11.Why Laws are Necessary.Without laws we could not live in any sort of comfort.In every community there are some people so selfish and vicious that they are always ready to injure others if they can.They are perfectly willing to steal，to destroy what they do not want，to injure or even to kill any one who arouses their anger.Even in countries where the laws are strict and well enforced there are such criminals.We often read in the newspapers of burglaries and arson and even of murder.But if there were no laws，no courts，and no police，we may be very sure that stealing and violence would be greatly multiplied.Everybody would have to protect himself as well as he could.But no one could do this sowell as is now done by the law.So that if we should be even for a short time without the protection of the law and government，everybody except criminals would be very glad to see it restored.
12.Of course，people who are in the habit of breaking the law，hoping that they may not be caught，would be very glad if there were no laws and no police.As the old rhyme runs：
“No man e’er felt the halter draw，
With good opinion of the law.”
But people who are not thieves have a very different opinion.
13.This is reason enough for having laws and officers to enforce them.There are many other reasons also，which need not be explained here.We often hear of “uncivilized”countries，and we call ours highly civilized.One of the most important differences between the two is that civilized countries are under a good system of laws，and that in them life and property are safe.If one should go to an uncivilized country，like some lands in Africa，he would have to be ready to defend both his life and his property with deadly weapons.He would be likely to carry a rifle and revolvers wherever he should go.But a merchant in an American city or village does not have to carry these weapons.That is because our country is a land of law，and Africa is not.
14.John C.Calhoun.John Cahlwell Calhoun was a great statesman of South Carolina.He was born in that state in 1782，and died in the city of Washington in 1850.For forty years he was active in public life，as representative in congress，senator，secretary of war，secretary of state，and vicepresident of the United States.He was one of the great orators of the senate when that body was distinguished for its ability.Calhoun，Clay，and Webster were its intellectual giants.The following extract is from one of his speeches：
The Necessity of Government
Society can no more exist without government，in some form or other，than man without society.The political，then，is man‘s natural state.It is the one for which his Creator formed him，into which he is impelled irresistibly，and the only one in Which his race can exist and all his faculties be fully developed.
It follows that even the worst form of government is better than anarchy；and that individual liberty or freedom must be subordinate to whatever power may be necessary to protect society against anarchy within or destruction without.
Just in proportion as a people are ignorant，stupid，debased，corrupt，exposed to violence within and dangers without，the power necessary for government to possess，in order to preserve society against anarchy and destruction，becomes greater and greater，and individual liberty less and less，until the lowest condition is reached，when absolute and despotic power becomes necessary on the part of the government，and individual liberty becomes extinct.
So，on the contrary，just as a people rise in the scale of intelligence，virtue，and patriotism，and the more perfectly they become acquainted with the nature of government，the ends for which it was ordered，and how it ought to be administered，the power necessary for government becomes less and less，and individual liberty greater and greater.