aw-abiding, but they were
accustomed to alcohol. and when
they read in the papers how law i'll
America was flouted by the natives
they too, became fashionable and
hlsobryed 1t. They formed gangs in
the large cities and entered the
Illicit liquor trade with the aid of
guns, making life somewhat pre-
carlous in some centers.
o. the variety of causes which
have led TO the breakdown OF law
I'rof"ssor Dodd singles out the fol
lowing: There has been a habit of
laWl"SSNeSS in the United state.