The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1894-12-29
THE WEEKS NEWS.
TUESDAY, DECEMBER rs.

WERE an illustration necessary to
prove the phenomenal growth Of Chi
cago's population, the statistics collected
and youched for by the Board of Educa-
ton would supply the data, as is made
manifest by the comparison OF the pres
emit school rosters with those of last year
and of eight years ago. The total en-
rollment for the school year OF 1S93-lS94
was 1885, 1853, an increase of 18,463 over
that of the preceding twelve months.
The average daily membership was 49,
667. an increase of 1859, and the aver
age daily attendance was 139, 1872 an in
crease of 1928 equal to nearly IL per
cent. The number of children in Chi
cago under 81 years OF age at the re-
Gently completed school year was $4,000,
more than double the number in the
city in 1885, The number of children
between and q years of age was over
5000, more than double the return for
1888, and there are to-day Go buildings.
more than double the number owned by
the city and used for school purposes
eight years ago.
THE decision in the Debs case was
probably expected by his friends. Judge
Woods, of the United States court, finds
him guilty of contempt of court, and
sentences him to six months imprison-
ment in Jail. Other defendants are to
be imprisoned three months. The opin-
ion of Judge Woods is very long, and he
has evidently given considerable por-
ton of the time since the crime to
most careful examination of the law.
and previous court decisions The i'm
portant legal point on which there has
been doubt is the extent of the power OF
a court to punish for contempt in dis
obeying its injunction, and Judge Woods
enters exhaustively into this question.
He shows the necessity for injunctions-
and holds that the Injunction was valid
in this case. To wait until crime is
actually committed would, in many in,
stances, bring irreparable loss. Even in
cases of doubt, courts issue temporary
injunctions forbidding certain acts until
their legality can be ascertained. In
this case the defendants were charged
with engaging in conspiracy to hinder
and interrupt interstate commerce, and
the carriage of mails on railroads confer
ing in Chicago, in manner to constitute
within recognized definitions nuts
ance'." The Judge cites recognized de-
finitions of nuisance. 1t is something
which annoys or injuries the community
in general, and not some particular per-
son. His definition is:
"a public nuisance is violation of a public
right, either by a direct encToachment upon
public rights or property, or by doing some act
which tends to a common injury or by emitting,
to do some act which the common good requires
and which 1t is the duty of a person to do. and
the omission to do which results injulously to
the public"
The defendants were engaged in con-
spiracy to obstruct commerce in way
which annoyed and injured the com
munity in general. 1t was not neces-
sary to wait for specific acts. To have
suffered their arrest and trial by the
slow process of law would have worked
great injury to the community, since the
evil would have been done before the de-
PENDANTS could have been tried. An in
junction against certain illegal acts was.
therefore, the proper remedy for the
protection of society; and this iniunc-
ton must hold until dissolved. A court
must have power to enforce its iniunc-