tuous medley appeared the common theme of
public opinion -- that the leaders should lead, that
the governors should govern.

The trusts had appeared, labor was restless,
vice seemed to be corrupting the vitality of the
nation. Statesmen had to do something. Their
training was legal and therefore utterly inade-
quate, but it was all they had. They became
panicky and reverted to an ancient superstition.
They forbade the existence of evil by law. They
made it anathema. They pronounced it damnable.
They threatened to club it. They issued a legis-
lative curse, and called upon the district attorney
to do the rest. They started out to abolish hu-
man instincts, check economic tendencies and re-
press social changes by laws prohibiting them.
They turned to this sanctified ignorance which is
rampant in almost any nursery, which presides at
family councils, flourishes among "reformers";
which from time immemorial has haunted legisla-
tures and courts. Under the spell of it men try
to stop drunkenness by closing the saloons; when
poolrooms shock them they call a policeman; if
Haywood becomes annoying, they procure an in-
junction. They meet the evils of dance halls by
barricading them; they go forth to battle against
vice by raiding brothels and fining prostitutes.

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