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Show Svsteni Under Fire The Salt Lake Tribune, Sunday, July 19, ' Its Simple to Talk About U.S. Law, c -- X.V VN.WN ,W.- - A 13 1970 VX COSPIUI But Another Matter to Interpret It By William R. Bishin Special to the Los Angeles Times In the United States, with its tradition of democratic rule and its commitment to a government of laws, and not of men, Americans usually have a ready answer for those who justify lawlessness by reference to some higher moral value. A democratic regime, we tell them, is capable of reforming itself from within: There are many mechanisms and methods by which the discontented can transform their grievances into law. We may also tell the revolutionists that no society can achieve any of the goals which human beings value unless it for determining which sets down ru v values are wortn , usuing and what should obtain mg them. When the revolutionists respond that the system has rejected their proposals for change, it is easy then to answer that hey did not try hard enough or that their proposals were not really in the public interest. pn-orit- Designed for Answer The American system of government was designed so that precisely this answer could he given to people who proposed to take the law into their own hands in the service of peisonal ideals cr utopias. Marx asserted that the system was actually an elaborate trick which appeared to provide for change but in fact would never permit it. People who attempted reform by following the system's rules, he seemed to think, were simply being taken in by the charade. But the Marxian position is a foreign philosophy, and despite i's recruitment of a few vocal adherents, has still not caught on. Lately another, more tradidefence of revo-- 1 tionally has been u t i o n a r y lawbreakir.g advanced. It asserts that the wielders of power in this society do not themselves abide by the rules of the system. From this one of two conclusions is drawn. First, that authorities who ignore the law can make no oral claim 10 the allegiance of those who are not in power. Anglo-America- Government of Men Second, a system whose rules are not followed by legislators and executives is not a viable system and therefore should be scrapped. Although the argument is rarely put in these terms it seems to come simply to this: Despite the rhetoric, the United States is not a government of laws, but of men. Many jurists, political theorists, and philosophers of law have insisted that there is only one kind of law which binds man in his relations with other men that is, the law made by men in legislatures or courts. But how does one distinguish such law from the orders of, in St. Augustine's phrase, a band of robbers? Thieves and the murdeiers often have power but power of a gun or of deception that does not make their orders or their actions law. These are obeyed out of fear alone, not out of respect for their legal validity. A group of men gather in Washington, D C., and begin to promulgate rules to govern the conduct of citizens. In the nature of these rules, obedience will result in harm to some people and advantages to others. What is it that makes these rules law rather than the commands of a great robber band? and These rules will be laws if they their promulgators satisfy certain criteria. But these are not standards which they set for themselves. They are external or, if you will, higher standards of justification. Constitution's Higher Law In the United States these standards are stipulated by a constitution. That constitution is, therefore a kind of higher it is, a law, but very importantly WRITTEN higher law. If, then, the rule of law is to obtain in America, if ours is to be a government of laws and not of men, only those enacted rules which conform to the constitution car. be law. The constitution tells us that there are certain kinds of rules that cannot be law. Thus a duly enacted law which abridges the freedom of speech or denies the equal protection of the laws is not a law at all. Legislators who enact such Dr. T. R. Van Dellen Farmers Face Many Dangers No one developed the disease in the English study even though only 9 percent were fully immunized. Fifty-sipercent never received these shots and had to be The remainder received immunized. boosters injections. In a period, 132 persons Injured on farms, were treated at hospital in Cambridge, England. Adden-brook- This x means more than every three one daysin- and doesnot B. P. writes: Would it be harmful to the scalp or the ears to use a pressure air hose every day to blow dandruff off the scalp? REPLY: This practice would not harm the scalp or the hair but it may damage your ears, especially if the hose slips. Why not use one of the newer dandruff preparation? Send stamped, envelope for our leaflet on care of the hair and scalp. clude domestic accidents that oc--c u r r e d in the farmhouse. Almost 95 percent of those injured were professional farmers or farm workers. So much for statistics. As might be expected, farm machinery and implements were implicated in a large proportion of the accidents. In many instances, the safety guards were removed or drawn back and not replaced. This is typical of many farmers who do their own repairs in order to get back to the job as soon as possible. writes: Does a person who cant drink the juices of citrus fruits get enough vitamin C in other fruits and vegetables? REPLY: Yes, he can also take vitamin C in tablet form. A. A. Loss of Finger, Two Tell They also have a tendency to remove twigs and wires from machines without turning off the motors. The end result is the loss of a finger or two. hut. with luck they get off with a severe laceration. A few of the injuries were brought on by animals. Among these included being gored by a bull, or injured by a pig, clawed or bitten by a wild cat, and children falling from horses. Tractors were involved more often than any other piece of equipment and are typical causes of agricultural These sturdy machines are easily overturned in a ditch, hidden hole, or on the side of a hill. It Like It Is By Danagin acci-dent- s. vinced the country is run by a voters. minority Gorens Weekly Bridge Quiz By Q. 1 : V2 IL Gorcn as South you Both vulnerable, hold: KJI752 C. The bidding has proceeded Heat Q865 What do you hid now? As South, vulnerable, you hold: CJ. 1 4S AQJ Pass Pass Q. 5 What do you bid now? Both vulnerable, hold: Q. 2 10 8743 AQJI Your partner opens with one spade. What is your response? : East-We- vulnerable, as South you hold: as South you 752 J53 East Pass 9622 V87 Q8 6 2 The bidding has proceeded : korth South East 1 1 NT Pass Dble, ? pass What do you bid now? Q. I Neither vulnrable, held: V AK 10953 43 AKQ The bidding has proceeded: West Past What do you bid now? Q. S AQJS as South As South, vulnerable, VQ8705S The bidding has proceeded: veu hold : A4 q' 5'ou Kouth West North 1 Pass 14 Q7 East Pasa Breaking Basic Law or, for that Similarly, legislators matter, judges, administrators and policemen who violate the constitution are breaking the most fundamental law, but that does not necessarily make them lawless. They may have acted in ignorance of the constitutional prohibition or in the belief that it did not apply. Government officials are lawless when the only reasonable interpretation of their actions is that they do not recognize the constitution as a rule which binds them. They violate the rule of law because they identify law w ith their own, or some other, unauthorized will. The practice of legally enforced segregation in the South is probably the centurys grossest violation of the rule of law. Here was a pattern of conduct which fooled no one. Its purpose and effect was to degrade and repress a racial minority for no other reason than its race. A more flagrant violation of the 14th Amendment could hardly be imagined. Yet every branch of the federal government legislature. court and executive let more than 60 years pass before the practice was identified and denounced as unconstitutional. Malapportionment Malapportionment represented another instance. This device made it possible for special groups and areas to be overrepresented in state legislatures for no other reason than that they controlled the legislatures which did the apportioning. Of course, many argued that there were good reasons for malapportionment, that although it seemed theoretically unequal, it actually provided a balance of political power. No one suggested, however, why rural minorities should be given any better treatment than, for example, racial, religious, and economic minorities. In truth, as everyone knew, malapportionment was a blatant violation of the integrity of the American democratic system. For years, to cite another example, policemen invaded homes and places of without search warbusiness illegally rants or probable cause. Even when the Supreme Court specifically declared that the 4th Amendment's prohibitions against unreasonable searches and seizures applied to the states and their police forces, this conduct continued. Only Made Dent The court was able to make only a dent in the practice when it declared that evidence obtained by such searches could not be used in court. Only, that is, when the practice no longer was profitable was it curtailed despite its acknowledged unconstitutionality. Current defenses of the police seem to reveal one of the most dangerous and direct attacks on the notion of a government of laws and not of men. The people who engage in police work have never received enough credit for the sacrifices and services they have rendered society. Theirs is a special job and and it deserves far more honor than it has received. remuneration But police officers, like everybody else, are human. They have weaknesses; they make mistakes. They sometimes act out of anger, bitterness, vengeance, ignorance or incompetence. They are different from most other people, however, in that their mistakes and weaknesses ran affect other people disastrously. Because they have been entrusted with the legal use of force, their mistakes and weaknesses can very easily deprive someone else of life, liberty or property. An Editor's Notebook i Can We Help U.S. Prisoners of War? Pitifully few facts have come to light about the 1.518 U.S. military personnel missing in action or known to hae been captured by the North Vietnamese. the Officially, ReDemocratic public of Vietnam (North Vietnam) admits holding 450 American servicemen as prisoners of war (POWs). sources Pentagon report 1,140 Americans as missing and believe that most of these men are POWs. The relatively few American civilians who have been permitted to enter North Vietnam had no success in gaining admission to prison camps. H. Ross Perot, the Texas millionaire who chartered a 707 aircraft in an attempt to deliver medical and food supplies to American prisoners, was told by Hanoi that the American people aie not interested in only a few men. Little Information Seeks Ways to Help For several months I have been exploring wavs and means of how we could help our men and have sought advice and suggestions from both official and unofficial quarters. What do you bid now? (Look for answers Monday.) of the revolutionaries are outmanmng and t The Texas humanitarian says, The North Vietnamese do not want the attention of the American people directed to their brutal treatment of prisoners. The prisoners are unimportant to North Vietnam. When they see our nation aroused by vvliat they consider to be a minor issue, they will eliminate the issue by releasing the men. And then, military coriespondent Heqtlier David of the Fairchild publications likewise makes a plea for more attention by the press to the plight of our men. says that a Washington of 4.000 concerned Americans, including 1,000 relatives of American servicemen thought to be prisoners, "failed rally to make headlines. Saddened by Apathy She said further that the apathy of the press, particularly network television, was disheartening to those who sponsored the rally." And a spokesman for Sen. Robert Dole, told Miss David that unfortunately people are just shying away from the prisoner of war issue. Heather David adds that an aroused is virtually the only public opinion thing that has helped American prisoners of war with their Communist captors. Warren Nutter, Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs, says the government's decision to publicize the POW issue was made by Defense Secretary Melvin R. Laird in May, 1969. Since then, the number of letters from prisoners of war has increased to more than 200. Yet almost 1,300 other families have no way of knowing whether their men are dead or alive. Another disturbing fact is that many families are reluctant to make public statements lest they harm their sons or ... Hives Rebuffed aging, too, have been the rebuffs of American wives seeking information about thru husbands from Communist representatives in Paris and Vientiane, Laos. However, these efforts did result in the North Vietnamese releasing a few more names of prisoners. But nothing more. Letters to Hanoi from such Senate doves as J. W. Fulbright, Edward M. Kennedy, George McGovern and Frank Church have evoked no The bitter comment by one prisoner who was released. Navy Lt. Robert FrLshman, is considered by the State Department as having had a negative effect. e. Informed Source I also have this opinion from an informed and trusted source who knows how the wheels turn both in Washington and the Communist countries: Frankly, he writes, I see very little prospect that anything we do in this short of a breakthrough in necountry will help the prisoners gotiations much. They are tragic pawns in a test of wills between Washington and Hanoi. We can sympathize with them deeply, deplore their treatment, beg for pity or pound on the table in anger, but it won't make any impression in Hanoi. The Communists, he continues, have already paid the price in international opinion for their hard line on prisoners. They lose a little more by hunkering down and holding fast to their present policy, even if some of them should believe it was a mistake in the beginning. Realistic Outlook This is probably a realistic assessment of the situation, but also one which most of us will find difficult to accept. What can we do to assist these gallant men? Is it all quite hopeless, as most of the evidence would indicate! Or do we simply lack faith and ingenuity? Your opinions will be welcomed. John S. Knight Editorial Chairman Knight Newspapers Or does it own you? the nature of government and of the rules of law. A rule of law means necessarily that indior groups of individuals viduals often dont get what they want. We tolerate these disappointments because on the whole we think that the system which permits them is the best one for us. This is the message we have been trying to get over to the young. Yet. it is probably inact urate to say that the rule of law no longer exists in this country. It is betler to say that it is under attack, not only by the lef'ists but also by people who style themselves conservative. Since the rule of law is the cherished heritage of English-speakinnations, however, its defenders might appropriately be designated the conservatives. If they are, it may appear that outguiming them. Dont Want Attention husbands. For understandable reasons, the government hesitates to adivse them. Do you own your house? A has traditionally free country meant, among other things, that policemen were not above the law. That is one reason why we dread the secret police forces of notorious dictatorships. Their secrecy permits them to ignore the prevailing standards of legality. But now increasingly there are signs that criticism of particular police actions and policies is being dismissed out of hand. More and more people tend to view the critics not only as opponents of a particular policeman or police chief, but as opponents of law and order itself. If the police did 't, it must he right. Yet this amounts to identifying the law with the men who enforce it, to deny, in effect, a basis requirement of the rule of law. At the root of these arguments is a radical misunderstanding The results of that study are not encouraging. Efforts of the United Stales government in behalf of our prisonets of war have been ineffective, as have repiesen-tation- s from other nations. Perot has asked us to publish a special edition, as did the Pottstovvn Mercury with messages in Vietnamese addressed to Ton Due Thang, President, Democratic Republic of Vietnam, Hanoi, North Vietnam. Miss David Robert S. Boyd of the Knight Newspapers, who spent two weeks in North Vietnam last spring, made repeated efforts to talk with American prisoners but was turned down by the North Vietnamese. About all that is known of our POWs comes from enemy pictures and the dribble of letters which reach their relatives. The photos clearly indicate undernourishment, loss of weight and haggard faces. From these pictures, it is evident tiiat Hanoi is not observing the international standards for humane treatment of prisoners. In many instances, the North Vietnamese refused to identify the prisoners, thus adding to the anxiety of American families. Even though the Hanoi government appears to think that the American public is apathetic over the fate of our POWs, public indignation in this country is mounting. Not Above Law Few Offer Iroleclinn It has been said that if a driver is Injured when a tractor, overturns, the chances are more than one in four that he will be killed. Few tractors come equipped with a protective cab but it tnight help prevent the farmer from toppling off the machine if it turns over. Tetanus is more likely to oecurr when wounds are contaminated by farm soil. rules are acting without benefit of law which is to say that literally they are acting lawlessly. But lawless in common parlance is a very serious woid. In practice we reserve it fot those whose unlawful actions indeate a disies-pec- t for law generally. These are people v. ho recognize in their actions despite the moralistic chant they might utter only one rule of conduct : The one which permits them to do as they will. 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