The Texas rangers.

The state police of Pennsylvania.

Vigilance committees in frontier towns of former times.

Why lynching is wrong.

The promptness with which justice is meted out in the courts of your state.

The extent and causes of vandalism in your community.

Is vandalism justifiable on Halloween?

Inspect the courthouse and other public buildings in your community and report as to whether they are disfigured in any way.

THE SACREDNESS OF PROPERTY RIGHTS

When a thief or vandal takes or destroys another person’s property, the loss of the property is not the worst thing that happens, but the attack upon property rights.  The right to security in one’s possessions is among the most sacred rights of a free people, being classed with the right to life, the right of free speech, the right of petition, the right to freedom of religion.  It is by securing these rights that the law makes us free.  The sacred right to property is as truly violated by one who steals a nickel as by one who robs a bank of a thousand dollars, by one who ruins our flower bed as well as by one who burns our house.  The amount has nothing to do with it.  The tax which the English government imposed on tea imported by the American colonists was not a heavy tax, but the colonists objected because it was imposed without their consent.

CONSTITUTIONAL GUARANTEES OF PROPERTY RIGHTS

The citizens of a free country require protection of their property rights against infringement by their government as well as by one another.  The Revolutionary War was fought in defense of this and other rights against violation by the English government.  When the Constitution of the United States was framed, the people refused to ratify it unless amendments were added guaranteeing these rights.  Thus it was provided that “no soldier shall, in time of peace, be quartered in any house without the consent of the owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law” (Amendment iii); that “the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated ...”  (Amendment iv); that “no persons shall be ... deprived of life, liberty or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use without just compensation” (Amendment V. See also Chapter xiv, p. 207).  The Constitution also provides that “no state shall ... pass any ... law impairing the obligation of contracts” (Art.  I, sec. 10, clause I), and in various other ways protects our property rights.  Our state constitutions contain many similar provisions.  Our governments have the power to take property in the form of taxes, but under certain restrictions imposed by our constitutions to safeguard the rights of the people (see Chapter XXIII).