The Tribune. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1951-19??, 1951-08-18

SSSA Grating at high
S@ speeds and often on
@ ss<M "a the wrong side of
a4zSzzzzsa& a. Azz& the road. Now the
Dr.. Foreman state has aw
against overlooking
trucks; it has laws against speeding
There is an honest state police de-
partment. But althssgh various ar
rests have been made, the head Of
the police department reports that
In those two counties they never yet
have been able to secure a single
conviction In the courts. Why?
Who Is to Blame?
CsOMETIMES politics is to blame.
~ That is to say, man wants to
get, or to hold, office, so eagerly
that he will ignore or defy the law
in order to keep his little place In
the sun.
There is another county where
policeman shot a Iaw-breaker
resisting arrest and attempting
to shoot the officer. The county
Judge tried to make three sue
cessive grand juries indict the
policeman, but after looking into
the facts they all refused.
Here was the interesting spectacle
of judge on the bench elected
there) trying to make the law work
against itself, trying to force
grand jury to indict an innocent
man. The thing was, the policeman
was from out Of the county, but the
man he killed, being bootlegger.
had many friends who were also
friends of the judge.
We Get What We Deserve
OUT we can't blame big business.
~ or mean politics, for the lawless-
ness of America. II individuals re-
pected the law. if every man re-
pected the law just as he wants
others to respect it, we could handle
business and we could get rid Of dis
honest politicians.
An official high in federal cir
Giles, who had had plenty of OPP
p0rtunity to observe, remarked
last spring, speaking Of con-
trolls, that every one wants tie
other man controlled, every
body wants to control somebody
else, but nobody wants to be
controlled.
That's just the trouble. We can
make all the laws we please, but so
long as we are the kind Of people
who will not respect law if it
cramps our own style, then we need
not be surprised at the sort Of
thing a senate crime committee digs
UP.
No Government Is Perfect
MANY of us try to excuse our
~ selves by saying that the gov
eminent is inefficient or even
crooked, and that the laws are I'm
fair. Christians, certainly, can see
very easily the failings of both gov
eminent and law. But Christians
ought to be the very persons to set
the example Of respect for law and
government.
Consider the New Testament.
Hardly a single Christian men,
toned in that book had the least
thing to do with making the
laws Of those times. The gov
eminent was from the top down,
the exact opposite OF democrat
ic. None Of the early Christians
could vote or hold office.
The government, whether in Pal
estine or in Rome, was In non-Chris-
tian hands. The laws lacked a good
deal Of being wholly just and fair.
Nevertheless, Jesus and Paul and
Peter, all of whom suffered from the
laws of their times, urged men to
pay tribute (taxes) to Caesar, to
support the magistrates, to obey
the laws. Even a selfish, money
hungry and often cruel government
like that of Rome deserved support.
Jesus and Paul alike remind us
that we rely on government for pro-
lection; that government, In spite OF
all exceptions, is on the side Of good
men, not against them.
If we had no government we
should miss 1t and want 1t. st. Peter,
writing to Christians who were ac-
tually being prosecuted by the gov
eminent, urged them nevertheless
to be loyal to the authorities. There
may come times-indeed, human
nature being what 1t is, such times
are bound to come-when a govern
ment proves SO corrupt and unjust
that 1t deserves to fall; but even
then the way out is not the way Of
lawlessness. Reforms come best
from the law-abiding, not che law
deriding.
(CopyrfRht 1881 nv che Division o.