Law and Freedom

IMPROVEMENT ERA. Vol. XIV. APRIL, 1911. No. 6 Law and Freedom. BY FRANK S. HARRIS, ASSISTANT IN THE DEPARTMENT OP SOIL TECHNOLOGY, NEW YORK STATE COLLEGE OP AGRICULTURE. All kingdoms have a law given: and there are many kingdoms; and unto every kingdom is given a law; and unto every law there are certain bounds also conditions (Doc. and Gov. Sec. 88). I, the Lord God, make you free, therefore ye are free indeed; and the law also maketh you free (Doc. and Cov. Sec. 98). The truth shall make you free (John 8:8). Not long ago, two young men were walking along when they saw a power wire sagging nearly within reach. One of them reached toward the wire with a green willow he was carrying. His companion, warning him that there might be danger in the wire, walked on across the muddy street, and on reaching the other side looked back and saw his companion lying on the ground under the wire. Rushing to his assistance, he found him lifeless. Hav- ing disregarded the warning, and touched the live wire, death was instantaneous. His life had paid for his ignorance of one of the laws of electricity, or his failure to recognize it. The physical world is full of just such laws, which are con- stant in their operations. Some are recognized by every one, while others are very complex in their workings, and can be under- stood only after years of patient work on the part of scientists.

For example, all know that if a stone is thrown into the air it will return to earth. Although this has been observed from time immemorial, the laws governing the phenomena were not under- stood until comparatively recent times. Every-day experience, however, is so plain concerning the law of gravitation, that no one would jump from a high bridge without expecting fatal results. On the other hand, take the laws governing the workings of a disease germ, while they are just as invariable as the law of gravi- tation, yet their discovery would not be probable without special study. As independent as one may feel, it is impossible for him to live in the world without coming in contact with numberless inter- acting laws. He may think he can defy the electricity, but if he does, he dies; he may think he can overcome gravitation, but if he jumps from the bridge, he will be destroyed. Again, he may think he can defy the laws of health, and resist all germs of disease, but if he attempt it, he must succumb. Is not the sensible thing for him t ) do to recognize the supremacy of these great natural laws, and order his life in harmony with them, especially since his efficiency will depend on their proper use? Many of the laws of the natural world have been discovered and thoroughly studied, and their operation is being used for the benefit of mankind. The scientific discoveries of the past cen- tury have made conditions infinitely better for humanity by help- ing to overcome disease, by improving the tillage of the soil, by perfecting mechanical devices, and in a thousand other ways which increase man's power and make living in the world more desirable. Thus, understanding and obeying the physical law, makes mankind free and efficient; and the true scientists, who are spending their lives unselfishly in the discovery of these laws and teaching them to their fellow- men, are worthy of a respect little short of reverence. He who claims, however, that a knowledge of physical law is all that is necessary to complete freedom, has taken a narrow view of the subject, and one which is likely to lead to trouble. The would-be freeman who, having learned all about the control of disease and how to use the forces of nature for his benefit, might decide that he is absolutely independent, and as he walks along

LAW AND FREEDOM. 475 the street he might set fire to various buildings to see what mate- rials were most inflammable. At this juncture he would likely find himself behind prison bars, powerless to move. He has come in contact with a different type of law. He finds he is not alone in the world, but there are others, forming the body of society, and this body must have law to protect itself, and to ensure equal rights to all. The safest thing for him to do is to recognize this fact, and to learn to obey these laws, in order that he may have the greatest freedom in society. There are those, however, who constantly oppose all law regulating the social and political inter- course of society. These are called anarchists. They are self- deceived, since their effort to abandon law leads them further from liberty. The laws regulating political and social freedom have cost rivers of patriot blood, and the best efforts of the world's states- men, to establish an 1 maintain, and these laws are necessary if order and harmony are to exist. Just and equitable laws are sim- ply a statement of the best .way in which the members of society can live together so the greatest good will be received by the greatest number. Having become thoroughly familiar with physicial and polit- cal laws, the whole field of human interest has not been covered. There is the great realm of the spiritual, or religious, that is just as important to complete freedom and happiness as either of the realms previously mentioned. It has for its province the problems of eternity, and embraces all the ages that are past, as well as those yet to come. The laws of this realm are those of an unchanging God operating throughout a universe. They are per- fect in their harmony, although imperfectly understood by those in the mortal state. They are of the utmost importance to man- kind, because they affect his future progress as well as his pres- ent happiness. The yearning of mankind toward something beyond the natural seems universal, and complete happiness cannot be attained until there is some understanding of the hand-dealings of God with his children. There is nothing that will bring such joy and peace to the soul, and such a sense of freedom to the mind, as the comprehen- sion of one of God's laws, borne testimony to by the whisperings

of the Holy Spirit. When such a condition is enjoyed, the bonds of political tyranny, and even the rackings of bodily pain, are for- gotten, and the soul rises above the petty things of mortality into a celestial bliss which can be comprehended only by those who have enjoyed if. The way to obtain this freedom of soul is based on the same principle as the obtaining of physical and political freedom, viz., comprehension of the laws of a certain realm and living in har- harmony with them. If one opposes the laws of God relating to the spiritual, his efforts will be just as vain and self-destroying as if he resists those of the physical world, those of political justice. The laws of God include the laws of all realms that tend toward human progress. He understands the laws of nature better than any scientist; and the great statesmen of all ages have been inspired by him in forming just laws to regulate the dealings of man with man. Now, if the greatest freedom is dependent on the under, standing and obeying of law, and if God is the great Law Giver and knows better than all others how laws operate, what more important could one do who desires to be free than to seek the Father in all earnestness for light and assistance in his efforts? Some are turned away from religious light and fail to dis- cover spiritual law because they see differences of opinion among advocates of the higher light. Others, because they sometimes see legal tricksters in the place of statesmen, and political graft- ers in the place of patriots, are turned against, and fight to over- come, political law and government. There are still others who are unable to see any good in science and discovery, because some of the theories advanced by workers in this field are found to be untrue. Nevertheless, the laws of the spiritual, the political, and the natural world are operating just the same, and he who opposes them "kicks against the pricks," while he who is in har- mony finds them indispensable helps to progress. Never before in the history of the world have the laws of nature been so well understood and so much used by mankind as today; never in the history of nations was political freedom more abundant than in our own country; and never did religion offer better opportunity to comprehend the laws of God in all their ful-