Chicago eagle. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1889-19??, 1901-10-26
kOHLSAA1'S DECISION.

There is no doubt that the decision
recently rendered 10y Judge e. G. Kohl
saat in the injunction proceedings arts
ing ont of the Chalmers machinist
strike was framed In such severe terms
and uumeasurcd language as to Oh
scurc. in some degree at least. the vital
questions and principles involved. and
the is>ues actually at stake In the par
iCular ease at bar.
The Eagle is now and has always
been an admircr of Judge Kohlsaat
1t regards him a> one of the hest and
cl,arc>t headed iuriStS on the bench in
thIs country hut. of course. being hu.
uau. he Is not beyond the possibility
of error
The Use of the terms "civil war" aud
"trrdSou" in delivering the decision
wherein he enioined "pickcting" IN the
course uf the strike In question was. In
the Judgment of this paper uuwisc.
Some of the reasoning in the body of
this same decision was logical and in
many ways admirable. hut we must
confess that in our opinion the resort
To- the harsh and. we believe. uncallcd
tor rpithrtS referred To does much to
mar the entire pronOuncemcut and de-
prive ii of it, force
The Eagle desires further to add that
II does not clearly see the line of rea.
soning 10y which under any crcum-
stances civil war and treason can he
held to he necessarily identical.
Judge kOhlsaat should remember.
too. that civil war. even when II literal
~ and technically arose from treason
has been wagcd in the cause of Justice
virtue and human progress.
The French Revolution was Civil
War. and though accompanied 10y
many excuses and atrocities. neverthe
less destroyed the Bastile and swept
away forever from the fair land of tn,
lily institutions us rotten as they wer,
moldy with age. as .damnably grinding
degrading and demoralizing to tn,
MASSES Of the plain people rs the,
were gilt on the outside with the tinse
Of authority. covered by the veneer o
what was then called law. AMI on
forced by the precept and the prece
dent of even royalty itself
The treason of Cromwell effected ~
forms In England. even If 1t did pro
the British possessions. and The treason
of George Washington made II possibl,
for United States Judges to dlspens,
Justice from Federal court benches II
this country to-day
IL Is only when one pausrs to wcigl
the intrinsic and comparative value %
words. phrases aud epithcts that on,
realizes how much better 1t is to dea
IN eases such rs that under discussion
simply In plain facts. and to use onl,
such language a> may he necessary II
so doing.
Ii j. only then how fully one under
stands that individual eases Of thl
kind should he treated on their owl
merits. that they should he handled II
the concrete and not In the abstract
and that Il judge In being called upol
to- render II decision In n matter sue
~ this particular injunction proceed
Ing. had far better pass upon the sin
pie specific questions ami facts In issu,
rather than to undertake to deal 4
gcncralitlos.
IL l. just here. we believe. Judg
EOhlsant made his mistake. We hav
no doubt that In making the injunction
permanent his honor weighed CAREFUL
the evidence and came To a conscicil
iious conclusion In regard to the iues
lions involved In the Chalmers strike
AMI had he rendered that decision Will
ont accompanying 1t with any SWEEP
ing gcneralitles. II would not have stil
red ny anything like the commotio
which II has actually produced.