Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1907-12-07

| should all be strengthened wherever In
| ness; they should be kept on the statute
books in thoroughgoing form.
The constltutionality OF the employers'
liability act passed by the preceding con-
| gress has been carried before the courts.
In two jurisdictions the law has been
declared UNCONSTITUTIONAL, and In three
jurisdictions its consttutionaiity has
been affirmed. The question has bean
carried to the supreme court, the case
has been heard by that tribunal. and
decision Is expected at an early date.
In the event that the court should affirm
the constitutionality of the act | urge
further legislation along the lines advp-
Gated IN my message to the preceding
congress. The practice of putting the
entire burden OF loss to life or limb upon
the victim or the victims family Is n
form of social injustice in which the
United States stands in unenviable pronu-
nence. In both our federal and our state
legislation we have, with few exceptions.
scarcely gone farther than the repeal OF
ihe fellow-servant principle Of the old
law of liability, and in some OF our states
even this slight modification of a com
pletelY outgrown principle has not yet
been secured. The legislation of the rest
of the industrial world stands out In
striking contrast to our backwardness in
this respect.
The congress should consider the ex-
tension of the eight-hour law. The con-
sututionality of the present law has re-
sieht-Hour Law. into question. and
the supreme court
has decided that the existing legislation
Is unquestionably within the powers pf
tne congress. The principle of the eight
hour day should as rapidly and far as
practicable be extended to the entire
work carried on by the government, and
the present law should be amended to
embrace contracts on those public works
which the present wording of tho act
has been construed to exclude. The gem
eral introduction of the eight-hour day
should be the goal toward which We
should steadily tend, and the govern
ment should set the example in this re-
Spect.
Strikes and lockouts, with their attend
ant loss and suffering, continue to in
crease. For the i've years ending Dec.
81, 1900, the number
Compulsory investi- OF strikes was great
er than those in any
cation OF Industrial previous ten years
and was double tha
Disputes. number in the pre-
cedng five years.
These figures indicate the increasing need
Of providing some machinery to deal with
this class of disturbances I'm the interest
alike of the employer, the employe and
the general public. l renew my previous
recommendation that the congress favor
ably consider the matter OF creating the
machinery Tor compulsory investigation
of such industrial controversies as are
of sufficient magnitude and of sufficient
concern to the people of the country as
a whole to warrant the federal govern
ment in taking action
The need for some provision for such
investigation was fOrCibly illustrated dur
ing the past summer strike Of tele-
graph operators seriously intcrfercd with
Geographic communication. causing great
damage to business interests and serious
inconvenience TO the general public APP
peals were made 10 me from many parts
of the country, from city councils, from
boards of trade. from chambers of COM
merce, and from labor organizations
urging that steps be taken to terminate
Gf fgik ir,g hot ,tytfL
any propriety be done by a representa-
tive of the government was done, with
out avail, and for weeks the public stood
by and suffered without recourse of any
kind Had the machinery existed and
had there been authority for compulsory
investigation of the dispute, the public
would have been placed in possession of
the merits of the controversy, and public
opinion would probably have brought
about prompt adjustment.
II is certain that for some time 10 como
there will be constant increase abso-
lutely, and perhaps relatively, of those
amopg our citizens
Capital ard Labor. who owen in cities
size and who work for wages. rms
means that there Will be an ever-increas-
ing need TO consider the problems in
serarabie from great industrial civtii-
cation The relations of the capitalist
and wage-worlIer TO one another. and OF
each to the general public, are not always
easy TO adjust: and to put them and keep
them on a satisfactory basis is one Of the
most important and one of the most deli
cate tasks before our whole civilization.
1t is idle to hold that without good laws
evils such as child labor, as the over
working of women, as the failure to pro-
tect employees from loss of life or limb.
can be effectively reached, any more than
the evils or rebates and stock watering
can be reached without good laws. To
fail TO stop these practices by legislation
means to force honest men into them.
because otherwise the dishonest who
surely will take advantac Z them will
have everything their uW ny. n the
states will correct these rs, well and
good; but the nation mual land ready to
aid them
No question growing out of our rapid
and complex industrial development is
more important than that Of the employ
ment of women and children The pres
ence of women IN industry reacts with
extreme directness upon the character of
the home and upon family life, and the
conditions surrounding the employment
OF children bear a vital relation to our
future citizenship. The national govern
ment has az an ultimate resort for con-
troll of child labor the use of the inter
state commerce clause to prevent the
products of child lator from entering into
interstate commerce. Bat before using
this IL ought certainly to enact model
under It's own immediate control
There is one fundamental proposition
which can be laid down as regards all
these matters. namely. While honesty by
itself Will not solve the problem, vet the
insistence upon honesty-not merely tech
nical honesty. but honesty In purpose and
Spirits an essential element la arriving
at a right conclusion Vice ia its cruder
and more archaic forms shocks every
body; but there is very urgent need that
public opinion should be Just as severe
In condemnation OF the vice which hides
itself behind class or professional loyal
ty, or which denies that IL is vice IL II
can escape conviction "a the courts. The
public and the representatives OF the
public. the high officials whether on the
tions. need To remember that often the
most dangerous criminals. so far as the
life of the nation is concerned are not
those who commit the crimes known to
and condemned by the popular conscience
for centuries. but those who commit
crimes only rendered possible by the
complex conditions of our modern in
dustrial life. 1t makes not a particle of
difference whether these crimes are conn
mitted bv capitalist or nv n lahorpr by
a leading banker or manufacturer or rail-
road man. or by leading representative
or labor union Swindling in stocks.
corrupting legislatures, making fortunes
bv the imitation of securities by wrecking
by destroying competitors
rebates-these forms of wrong
doing In the capithlst. are far more in
famous than any ordinary form OF en-
bezzlement or forgery: yet Ii is a matter
of extreme difficulty to secure the pun-
ishment of the man most guilty of them
most responsible for them. The business
man who condones such conduct stands
on level with the labor man who de-
supports corrupt demagogue
and agltator. whether head of Il union or
head OF some municipality. because he Is
said to have stood by the union" Tho
members OF the buslsess community. tho
ClerpVmpn Who cnnJopa