Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1908-12-11

J The whole country has cause to feel pr1da
! in this attitude of sturdy independence, , AZ
| This uncompromiSing inSiStence upon actIuS
| simply as good citizens, as good Amerlcans.
without regard to fancied-and improper
class interests. Such an attltuue IS an an on en-
! tire nation. ~, nov
But the extreme reactionaries; the per,
sons who blind themselves to the wrongs
| now and then committed by the courts Oh
/ laboring men, should also think serIousiy
as to what such movement as tnls pO
tends. The judges who nave SHOWN WI ehe
selves able and willing effectively to cnecR
| the dishonest activity of the very rlcn Inan
who works iniquity by the mlsmanagetihn ernt
| of corporations, who have SHOWN . r.nr
| selves alert to do justice to the Wagework-
err, and sympathetic with the neeH OF li nc
mass of our people, so that the oWeilG earo 80
| tees a dangerous trade the man VINO Is
crushed by excessive hours OF laoor, 1 thn
| that their needs are understood Dy 'n ~
courts-these judges are the real pul"d a ~ 0a
| the courts these judges, the judges OF Tue
stamp of the President-elect, VINO ha'e
been fearless in opposing laDor MnG Mold
i n,s ~ strict account corporate that work
| iniquity, and far-sighted in seeing t ma
| the workingman gets ms rights, az +bat
the aDpeal for such violent and mlstaken
legislation has fallen on deaf ears, that tne
| agitation for it's passage proved 70 pe ore
| ieoparded primarily by the actlon OF thG ;n
| federal and state judges who snow ~ ~
ability or unwill1ngness TO put non d S'u upder
! modern industrial conditions, and lnaplllI!
| or unwillingness to give relief TO on, men op 20
small means or W wage GnndaSn Industrial
conditions: who, in other words, ran ~. ~
understand and apply the needed remeu a5I,
for the nb new c0 Mp0hgs Social and
| civilization which has grown up III 'no
| last half century. Ito, a in
The rapid changes in our social ana III
dustrial life which have attended TINS ray,
id growth have made it necessary thal, ~
applying to concrete cases the great rue ,u'
| ton, there should be fuN unu tio
| standing and appreciation OF lno
new conditions to which the rules are ~, 70
be applied. What would have been an III,
! fringement upon liberty half century ago
NAV be the necessary safeguard OF liberty
today What would have been an injury TO
! property then may be necessary to the en-,
joyment of property now. Every judicial Ltdl
| decision involves two terms-one an inter
probation of the law; the other the IN
derstanding of the facts to which 1t IS 70
be applied. The great mass Of our judicial
| officers are I believe alive to these changes
of conditions which so materially anect 5ne
| performance of their judicial duties: our
judicial system is sound and effective at
CORE and it remains, and must ever De
| maintained, as the safeguard Of those prln,
cipes Of liberty and justice which stand
for as Burke finely said, when liberty ana
Justice are separated, neither is safe.
| There
judicial body who have Jagged behind IN
their understanding of these great ana W.
tai changes in the body polite, whose
minds have meyer been openea TO the nem
I necessary by the new conditions. Judges
of this stamp do lasting harm by their de-
cisions, because they convince poor men
in need Of protection that the courts of the
| land are profoundly ignorant OF and out Of
sympathy with their needs. and profoundly
| Indifferent or hostile to any proposed rem
/
| ery to have any court decide against them
on the ground that it desires to preserve
'1iberty'' in a purely technical form, by
Withholding liberty in any real and con
structve sense. 1t is desirable that the
legislative body should possess, and wher-
ever necessary exercise, the power to de-
| ers and employees are not on an equal 100
ing so that the necessities of the lat
compel them to submit to such exactlons
as to hours and conditions of labor as I'M
duly to tax their strength; and only mis-
| chief can result when such determination
is upset on the ground that there must be
| no interference with the liberty to con-
tract often a merely academic liberty,
the exercise of which is the negatlon OF
real liberty.
courts which have been exceedingly detri-
mental to the rights of wageworkers; This
is true of all the decisions that decide that
| guaranteed their liberty" to contract to
enter a dangerous occupation, or to work
an undesirable or improper number OF
| hours, or to work in unhealthy surround
! ings; and therefore cannot recover dam
ages when MANNED in that occupation, and
can not be forbidden to work what the
number of hours, or to carry on the work
under conditions which the Legislature de-
cides to be unhealthy. The most dangerous
occupations are often the poorest paid and
| those where the hours of work are longest;
| and in many cases those who go into them
are driven by necessity so great that they
l GA 1fcf,,,
such as those alluded to above nulify the
| legislative effort to protect the wagework-
ers who most need protection from those
grinding need. They halt or hamper the
movement for. securing better and more
equitable conditions Of labor. The talk
about preserving to the misery hunted be-
| ings who make contracts for such service
their liberty to make them, is either to
| speak in a spirit of heartless irony else
| to show an utter lack of knowledge of the
conditions of life among the great masses
| of our fellow -countrymen, lack which un,
fits a judge to do good service just as it
would unfit any executive or legislative
There is also / think, ground for the be-
| lief that substantial injustice is often suf-
| fered by employees in consequence of the
| custom of courts issuing temporary injunc-
ons without fo notice to them and punish
| where, as matter Of fact, they have no
knowledge of any proceedings: Outside of
| organized labor there is a widespread feel
| ing that this system often works great In
| justice to wageworkers when their efforts
| to better their working condition result in
industrial disputes. temporary injunction
procured ex parte may as a matter of fact
| have all the effect of permanent injunc
ton in causing disaster to the wagework-
ers' side in such a dispute. Organized labor
| is chatting under the unjust restraint which
| comes from repeated resort to this plan of
procedure. It's discomfort has been unwise-
~ expressed, and often improperly ex-
| pressed, but there Is a sound basis for it,
| and the orderly and law-abiding people of a
| community would be in a far stronger posi-
| ton for unfolding the courts If the un,
| doubtedly existing abuses could be provided
| against.
Such proposals as those mentioned above
as advocated by the extreme labor leaders,
lation of the most offensive kind, and even
If enacted into law I believe that. the law
would rightly be held unconstitutional.
| Moreover the labor people are themselves
now beginning to invoke the use of the
| noyzer of Injunction. During the last ten