Weekly Arizona journal-miner., 1906-12-12
PRESIDENTS MESSAGE
 TO CONGRESS READ

IrcSidcnt < annual mrSsag" 70 Congress occupied thc attention of the Senate for two and one half hours today, to the exclusion of all other business.
 large number of the members fol. lowed closely the reading of the mes. sage and the crowded galleries gave it close consideration.
 Hearty applause from the Democrats ss well as Republicans followed it's reading
 Lacey of iowa acted as Speaker pro tenn, being the first of the defeated stand pattcrs to bc rcorganzcd by Can son.
 The House adjourned until tomorrow afternoon at 2:iO o'clock. after adopt ing n resolution regarding the members of the House who had died since the last session.
 A brief synopsis of the more i'm, or. tant features of the President x mes sage follows:
 AS nation we still continue to enjoy q frerally unprecedented prosperity. and U K probable that only reckless specu- lation and disregard of iegtimat" bust cess methods on the part of the business world can materially mar this prosper
 No Congress in our time has done more good work of importance than the matters left unfinished at your last ses- don. however. whk,h 1 most earnestly Rope you will complete before your ad-
 CORPORATION CAMPAIGN CON- ..
 TRiBrTiONS
 again recommend a law prohibiting all corporations contributing to the cam pnlxn expenses of any party. Such hili has already passed one IIotsc of Congress. Let individuals contribute as they desire; but let us prohibit in ef- u, ,ecsiyo fashion ali corporations from purpose. directly or indirectly.
 GDvERNMENi RIGHT OF APPEAL
 IN CRIMINAL CASES
 Another bill which has Just passed one House of the Congress and which it is urgently necessary should he enacted in- to law ts that couferring upon the Gov ernment the right of appeal in criminal cases on questions of law. This right exists in many of the states: it exists in the District of Columbia by act of the Congress- lt is of course not pro- posed that in any case verdict for the defendant on the merits should be set aside. Recently in one district where persons for consanracy In connection wrh rebates, the court sustained the de- icndants demurrer. while tn another jur- tsiiction an indictme for oonspIraey %9 obtain rebates has been sustained by the court. convictions obtained under it. sni two defendants sentenced to im- prtsonment The two cases referred to may not be in real conflict with each other. but it Is unfortunate that there should even be m apparent conflict Al present there Is no way iu which the ~sov.rnms"f can cause such conflict. when it occurs. to be solved by an ap- peal to a higher court: and the wheels of justice are blocked without any real decision of the question. 1 can not too question. A failure 10 pass it will result tn seriously hampering the Government In hs enort to obtain justice. especially against wsalthy individuals or corpora uons who do wrong and may also pre- vent the Government from obtaining jus- uce for wageworkers wno are not them selves .ele effectively to contest a case where the judgment of an inferior court has been against them. have specific ally In view a recent decision by Dis srict Judge leaving railway employees tain so-called labor statute. It seems an nbsurdty to permit single Dis trict Judge. against what may be the Judgment of the immense majority of his coiIeagues on the bench, to declare c law sofemnly ena ted by tho Congress "a be "'u"constltutional." and then to deny to the Government the right to have the Supreme Court definitely decide the qus- ton.
 The importance of enac,ing into law the particular tdll in question Is further increased by the fact that the Govern fnent has now definitely begun n policy of resorting to the criminal law in those trust and interstate commerce cases -aerc sp:h 9 course offers reasonable SETTING ASIDE OF JUDGMENTS
 AND GRANTING OF NEW TRIALS
 In connection with this matter, 1 would like io call attention to the very unsat- ssfactory state of our criminal law, re- sultlng in large part from the habit of setting aside the judgments of inferior courts on technicalities absolutely un- connected with the merits of the case, and where there K attempt tD show that there has been any failure of sub stantiul justice. lt would be well to enac, law providing something Co the No judgment shall be set aside ar new triai granted in any cause, civil or crim- innl, on the ground of misdirectlon of the Jury or the improper admission or rejection of evidence, or for errors as to any matter of pleading or procedure un- less. in the opinion of the court to which the application is made, after an exam lnation of the entire cause, tt shall af- hrmatlvely appear that tho error com plaincd of has resulted In tho miscar-
 iNJuNcTIoNs. In my laH message ! suggested the enactment of a law in connection with the issuance of inlunctions, attention having been sharply drawn to The mat ter by the demand that the right oi applylns inJnn"tions in labor cases should he wholly abolished. It is ut least doubtful whether n law abolishing altogether the use of iniunctions in such eases would stand the test of the courts In which case of course the legislation would be ineffective. Moreover 1 be. iieve it you'd he wrong altogether to prohibit the use of injunctions. IL is criminal to permit sympathy for crim. inals to weaken our hands in uphoding the law and 1T men seek to destroy life or property ny mob violence there should he m impairment of the power of the courts to deal with them fin the most summary and effective way possible bu, 70 far as possible the abuse of the power shOnd he provided against by some such law as l advocated last year
 In this matter of intinctions there Is lodged in The hands of the judiciary a necessary power which is neVerthe subject to the possibility of grave abuse It ls power that should be exercised with extreme care and should he subject 10 th" jealous scrutiny of all men. and condemnation should he mcted out ns much to the judge who fails to use it