The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-09-13
HAS LEARNED soMETH1NG.

HAS LEARNED SOMETHING.
Less than month ago the Pioneer
Press, following the lead of its want
of sympathy with the people, was en-
gagged in lauding the federal courts for
issuing injunctions against the strikers,
and in berating those who saw farther
than it into the necessary ultimate con-
sequences of this stretch and abuse OF
judicial power We quote from an edl-
torial in its issue of Aug. Is:
There is a very conspicuous. element Oh
indiscretion, to say the least In the not
headed haste with which a number OF news
papers have been falling foul Of the re
straining order issued by Judge Jackson.
of the United States district court. y
Accounting this version of the restraining OF
der and echoing the invectives with when
| it is assailed by Debs Gompers and the IKE,
some newspapers that ought to Know oe1-
ter have gone off at haf-cock IN their hea az
long and incorporate denunclation or the
action of the court The injunction
issued by Judge Jackson is strictly within
the legitimate jurisdiction OF the court anu
does not in the most remote degree violate
the rights of free speech or OF pubic as
semblage within the lawful limits OF pace
| and character universally reccgn1zed as an
| essential part of those rights.
Pleased with the congratulations OF
those who assert the sacredness of cor
porate right above all other earthly
possessions, and above human life 1t
self, it returned to the attack four days
| later. We quote from an editorial IN
the Pioneer Press of Aug. IS:
! We had occasion the other Gay to call the
! attention of the newspapers which had tax,
en- their cue from DebS and Gompers ana
| off at ba1f-r0ck violent ana 1nlGul-
/ perate denunciation of the restraining ofder
| of Judge Jackson addressed to some OF the
! striking miners in West Virginia, to the
fact that they had entirely misconcelVed the
| nature of this writ OF 1nJunctloh. IT
| It is noticeable that the newspapers whlcn
| made so much ado about the injunction are
| not equally honest Instead of acknowledge
| ing that they were in error they take refuge
| in silence, which is at least coniesslon
! that they are ashamed OF themselves.
The days rolled around, and govern
ment by injunction did its perfect
work By virtue Of an injunction,
twenty-one men were shot down in cold
blood. and two score more were serl-
] ously injured. A consciousness of the
| wrath that would blaze up in every
honest breast came at last to touch
with momentary power of vision the
blinded eyes, and we find the follow
| ing editorial comment in the Pioneer
Press of Sept. u:
| The only thing which differentiates the
| killing of these miners from ooWnflSt lnud
der is the fact that Martin and MS oeputIes
| thought they were carrying out the ORDERS
| of the Judge who issued the injunction against
the miners marching on the pubic ToauS.
! Such a use of the power OF the courts 70
| restrain disordery persons from the COM
mission of criminal acts is an unfortunate
i abuse of that power which VIII be most
! strongly condemned by those who appreciate
the vital Importance of UNFOLDING the legltl-
1 mate exercise of that power by the courts.
Such a stretch of the restraining
! mower of the courts as it has been sought
to apply in the Pennsylvania case. IN advance
of actual wrong-doing, and where adequate
punishment for any contemplated wrong
doing is already provided by statute, IS some
thing American freemen cannot stomach h n
i And when for the enforcement OF such an
! order more cruel and vindictive measures
are called into play than for the enforce
ment of any enacted by the peoples repre-,
sentatives-When murGererS, robbers and
.rapists are given the benefit of the SLOW
process of trial By jury, while men wa k ng
along a public highway in cisobed-ence to
an Injunction are shot down by scoreS-ll
is time to call for a radical change.
We are glad to see that the Pioneer
Press is capable of learning something,
even if it takes the slaughter of a score
! of men to. educate it. 1t is necessary
only to say that this ord of the process
of government by injunction was inev-
liable and visible from the beginning.
There was not only in the Pennsylvania
Injunction, but in that Of Judge Jack
sor. as well, the promise and potency
of the wholesale murder that was COM
mitted by Martin and his deputies. 1t
is time for every American to under
stand that our liberties are like the
ark of the covenant; no man may lay
hold of them with profane hands and
not invite the lightning's bolt. The
pity of it is that blindness and preJu-
dice should make a lesson as plain
as this was, from the first line of it,
effective only when it has been written
in blood.