Contempt for the Law; E. F. Hutton

It is government itself-our government-local, state, and federal. In the Supreme Court, the eminent Justice Brandeis once said: "Our government, for good or ill, teaches the whole people by its example. Crime is contagious. If a government becomes a lawbreaker (the moral law), it breeds contempt for law and invites every man to be come a law to himself." Government has ripped the market on its bonds. It has cut its debt by devaluing the dollar. It continues to refuse to pay its debt during prosperous times. Mr. Hutton is the well-known industrialist, investment broker, and author of the column, "Think It Through." [320 ] Government says it is a crime for a single pickpocket to steal. But it says that A, B, and C, by combining their votes, can pick D's pocket and go free. Government buys votes. It weeps over the civil rights of certain minorities, but punishes no one when labor union monopolies deprive cities and states of transporta tion, light, or power, or when goons terrorize law-abid ing citizens and dynamite the homes of working men.

As Brandeis said: ,:cGovernmentbreeds contempt for law.'" [321 ] CAN LABOR CLEAN ITS OWN HOUSE? THE ANSWER is that no one else can. But before any house can be cleaned, one has to recognize dirt when one sees it; and one needs a broom, mop, water, strong soap, and above all else, the will and the power to clean up. All these things are now lacking, and more. Not only is there trouble about recognizing the dirt. There is even some doubt concerning the identity of the house cleaner, and some people seem to be confused about where to get the cleansing materials. The house cleaners will have to be the workingmen of the country. The cleansing materials will have to be their own free choice and their right to refuse to join unions or to participate in strikes, picketing, and boy cotts. If the workers are to have any success in the exer cise of these rights, they are going to need the protection which governments have so far denied them. For the sad condition of the house of labor is the consequence, Dr. Petro is Professor of Law at New York University School of Law and author of the book, The Labor Policy of the Free Society, ( New York: Ronald Press, 1957). This article is from an address before the Congress of American Industry of the N.A.M. in New York, December 1957.