New Britain herald., 1930-03-29
THE OATH OF OFFICE

THE OATH OF OFFICE
 Dry editors in the state, com- mentlng upon the recent case of Mayor Patterson of Hartford, make much of the fact that when the Mayor took the oath of office he necessarily swore to uphold all the laws, which by inference included the prohibition law.
 For this reason. it is argued. Mayor Patterson had no business breaking the law by purchasing liquor from bo0tlegger through ar intermediary, as such action con- nlyed with a fracture of the law by the bootlcgger.
 Which is true enough, in theory. But in practice there is no such in- hibition that the ordinary individual can notce. What is meant in prac- tlce, when an official takes the oath or offlce. is that he will maintain the laws in a general way, mental ly reserving the right to take a drink if he is inclined to want one.
 There is no doubt at all that Mayor Patterson is just as jealous at upholding laws. as his mayoraI colleagues in other cities.
 There is Mayor Walker of New York, for instance. Who ever allec- cd that he doesn't uphold law and order? Although it is said he has tasted liquor since becoming Mayor at least once or tw.ce.
 Or, coming closer home, there is the Mayor of New Britain, who at least is no fanatical dry; whether he would take drink if offered one We do not know, never having of- fered him any.
 Or there was the Governor of In. diana year ago. who broke the law of his bone dry state in order to obtain a flask of whiskey for his son critically ill, and who rightly maintained that when the life of his son was in the balance all the laws in the world did not matter
 It is held that if the Mayor of Hartford had the right to protect his bootlegger then any police officer has the same right; and if so, then there is nothing standing in the way of the bootlegger purchasing such protection.
 We'll, there have been q few off, cers of the New Britain force who on rare occasions were found 10 have partaken of liquor while on duty, if not while off duty. It seems that, though properly punished, mo- body paused to ask them where they got it.
 The truth Of the matter is that rom a practical standpoint the prohibition law is not considered in the same category with most othcr laws. Just as in the old slave holding days large number of persons in the North deliberately violated the law by giving aid and comfort to escaping slaves, taking pride in maintaining an underground rail- way to enable fleeing Ethiopians to reach Canada and liberty.
 In the slave days Mayors, Gov ernors and public officials in the North, sworn to maintain all laws. did not mentally subscribe to laws against helping slaves to escape. These were helped at every oppor- tunity, vastly to the indignation of southernecs who claimed that all laws are of equal merit, and con- trary to the spirit of the l.. S Supreme Court decision that slaves renamed their masters property wherever they might flee in this country, and must be returned rather tn
 The claim that "all laws" are equally valuable simply will not work. When public officials take the oath of office to maintain "all laws, there are plenty old-timers on the statute books which under no con- sldcration would they assist in en- forcing if an issue were made in NolvlnG them. Th- prohibition law simply happens to be the most conspicuous Of the laws that in prac. ticc does not receive 100 per cent enforcement. There are others nearly forgotten, which by common consent nobody imagines are meant to be enforced, even when the off, cials inferentially include all of them when they take their oaths of office.  HEALTH AT THE BOYS SCHOOL