St Johns College - Ozanam Yearbook (Toledo, OH)

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Too JVIuch Lavv By DONALD F. MCGRATH Many, many years ago an old, white haired gentleman, bent nearly double with the weight of years, appeared in the Acropolis at Athens and pro- claimed to the world at large that, Too many Cooks spoil the broth. Since the truth of this statement has never been questioned, far be it from us to question it. Let us, however, rather apply it to our own times and circumstances: in view of the increas- ing complexity of life in America, the time-worn maxim might be made to read: Too many laws spoil the citizen. When we consider that there are approximately no less than two mil- lion national, state, and municipal laws in this country, and that these are annually increased by about twelve thousand new varieties, it is indeed a wonder that most of us are not now residing peacefully in some county jail. Scarcely a day passes that we do not violate some seemingly trivial law or other. If we go to the zoo and attempt to feed peanuts and candy to the elephants or monkies we are breaking a law. When we stand on a city bridge and dreamily while away our time watching the flow of the river, we are in danger of being hauled into court and fined. Then again if we are accustomed to spend a pleasant evening now and then with our friends playing penny-ante or deuces wild, we had best lock the door and draw the blinds, otherwise our friendly game may cost us more than just a few pennies. So too if our house number is incorrectg this little infraction may cost anyone of us twenty-Eve dollars, payable to the nearest municipal judge. In like man- ner we could continue through the thousands of laws now on our statute books. Without doubt hundreds of these laws are absolutely necessary and important for good government. However it is not with laws of this kind that we are here concerned. Our concern lies mainly with the thou- sands of foolish, trivial, and obsolete enactments that we see on all sides. The crying defect in our American government today, is the lawmaking mania that has taken hold of our leg- islators. Unnecessary laws, foolish laws, laws framed merely for the ben- efit of some political faction, are be- ing passed, it seems, as fast as they possibly can. Some weeks ago The Dearborn Independent made a study of this phase in our political life, and the conclusion arrived at was that the United States is suffering from an attack of Too much Law. It would seem that this evil-for such it really is-is not indeed a thing of recent origin and confined only to our coun- try. In the sixth century the laws of the old Roman Empire were so num- erous and varied that they confused even then the best of lawyers. In making their investigation the Independent consulted many of the most prominent lawyers in all parts of the country so as to obtain a national sentiment in this matter. The opinion was most unanimous that we are bur- dened with too many laws. Here are a few of the answers received: Mr. George Mayberry, president of the Massachusetts State Bar Associa-

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Where Hope Is- By ROBERT J. MURPHY The spriit knows a longing In the creeping of the dusk That to the heart drifts gently, Like the drifting scent of musk, And an anguish when a far-light In the distance gleams and dies, As gleams an altar-candle For half-closed, tear-dimmed eyes 'Tis the dying hour of daylight, When the shadows of the soul Reach out their tapering fingers To close about the whole. From the sadness comes a longing, And a plaintive hope is born, Yet from this hope springs sorrow That will some day see the morn.

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THE OZANAM I 23 tion, says: I think we have too many laws. joseph Stone, president of the Oklahoma Bar, says: I do not know the number of laws on our statute books, but I do know that there are more than we need .... So many laws are neither desirable nor work- able. The many ills incident to hu- man frailty cannot be cured by mere statutory enactment. Agreeing with these two prominent men, Mr. S. Dea- vours, president of the Mississippi Bar Association declares: There is no doubt in my mind but that too many laws are enacted in this state. The multiplicity of laws has led to great confusion. Mr. Geo. F. McNo- ble, head of the California lawyers, puts it this way: It is no doubt like- ly that fifty per cent of the laws have become obsolete .... it is impossi- ble to know what the law is .... I just returned from Sacramento last week, and they were grinding out laws at the rate of 25 or 30 a day. Each member seems to think that his pro- posals are of the greatest necessity. Lawmaking appears to me to be an abuse that we will always have with us. So it is throughout the remain- der of the United States. Those close- ly connected with law and the law profession seem to be unanimous in saying we have entirely too many laws. Knowing then that there really is an abuse in this matter, it probably would not be amiss to find out if pos- sible, its cause, examine some of the results, and suggest a remedy or rem- edies, providing, of course, any are available. And first, it can be rightly said that the present craze is due not to any one particular cause, but more prob- ably to several. Many of the lawyers, among them Mr. McNoble, attribute the evil to human desires. People desirous of something force their leg- islatures Cby threats or otherwisej to pass laws covering their wants or de- sires. An outstanding example of this is that collosal farce labelled The Eighteenth Amendment, forced through Congress and the Senate by a persistent minority. Under this head- ing of human desires we may quite properly list all those measures or- dained to make our people better. The sooner some of our well-meaning re- formers wake up to the fact that reli- gion and morality cannot be forced upon the people by law, the sooner will we be rid of many utterly useless enactments. Another and quite logical reason that is often advanced is this, Due to our scientific and social development we naturally need more laws than be- fore to regulate and control our every day actions. Akin to this, Mr. Mayberry, for instance, contends that, The complex conditions of modern life is the cause. Much can un- doubtedly be said concerning all these things. In a measure it is quite true that, due to our advancement and ever changing conditions of life, we need new and different laws. However the argument is not against necessary and important lawsg it is against the prev- alence of too much law, law that is not needed and as a consequence is a real evil by its presence. ' An important point that must not be overlooked is the fact that we are electing too many hair-brain con- gressmen and legislators as our repre- sentatives. Many of these so rarely have an original idea that when one really does strike them, they immedi- ately endeavor to preserve it for pos-