The Wolf Point herald. (Wolf Point, Mont.) 1913-1940, 1929-04-26

of u institutions than any othe.
:, question before us. That is tn,
enforcement and obedience to thu
laws of the United States. botf
federal and state.
i ask only mat you weigh this
for yourselves, and if my position
is right, that you support it-not
to support me but to support
something infinitely more precious
the one force that holds civiliza-
ton together-law. And wish to
discuss it as law, not as to the
merits or remerits of a particular
law, but all law, federal and state,
for ours is a government of laws
made by the people themselves.
A surprising number of our peo-
pie, otherwise of responsibility in
the community, have drifted into
the extraordinary notion that laws
are made for those who choose to
obey them. And in addition, our
law-enforcement machinery is suf-
fering from many infirmities aris-
ing out of its t~echnicalities, its
circumlocutions, its involved pro-
cedures, and too often, l regret,
from insufficient and delinquent
officials.
Lawless Killings
We are reaping the harvest of
these defects. More than 5000
human beings are lawlessly killed
every year in the United States.
Little more than half as many
arrests follow. Less than one
sixth of these slayers are convict
ed, and but a scandalously small
percentage are adequately punish
ed. Twenty times as many people
in proportion to population are
lawlessly killed in the United
States as in Great Britain. In
many of our great cities murder
can apparently be committed with
impunity. At least so times as
many robberies in proportion to
are committed in the ,
States as in Great Britain, :
and three times as many burg =
:.
Even in such premeditated !.
as embezzlement and for =
gerry our record stands no COM .
1arison with stable nations. No 3
,art of the country, rural or urban. 3
5 immune. Life and property are II
'elatively more unsafe than in A
ny other civilized country in the :
World. In spite of all this we 8
ave reason to pride ourselves on ;,
institutions and the high NOR g.
! instincts of the great majority
{ our people. No one will assert
hat such crimes would be COM
lifted if we had even a normal III
aspect for law and if the laws of CT
ur country we're properly en- al
breed. hs
Angle to Problem u
re
In order to dispel certain illu- ~
ons in the public mind on this -
inject, let me say at once that :,
lille violations of law have been
creased by inclusion of crimes
lder the eighteenth amendment -
by the vast sums that are -
oured into the hands of the g..
iminal classes by the patronage A.
Illicit liquor by otherwise re- -,
'onsible citizens, yet this is but -,
lie segment of our problem. ~
ave purposely cited the extent -,
murder, burglary, robbery, for e.
Try, and enlightenment, for but ~
small percentage Of these can 49,
attributed to the eighteenth -
nendment. In fact, of the total -,
Imber of convictions for felony -,
st year, less than 8 per cent !,
me from that source. 1t is ~,
erefore but a sector of the in 81.
sion of lawlessness. 49,
What we are facing today is &c
netting far larger and more ~
ndamental-the possibility that ~
spect for law as law is fading ~;
I'm the sensibilities of our peo- -,
:. Whatever the value of any =.
v may be, the enforcement of ~
at law written in plain terms ~
on our statute books is not, in co.,
: mind, a debatable question. -
W should be observed and must ~o
anfOrcpd until II ic ranao1ad o.
- u iepo'iou jou
mocracy. The duty to enforce
: laws rest upon every public
icial and the duty to obey it l
ITS upon every citizen. per
Urges No Discrimination our
No individual has the right to ~
.ermine what law shall be obey our
and what law shall not be en- g.
10" "ions' io whit
id enforcement is the surest ro.
aranty of its repeal. If it Is hor
hit, its enforcement is the om,
ckest method of compelling re- 80
,ct for it. l have seen state orc.
nts published within "a few g.
IS encouraging citizens to defy lon,
aW because that particular jour hot+
did not approve of the law -
IF. | leave comment on such r,ho
attitude to any citizen with a MO-,
Sc Of responsibility to his tho