Rocky Ford enterprise., 1899-07-20

The decision by the thrrc lulsrs was
unanimous against the now celebrated
labor measure which was law ON III.
statute books "a little NOR. than
month and which by the courts act
erased as law and made null and void.
No opinion stating the reasons ac-
eompanied the announcement OF the
decision. The court. by its chief jus
tic-. Said that IL had been hurried by
the exiscncies OF the ease To declare
its opinion before IL was ready TO
state its reasons. but that thes. would
be promulgated In due time-at the con
vcnI.ncc OF the Judges composing the
high court.
After some routine business had
been attended 20. n pause came and
Chief Justice Campbell glanced NJ his
auditors rs though commanding extra
silence. Hc was given all the ati.n.
ton desired. He ANNOUNCED:
In the matter OF ens.s ioG5 and
toSI.
An original application In each OF tho
above cniitiei causes was made In this
court for writ OF hnbcls corpus. al
lcsing that the petitioner was Illegally
committed by an order Of n justice OF
the pcacr. and Hereunder was unlaw-
fully restrained OF his liberty by the
sheriff. upon the charge. In the one
ease. that III. petitioner. ns the agent
OF an employer. had hired n person to
work In smclt.r: and. In the other
case. that the petitioner. ns the one No
employed. had engaged TO work
therein. and that the contract OF en-
ploymcnt was In violation OF and pro-
hiblicl by the provisions OF nn net
passed by the last general assembly
dxlt .t..t.S Ia. Slz..N %
days labor In smcitcrs and under
ground mines. In each case the writ
is based. nnd discharge from tho Gus.
tody OF the sheriff II asked. upon the
ground that the act In question is un-
constitutional.
''in view of the fact that controvcr-
sics over the validity OF the act had
caused. or contributed TO cause. n ccs-
sation OF work In some OF the smclicrs.
and possibly In some OF the mines In
the state. we recognize the Importance
OF ns speedy n determination ns could
be reached consistent with u careful
examination OF the cause on Its mcr-
Its. We are nimonishcd, also. that un.
I'll the decision Is announced. no per
mnncnt arrangements can probably be
made between the employees and the
employers looking TO n resumption OF
work: and TO the end. so far rs u II
within our power. TO remove any pos.
siblc obstacle to such an arrangement.
as well as TO determine the validity of
the act Itself. We have concluded to
announce the decision now and hand
down the opinion later. In which our
reasons for the conclusion reached will
be fully given. This course Is neccs-
Stated by the fact that. before these
applications were fled. number OF
important causes. some OF which in.
volved the administration OF the Grim
innl law In our nlsi prius courts. were
then pending and under consideration.
the decision OF which before adjourn
mcnt Of the present term seemed i'm
pcrat!vc. Finding. therefore. in the
state Of business before us. that Il
would be impossible TO formulate the
opinion prior to the announcement OF
the decision, It was. contrary to our
own preference. and much to our own
nconvenience-which OF course. we
waive-decided to announce the result
Of our deliberations in advance Of H.
ing IN opinion, which, ns matter OF
course, In any cause ought to be pre-
pared with n degree OF care commen-
surnte with its Importance.
since oral argument Of counsel. we
have given an attentive examination
to the briefs Of counsel. to the many
authorities cited by them. and to 9TH
ers which our own Investigations have
led us. Each member Of the court has
made an Independent Investigation for
himself. and after so doing we have
had frequent consultations. nccompa-
MED by extended discussions OF the i'm
portant questions involved. After n
most careful and earnest considera-
n Nf AhT l..
reached the conclusion that the So
called eight-hour law under which the
criminal charges against the petition
ers were brought, is wholly unconstltu.
tional and void.
The order. therefore. of the court is
that the petition in each case. be, and
the same Is hereby granted. and that
the petitioner therein be. and hereby
Is. discharged from further custody y
That was all. and the court immedi.
ately adjourned. No demonstration fol.
lowed. The laboring men looked ms
stolid MS the Judges themselves, but nc
one doubted that they felt dsappoint.
ment in their hearts. They quietly left
the court room, many saying: ",rha,
ends 1t. 1t is too bad"
A special to the Denver News from
Glenwood says Ex-Governor J. b
Grant and family arrived there Sun
day and registered at the Hotel Colo
rado. He said that the decisioi of the
court was no surprise to him. as he
did not see how it could be otherwise
decided than that the law was upcon
stitutional.
Asked as to whether the decision
could make any change in the offel
made by the American Smclter Com
pnny of 10 per cent advance. en-
swered most emphatically, mo, 4
would not" AS to the hours of labol
he would not say what would be done
Mr.. Grant stated that he had received
Il letter from Mr.. Nash. who was now
Mt Omaha, that he would be in Den
yer on "Wednesday and that matte,
would come up on his arrival
He was asked as to the percentn- .,
of men employed Mt the smeiters who
were directly affected by the eight
hour law. Hc said not over 8 per cent
of them, but indirectly over 5000 wer,