← Autodidact Archive · Original Dissent · naBaron
Thread ID: 4901 | Posts: 3 | Started: 2003-02-10
2003-02-10 03:51 | User Profile
[url=http://cdl.library.cornell.edu/cgi-bin/moa/moa-cgi?notisid=ABQ7578-0170-37]We are too much governed[/url]
2003-02-11 14:07 | User Profile
Cornell University Making of America Text of page: WE ARE TOO NIUCIJ GOVERNED. BY DAVID B. HILL, FORMERLY UNITED STATES 5ENATOR FOR NEW
YORK.
I AM asked to express my views of the tendencyââ¬â~aid to be
increasingââ¬âon the part of the Legislatures of the various States of the Union in the direction of multiplying legislation. That such tendency now exists in a large degree, even if not to a greater extent than ever before in our history, is evidenced by the fact that, as appears by the State Library Bulletin for January, 1900, published under the auspices of the University of the State of New York, there were enacted in the United States during the year 1899 by our State Legislatures the enormous number of 4,834 separate and distinct enactments known as ââ¬Ågen- eral laws ;ââ¬Å while I find upon investigation that there were passed during the same period (including those passed by a few States which held their bi-ennial sessions in 1898) in addition 4hereto ââ¬Ålocal, special or privateââ¬Â laws to the number of 9,325, making a grand total of 14,159 laws enacted in the United States, exclusive of Congressional and Territorial legislation. They embrace almost every conceivable subject, from th6 commendable purpose of the protection of the life and liberty of the citizen to the unnecessary regulation of the wearing of hats at places of indoor amusement, and the ridiculous designation of a ââ¬ÅState flower.~~ It appears that New York has contributed its full quota to this mass of good, bad and indifferent legislation, having in 1899 added 741 laws to swell the grand total, which, however, was an im- provement on the record of the preceding four years, wherein had been passed 3,516 laws, the year 1895 alone witnessing the enact- inent of 1,045 statutes, being the largest number ever enacted in any one year since the organization of the State Government. The admonition of the Scriptures, ââ¬ÅOf making many books
Text of page: 868 TIlE NORTh AMERICAN REVTEW.
there is no end,ââ¬Â may well be applied to the volumes of our session laws. The contemplation of this astonishing activity in the making of laws naturally leads the thoughtful student of public affairs to inquire whether there is any real necessity for so much regula- tion of human conduct, and such constant interference with the business concerns of the people. For every unnecessary statute which is enacted is an unreason- able imposition upon the citizen, who must not only examine it, but endeavor to understand its nature and effect, not merely for his own protection, but, if for no other purpose, for the very laudable desire of verifying that time-honored or moss-covered maxim of jurisprudence that ââ¬ÅEvery man is presumed to know the law,ââ¬Â however unfounded and troublesome that presumption may oftentimes be. It may well be questioned whether a State has the moral right to compel a citizen, in order to prevent his becoming, unwittingly or involuntarily, a civil or criminal wrong-doer, to annually under- take the laborious task of reading through huge volumes of session laws, at much expenditure of time and effort, that he may under- stand the laws of his own commonwealth arid with reasonable cer- tainty remain a law-abiding member of the community. There seems to be a mania on the part of modern legislators to pass as many bills as possible during each session, probably indulging in the delusion that their zeal for their constituencies will be appreciated in proportion to the number of measures which they secure. There was never a greater mistake. I recall an in- stance several year~ ago where a member of Assembly, who, al- though representing a small county containing only about fifty thousand inhabitants, had secured the enactment of some nineteen local measures, at the close of the legislative session congratulated himself on his success, and unmindful of the dangers incurred by such undue zeal, stoutly predicted his sure return the next year by a grateful constituency, but who signally failed of re-election, ow- ing to the complications occasioned by the very numerous mea~- ures which he had procured. While the large number of laws which a representative secures may be an indication of great industry, it is not of itself any evi- dence of wisdom on his part any more than it is of the value and benefit to anybody of the measures themselves.
Text of page: WE ARE TOO MUCH GOVERNED. 369
The Common Council of an interior city in New York once
passed a resolution which after reciting the number of arrests that had been made by a certain policeman during the preceding year, which happened to be greater than those made by any other member of the force, formally thanked him for his services, as well as commended him as the [u]ââ¬Åbestââ¬Â [/u]policeman, although there was no evidence of the outcome of such arrests, the necessity or propriety thereof, or any other circumstances attending them. The Council apparently labored under the erroneous impression that in a multitude of arrests there is safety, and that the num- ber and not the quality or circumstances thereof should count or control in estimating the efficiency and value of a policeman. The constituency of such a Council would doubtless appreciate the services of their legislative representative in proportion to the number of local bills which he might be instrumental in placing on the statute books. It is to be regretted that there are not more legislators pos- sessed of the courage sufficient to refuse requests for the introduc- tion of measures of doubtful necessity; but the unvarnished truth is that too many members seem eager and anxious to introduce some measureââ¬âit matters little what it isââ¬âin order that it may not be said that they lack the requisite influence to procure the enactment of a single law during an entire session. We are sure, however, that the representative who cannot place a single statute to his credit will, on the other hand, have none to discredit him, and we are not so sure but what he confers upon his common- ~~ealth a more lasting benefit than the officious law-maker wI o passes a dozen laws of doubtful expediency. And while we may not agree with Montaigne, who once said, ââ¬ÅI am further of opinion that it would be better for us to have no laws at all, than to have them in so prodigious numbers as we have,ââ¬Â yet we must respect the sentiment which impelled so em- phatic, even if so exaggerated, a protest against the prevailing disposition to multiply laws for the government of intelligent people. Legislation breeds legislation. The more laws we have, the more we are apt to think we need. The first forty days of a legislative session ordinarily witness the accomplishment of little, because there is really little which needs to be done; and if the regular appropriation bills for the support of the Government were VOL. CLXX.ââ¬â1~O. 5~
2003-02-11 18:37 | User Profile
Originally posted by naBaron@Feb 9 2003, 21:51 [url=http://cdl.library.cornell.edu/cgi-bin/moa/moa-cgi?notisid=ABQ7578-0170-37]We are too much governed[/url]
Reminds me of my favorite Wordsworth: * The world is too much with us; late and soon,àGetting and spending, we lay waste our powers: Little we see in Nature that is ours; We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon! This Sea that bares her bosom to the moon, The winds that will be howling at all hours And are up-gather'd now like sleeping flowers, For this, for everything, we are out of tune; It moves us not.ââ¬âGreat God! I'd rather be A pagan suckled in a creed outworn,ââ¬â So might I, standing on this pleasant lea, Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn; Have sight of Proteus rising from the sea; Or hear old Triton blow his wreathèd horn.*