St Johns College - Ozanam Yearbook (Toledo, OH)

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24 THE OZANAM terity by having it embodied in some law or other. The result of all this has been any- thing but beneficial. The passing of numerous useless laws that cannot and will not be enforced has, probably more than anything else, helped to de- stroy the respect of the American peo- ple for law and order. Instead of curbing lawlessness it seems as though it has really fostered it. Persons see that they can break certain laws with impunity, and acting on this same sup- position they soon learn to commit the more grievous offenses. Today, with more laws than ever before, we find our jails overcrowded and the Standing Room Only sign hanging from the warden's office-window. Moreover this orgy of lawmaking has resulted in cluttering up our statute books with hundreds of obsolete laws. The state legislatures think their only duty is to pass laws regardless of how they are to be enforced. No wonder then that in some of our states fifty per cent of the laws are obsolete. Many indeed have been the reme- dies offered to improve this situation. Some suggest the more frequent use of the veto power by the executive and judicial departments. Others ad- vocate that our legislatures should de- vote one or more sessions to the re- pealing of all but the most necessary laws. These remedies are of course good as far as they go, but sad to say they are not far-reaching enough. In less than no time we would find our friends in the state capitals grinding out from twenty-five to thirty laws a day as in California. A better rem- edy, and one that would undoubtedly solve the difficulty, lies in electing more intelligent men to be our repre- sentatives. What we really need is men who will not be swayed by every passing whim and cry, but who will use their head in enacting legisla- tion. Until we secure such men we are bound to be burdened with much useless legislation in the form of'ob- solete, unnecessary, and foolish laws. Our present position was aptly stated by ex-Senator Beveridge in a recent article, in which he said, Americans are by law forbidden to do more things, and by law forced to do more things, than were the Russian people under the Czar, or the German people under the Kaiser.

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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-

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Mary, My Mother By NICHOLAS j. KELLY O Mary, Mother fair, To whose most holy care We are entrusted. Guide Us sinners to thy side That we may dwell with thee 0 Mary, Mother pure, Let us not seek the lure Of empty joyg but plead That we may always heed Thy voice, and Hy to thee. 0 Mary, Mother dear, Dispel our every fear, And heav'n1y comforts send, That, when our life shall end, We may go straight to thee.