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Show } , HOW HO'V HOV ' FREE ARE ' WE 'VE VE ? g ' I It t has always been the pride and boast of America Americathat Americathat Americathat that it is "the the " home of the free . " But just dust how free are arewe arewe arewe we ? ' With 'Vith Vith our hundreds o of thousands of federal and andstate andstate . state laws las , , , to say nothing of city ordinances ord1nances , what citi Clti- Clti crti- crti CltiJ CltiI crti.cJj citizen - . > .cJj cJj . .cJji J I zen can go thiough thlOUgh through a day of 24 hours without consciously consciouslyor . . ; ; ; ' ? or unconsciously violating violatmg one or more of them ? } - Yet , "ignorance ignorance " of the law excuses no man . " Andf And Andyet f : yet , , again , , not one official in a hundred is familiar with withall withall withall all the laws Jaws and ordinances which he is sworn to enforce . I It is true , , of course , , that the ever increasing com com- coin- coin comt coini complexity - t i\ i iplexity plexity plexlty of our civilization-or civilization or civilization - or is it civIhzationappears civilization-appears civilization appears civilizationappearsto civilization civIhzation ? -appears appears - appearsto . , \ to make new laws necessary from time to time . . . . But is isthere istheie thele there any justification for the orgy of lawmakmg lawmakIng , withits WIth WIthits withits its inevitable mevltable accompaniment of law-breaking law breaking - , , which whichthis whichthis . this country has witnessed ! in recent years ? - + The rrhe most disturbing dlsturbmg result of all this is that really reallyserious serIOUS crimes , such as murder , burglary , arso1and arson arson arso1\ arso1 ' \ , and the thelike thelike . lIke , aie ale are seldom punished pumshed , while the ordinarily ordinanly decent decentcIbzen decentcitizen decentcihzen cIbzen citizen is harassed m in his business busmess and in his private life lifeby lifeby lifeby by a maze of laws and bureaucratic regulations which whichleqUlre whichrequire whichlequire leqUlre require an aimy almy army of officials to enforce . And at that they theyare theyare theyare are not enforced . It looks as if , we tie , e are paying paymg a tremendous price for forgovernment forgovernment forgovernment government , the principal object of which appeals appears to be bethe bethe bethe the destruction of those fundamental nghts rIghts for which whichour whichour whichour our fOl foiefathers forefathers efathers fought and a11.d a11d arid . died . |