Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-10-02
CANNOT BREAK CONTRACTS
When Laborers Are Not at Liberty to
Strike.
They Must Not Quit without Cause
Interstate Commerce Act.

In the opinion of the court of appeals at
| Chicago yesterday. on Judge Jenkins ia
| nous injunction against striking, described
in the dispatches to yesterdays Star. the
| discussion went on to say. after The Stars
| report closed, that the Injunction against
/ employees so quitting as to cripple the prop
| erty, or prevent or hinder the operation Of
the road. was equivalent to a command by
the court that they should remain in active
employment Of the receivers, and perform
the service appropriate to their respective
positions until they could quit without Grip
pling the road. The time when they could
quit was not indicated by the order Of the
| court Under what circumstances" says
| the decision, may the employees of the re-
| ceivers Of right quit the service in which
| they are engaged? Much of the argument
of counsel was directed to this question.
| We shall not attempt to lay any rule ap-
| plicable to every case that may arise be-
| tween employer and employe. If an en-
ploye quits without cause and in violation
| of an express contract to serve for a stated
time. then his quitting would not be of
| right. But the vital question remains
| whether court Of equity will, under any
circumstances, by Injunction prevent one
individual from quitting the personal SER
| vice Of another.
| AN affirmative answer to This question
is not. we think. justified by any authority
| to which our attention has been called or of
which we are aware. 1t would be an in
| vasion of ones natural liberty to compel
! him to work for or remain in the personal
service of another. One who is placed in
| such restraint is in a condition of involun-
| tary servitude-a condition which the su-
preme law of the land declares shall not
exist anywhere within the jurisdiction of
| the United States"
The decision then went on to discuss
no hn fa hot h. s,,,a
| was a railway, with public duties to per-
| form, gave the court the right to restrain
| the men from quitting. The receivers, the
decision declares, had the right to make a
| new schedule of wages and offer it to the
| men, with the alternative of accepting II
or quitting the service. The men had the
right to accept or refuse, and to quit if they
| We're not willing to work for less wages.
| The court should have eliminated the words
and from so quitting the service of the re-
celVers, with or without notice, as TO Grip
| pie the property or prevent or hinder the
| operation of the road"
| But different considerations must con-
| troll, said Justice Harlan, lin respect to
the words in the same paragraph OF the in
| Junction and from combining and conspiring
to quit. with or without notice, the service
of said receivers with the object and intent
OF GRIPPING the property in their custody
or embarrassing the opera ton of the road.
| We have said that IL employees were unwill-
iTg to remain in the service for the COM
pensati prescribed for them by the re-
one on that account to withdraw from the
service
The decision discussed the right of en-
ployes to strike as follows: The general
inhibition upon combinations and conspira-
cies formed with the object and intent of
GRIPPING the property and embarrassing
the operation of the railroads must be con-
strued as referring only to acts of violence
intimidation and wrong. We do not in
terpret the words last above quoted as en-
pracing the case OF employees, who. being
dissatisfied with the proposed reduction Of
their wages. merely withdraw on that &C
count, singly OF by concerted action from
the service of the receivers. using neither
force or threats, persecution nor intimida-
nor any device to modest. hinder, alarm or
| interfere with others who take or desire to
| take their places.
| The Right to Combine.
| These employees having taken service
| with the company, and afterward with the
receivers. under a general contract Of en-
| ployment which did not limit the exercise
OF the right to quit the service, their peace
| full cooperation as the result of friendly
argument, persuasion or conference among
| themselves, IN asserting the right of each
and all to refuse further service under a
| schedule of reduced wages, would not have
| been illegal or criminal alIhogh they may
| have SO acted in the firm belief and ex-
| pectation that simultaneous quitting with
| out notice would temporarily Inconvenience
| the receivers and the public.
| III in good faith and peaceably they ex-
| ercise their right of quitting the service
| intending thereby only to better their con-
| dition by securing such wages as they deem
| just but not to injure or interfere with the
| nee action OF others, they cannot be legally
| Charged with the loss to the trust property
resulting from their cessation of work in
| consequence Of the refusal of the receivers
| to accede to the terms upon which they
were willing to remain in the service Such
| loss. under the circumstances stated
| would be incidental to the situation. and
| could not be attributed to employees exer-
| cisng lawful rights in orderly ways, or to
| the receivers. who In good faith and in
| fidelity to their trust, declared a reduction
In wages, and thereby caused dissatisfaction
amCng the employees and their withdrawal
| from the service
The opinion concluded by holding that the
| act OF Congress of July 2, 1890, known as
| the interstate commerce act. had no bearing
| on the question before the court. The order
| of Judge jenkins is reversed in part, and
| the cause is remanded with directions to
sustain the motion to strike out to the ex-
| tent indicated in the opinion.
Most Important Decision.
| The decision was considered by the law
| yers who packed the court room as one
of the most important opinions delivered in
| the United States In a decade. The au-
| dience which listened to the reading of
| the opinion was a most distinguished one
| EX-President Harrison and his partner Mr.
| ELAN. sat side by side well up toward the
| bench. After disposing of other cases in