Page:The Green Bag (1889–1914), Volume 17.pdf/553

 THE GREEN BAG ination, and upon conviction thereof shall forfeit not less than $200 for each offense. "All pipe lines for the conveyance of crude oil in the state of Kansas are declared by law to be common carriers, and the owners thereof are subject to rules pre scribed for them by the State Board of Railroad Commissioners for the conduct of their business; and the same act prescribes a maximum rate of charge for all oil trans ported over said lines." The President's summary of the results of his investigation is as follows : "A few comments seem pertinent upon this imperfect review of the legislation of our country. What impresses one most deeply in an examination of the legislation of the states is the number and variety of subjects of legislation, and the assumption (I will not say always improperly) by the state of functions which in our earlier his tory were unclaimed by it. We are a much-governed people, and there is nothing which affects the American citizen, from infancy to the grave, awake or asleep, in motion or at rest, at home or abroad, in his personal, social, political, or property rights which is not the subject of regulation by the state. Fish and game wardens regu late where, when, and the amount of fish or game that may be taken, and that too though they may be taken from one's own streams or forests. The commissioners of forestry1 prevent the devastation of timber, and in the public interest limit the amount of timber taken from the land, require the planting of trees in certain places and by inducement or bounty secure the planting of trees in other places. Railroad and ware house commissioners, under the power of the state, acquire control of railroads and warehouses by prescribing rate regulations and prohibiting the doing of many things deemed unwise by the commissioners. In some states we have internal improvement commissioners, with large powers over the property of the citizen; mine inspectors, with power to make regulations for the

owner of the mine, and under which alone can he operate his own property; highway commissioners to lay out and beautify and preserve the roads of the state; probation officers to follow the convict or delinquent with a sleepless eye, even after conviction, to see if, perhaps, there may be a spark of virtue, a lump of leaven for his reformation left within his nature; inspectors of cattle; inspectors of sheep; inspectors of bees; in spectors of food; inspectors of weights and measures; inspectors of beef and hides; live stock associations; poultry associa tions; associations for the conduct of all classes of business; and drainage commis sioners, with power to condemn private property for building drains and bridges; boards of charity; boards of equalization; boards of health, of pardons, of prison in dustries; civil service boards; boards of arbitration, not even allowing a man the right to fight in peace; and after death has come to us, our bodies are embalmed under regulations of the state board of embalmers. "Then we have factory inspectors; in surance commissioners; boards of dental examiners; bank commissioners; water com missioners to regulate the use and even the amount of water one may use; boards of pharmacy; state veterinarian surgeons; boards of medical examiners; boards regula ting cemeteries and irrigation; and even loco motion by automobiles and bicycles is allowed only after compliance with specific state regulations;while the 'kindly fruits of the earth' are ours only when the rules of the state entomologist may permit our enjoyment of them. Indeed, as we look at the whole range of property and social rights, of human wants, necessities, and human action, nothing is left to the arbitrary, uncontrolled will of the individual. Indeed, whether we eat or drink, or whatsoever' we do, we do it all in subordination to the law of the state. The government, as trustee for society, controls our rights, our wants, our necessities, and our individual action in their relation to society. The pangs of hunger and thirst, the