Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-07-19
BY ERIC LINCREN-BARK.


w. who agreed that the Government OF
the United States should be govern
ment OF laws rather than men. but little
could they have realized the soaring and
dizzy heights of lawmaking TO which COM
ing generations were TO ascend.
Because of this original mistake OF the
fathers the American citizen is thrice citi-
zen being subjected TO Federal laws SIae
laws and city laws. If, in addition, he hap
mems to be married, there's another authority
laying down more laws, but perhaps us just
as well not to 60 into that here.
To such magnificent proportions OF law
making have the United States attained that
even the lawmakers themselves in their I'M
guarded moments and after-dinner speeches are
actually beginning to admit OF slight sus-
picion to the effect that the Nation could
get along with fewer laws.
During business hours, however, they attend
to their business-the one OF making more
laWS-With the result that every two years the
Nation adds between 10000 to 10000 pages OF
new laws to the already cluttered-up shelves OF
dusty law books.
All told the country has in the neighbor-
hood of 100000 laws, between 10000 to 10000
Of which relate to the behavior and deport-
ment of people as individuals Worse yet, 1t
is evident that more laws are to come.
Indeed so jealous have the lawmakers be-
come--6hat one Is forced to the conclusion by
Judging of their work, that the accepted pro-
cedure Is to pass law as quickly as possible,
is a good bad law.
Witness, for instance. the prohibition law,
which after being in force for 10 years has
to be investigated by commission appointed
by the President in order that its merits may
be duly found and then estimate the result
for yourself when the commission, after spend
ing 10 months and % days as well as half
million dollars of the taxpayers money, re-
ports that individually the members OF the
commission, with one exception, are opposed
to the law, while as q body they recommend
its continuance by good majority.
IT is readily seen that the hope that freak
] legislation may be avoided is slim indeed
AS a point of fact, the tendency is all the
other way, and year after year the Nation
gets an ever increasing stream of laws that,
to say the least, are lowering far too close
on the lunatic fringe.
This movement of semi-lunatic legislation
has, like most things, undergone an accelerated
process of evolution ere reaching its present
luxurious bloom.
In England during the sixteenth century
there was an outburst Of sumptuary legisla-
ton that reached its peak in a law prohibit
ing women from wearing hose Of a greater
value than IA pence.
The habit was carried across the ocean, to-
gether with most OF the furniture of some
10000, 900 present-day househoders on the
stout little ship Mayfower-n one is to believe
the antique dealers-and colonial legislation
was full of clauses regulating in one way or
another most things or conditions that the
average human being encounters on the march
from the cradle to the grave.
Merely to mention one old instance, in 1858
the Massachusetts, Bay Colony enacted law
which provided a fine of five shillings for every
young person that was found drinking in public