Article October 19, 1929 Issue

Signs of the Times

with contributions from Hoover, James H. Bennett, Ernest H. Cherrington, Arthur D. Bevan

[President Hoover, as quoted in the Boston Globe, Massachusetts]

Law should be observed and must be enforced until it is repealed by the proper processes of our democracy. The duty to enforce the law rests upon every public official, and the duty to obey it rests upon every citizen.

No individual has the right to determine what law shall be obeyed and what law shall not be enforced. If a law is wrong, its rigid enforcement is the surest guaranty of its repeal. If it is right, its enforcement is the quickest method of compelling respect for it. I have seen statements published within a few days encouraging citizens to defy a law because that particular journal did not approve of the law itself. I leave comment on such an attitude to any citizen with a sense of responsibility to his country. . . . Respect for law and obedience to law does not distinguish between Federal and state laws—it is a common conscience.

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