Show T I OBSERiVAXGE OF LAW One of our Salt Lake ministers Rev Adelbert L Hudson in his sermon last Sunday morning called attention to the prevalence of a spirit of lawbreaking or lawdefying tCiroughoui large classes of society He instanced the disposition to avoid the payment of taxes the violation of law by great n ntn 3 mi put aiiuia uuu tue mnueimy lowaru bribery and corruption so frequently manifested I That the public conscience is dulled 1 respecting e forms of evasion of law I does not admit of question It is perhaps per-haps more apparent in connection with I the payment of taxes than in any other field The rule seems to be to evade I payment of lawful taxes whenever it I is pOLsible There are notable exceptions excep-tions but the rule is as stated A great many persons would resent an insinuation Insinua-tion that they would avoid payment of any tax if opportunity offered yet those I same persons own all sorts of personal I property subject to taxation which they I do not return If they are asked the I I direct question if they have this or that kind of property they will answer I honestly but if the assessor overlooks anything it doss not get on the list This is not true of all but it is true of too many Then how many are there who will have their real estate valuation raised I when they know it has been listed too I low Again how general it Is for people I peo-ple whO are clasivd amons the best citizens to cheat the government in thc mater of customs dues They will i resort to every device to get dutiable i goods through JhoUt payment of the I duty I One of the arguments advanced I against the income tax law was that I it would encourage falsehood deception I and perjury It was held that the means resorted to to avoid the tax I S would be demoralizing to society This argument was an Admission that thoste Ii I who are in thes njoyment of large incomes I in-comes and who < are supposed to constitute consti-tute one of the jftrang classes of our social structur would resort to base means to avoid a tax And all this laxity results from failure fail-ure on the part of the individual to appreciate his duty toward the community com-munity This is an intensely individual age and individuals are so bent upon their own plans and purposes so devoted de-voted to their OTVTI particular interests that they overTook their community status and fail in heir duty toward the body politic It Is a mistake which damaging the community necessarily damages the individual and must in the end be disastrous ifit is not rectified recti-fied The community is really a subject of first interest to the individual for Individual In-dividual opportunity would FOOII be destroyed de-stroyed if the community became lost to respect for law l Individual success would be impossible if the community were disorganized and lawless Neither life ncr property would be safe without law imrartially enforced by the popu Jar will I Though these truths are selfevident individuals in their desire for personal aggrandizement avoid defy or violate the laws that aremade for the protection protec-tion of all and thus contribute toward conditions that constitute a menace alike to the individual and to the community com-munity I Of course a civilized people are not likely to go so far as to bring on chaos i but it is always well to remember that I the most desirable opportunities are j I found in the most perfect communities j that the character of the community is I dependent upon the character of the individuals composing and that a perfect reign of law canbe secured only through perfect respect for and scrupulous scrupu-lous observance of the law |