The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1894-08-02
JUDGE BAKERS SWEEPING De
CISION.

ClSlON.
Judge Baker of the United State
court at indianapolis, Ind, went LITTLE
too tar, we think, in his decision tina
any solicitation by organized workmer
TO Others to leave work abandoned by
them is a violation Of law. He says
'If in the night time some highway
man should step up and say, please
give me your purse. will thank you
to do it, Notwithstanding the pc
likeness Of his language / should I'M
derstand it az threat. And so when
a member of strike committee with
an angry mob behind him of strikers
clothed with authority should say to
some other man in the employ OF the
road, don't you think you ought to
come outY the court understands it as
threat"
Undoubtedly it is threat, If the
member of the striking committee has
ian angry mob behind him, but un-
less he has that mob behind him and
makes the threat, Judge Baker goes
too far in forcing a construction upon
the language when no threat is made.
Again, Judge Bakers illustration
is bad. He has no right to compare or
put in the same shoes an honest work.
man and a highwayman. If one met a
highwayman in the night time and he
demanded his money in the most pc
lite language threat or even violence
may be inferred and feared, but that
would be because the demand was
made oy highwaymap, known rob"
Der, or if not known, justly inferred
robber, but if one met beggar on the
street and was asked by the mendi-
cant for money it could not be in
ferred that he threatened violence.
Neither if one workman went to al
other and tried to persuade him not to
work for the wages he was getting
could any threat of violence be in"
ferred. If Judge Bakers entire deci-
sion was based upon the fact that
violence was inferred from the pres
ence of the angry mob fol-
lowing, ( it would be all right,
but the principle he decided is
that all persuasion by strikers is to be
construed into the overt act of a
TIN eat of violence.
Such law as that would be as ty'
rannical as that of the laws of Draco,
and might be taken advantage of by
partizan Judge to deprive free
men of their right to convince their
fellow workingmen that they were
acting against their own Interests and
the Interests of all workingtNeh by &C.
6eptiDg low wages. We believe every
worklngman, whether he be union
man or "scab, has a right to do any
work he chooses to do, that is legal
and be protected by the whole army
and navy of the United States, il
necessary, but unless his fellow work,
man, in trying to induce him not tc
do it, commit some overt act by
threat or violence, that he is free
from the clutches of the law. Judge
Baker goes farther and exhibits hi
fanaticism by declaring that all strik
ers mean violence. We are as mucf
opposed to violence and mob law a
the president of the United States, bu
we believe it is we'll settled princi
pie of law that men may or
ganize as laborers to protec
themselves and arrange peaeeabl.
their own interest, and use all the ar
gnments they can command if they re
frain from violence, but Judge Bake
overrules all this line of decisions b,
boldly taking the ground that it is
contempt of court for any body G
men to strike and interfere with an
body of men by denouncing them a
scabs. Judge Baker will have to hol
in his horns a little else he will gore t
death some of the inaiienable rights {
men,