The Washington times., 1932-07-21
Laws and Morals


The end of both legislation and morality is the greatest
happiness of the greatest number However there IS dl
legislation and morat the latter controls
all the actions of throughout his life, whereas the
former (egislation) do and if it could
should not continual dctaon the conduct OF
men, So that while both center Of interest,
their extent different The for this difference
that legislation only affect conduct by means OF punish
ment These punishments evil which is counter.
balanced by the good that they do The punishment OF
offense in many evil than good
and so it is wrong to infict It,
Anticipating VoIstead
"Bentham then gives case to illustrate this point. Sup
pose he says legislator wanted to extpate drunkenness
by direct law First he would have to set great many
complicated laws They would have be frghten
the people away from this vice. since it easy to conceal
The difficulty Of getting proof would necesstate army of
spies In other words the evils resulting from these laws
would than offset the slight gain to be derived from
them The only thing the legislators do to impose
some slight penalty on such an offense when becomes ex
cesslve and allow popular sanction to itself against it,
! Foreseeing the Shoppers
when remember" continues Ziegler, that the
time Of Bentham there prohibition laws thought
Of marvel at the foresight of this man. for notice how
closely events in this country have followed the lines he set
forth in his hypothetical case"
Mr. Zieger quotes also from Walter Lippmanns Phantom
Public, which published before prohibition
petely in working order Lippmann's point reasserts
Benthams
when rule is broken not occasionally but very often,
the rule is defective It simply does not define the conduct
which normally may be expected of who live under it.
It may sound noble But it does work does not ad
just relations 1t does not actually organize society,"
! Where Is Law Made?
Both of these positions imply definite idea what law
is The real philosophical disagreement between the
the dys is not the question of the goodness drnkng
It the question of how laws based the public con-
science The drys hold that law be imposed from above
that law promulgated has all the needs The
vets hold that laws must correspond the habits and in
stncts of the average
1.-The Greatest Banquet
did not mention Plato haphazardy. He knew drinking
men he knew rnkards and he knew wise At the end
OF the Symposium which of the nobest works man.
Acblades in with group of roysterers and all the
men who have been sitting about drinking little and talk
ing much fall to their cups 1t nearly dawn Socrates
still has great deal say he drinks the other
under the table. It is a pretty picture
First of all Arsophanes dropped off, then when the day
was already dawnng Agathon Socrates having laid them
to Sleep to depart AT the Lyceum he took bath and
passed the day usual In the evening retired at his
home
One would hardly call that debauchery
What, No Song?
But the aptes remark drinking comes little earlier
Acbades wants everyone to catch up him. to get drunk
quickly. And Eryximachus says
What this Alcibiades? Are we to have neither CONVEX
satlon nor singing but simply drink as
we were thirsty?"
Take step through the centuries to-
Dos thou think because thou vruous there shall be
no more cakes and ae?"
And another to deporable GIN our deplorable CONVEX
saton, and our drys