The Harrison times., 1908-12-12
should be erected against It's abuse.

stra!ning order issue otherwise than on |
notice, except where irreparable injury |
would otherwise result; and in such case |
a hearing on the merits Of the order |
should be had within a short fixed pc |
riod, and, If not then continued after |
hearing it should forthwith lapse, De- |
cisions should be rendered Immediately, |
and the chance of delay minimized in |
every way. Moreover l believe that the |
procedure should be sharply defined, and |
the judge required minutely to state the |
particulars both of his action and of his |
reasons therefor, so that the congress !
can If it desires examine and investigate |
the same
For many of the shortcomings OF !
justice in our country our people as a |
whole are themselves to blame, and the |
judges and juries merely bear their |
share together with the public as a
whole. 1t is discreditable to us as a
people that there should be difficulty in
convicting murderers, or in bringing to
justice men who as public servants |
have been guilty of corruption, or who |
have prohted by the corruption of |
public servants The result is equally |
unfortunate, whether due to hairsplit-
ting technicalites in the Interpretation |
of law by judges, to sentlmentality and |
class consciousness on the part of |
ism in the daily press. For much of |
this failure of justice no responsibility |
whatever lies on rich men as such. We |
who make up the mass of the people |
cannot shift the responsibility from our |
own shoulders But there is an impor- |
tant part of the failure which has spe- |
cial!y to do with inability to hold |
to proper account men of wealth who |
behave badly.
The Modern Corporation.
The huge wealth that has been accu
mulated by a few individuals of recent |
years, in what has amounted to a So
cial and industrial revolution, has been |
as regards some of these individuals |
made possible only by the improper use |
of the modern corporation. A certain |
type OF modern corporation with its
officers and agents, its many issues of |
securities, and its constant consolida-
tiOn with allied undertakings, finally |
becomes an instrument so complex as |
to contain a greater number of ele-
ments that, under various judicial de-
csions, lend themselves to fraud and |
oppression than any device yet evolved |
in the human brain. Corporations are
necessary instruments of modern busi-
ness. They have been permitted to
become a menace largely BECAUSE the
-
people have worked slowly in provd-
ing for adequate control over them.
Our great clusters of corpora
tions huge trusts and fabulously
wealthy multimillionaires, employ the
very best lawyers they can obtain to
pick flaws in statutes after their
passage; but they also employ class
of secret agents who seek, under the
advice Of experts, to render hostile
,1o 1Nr, 1yi
constitutional often through the inser-
tion Of what appear on their face to be
drastic and sweeping provisions against
the interests of the parties inspiring
them; while the demagogues, the cor
rupt creatures who introduce black
mailing schemes to strike" corpora
tions, and all who demand extreme.
and undesrably radical, measures,
show themselves to be the worst enc
mics of the very public whose loud
mouthed champions they profess to be.
Real damage has been done by the
manifold and conflicting interpretations
on the interstate commerce law. Con-
troll over the great corporations doing
interstate business can be effective only
if it is vested with full power in an
administrative department, a branch of
the federal executive, carrying out a
federal law; it can never be effective IL
divided responsibility Is left in both
the states and the nation; 1t can never
be effective If left in the hands of the
courts to be decided by lawsuits.
Respect for Law Must Be Upheld.
The courts hold a place Of peculiar and
deserved sanctty under our form Of gov
ernment. Respect for the law is essen
tial to the permanence Of our institu-
tons; and respect for the law Is largely
conditioned upon respect for the courts
1t is an offense against the republic to
say anything which can weaken this re-
spect, save for the gravest reason and in
the most carefully guarded manner. In no
other nation in the world do the courts
WELD such vast and far-reachng power
as in the United States. All that Is nee
essary is that the courts as whole
should exercise this power with the far
sighted wisdom already shown by those
judges who sean the future while they
act in the present. Let them exercise
this great power not only honestly and
bravely. but with wise insight into the
needs and fixed purposes of the people,
50 that they may do justice, and work
equity, so that they may protect all per-
sons in their rights, and yet break down
the barriers Of privilege, which Is the foe
of right
Forest Preservation.
If there is any one duty which more
than another we owe It to our children
30 perfoIm at once, 1t is to save the for
este of this country for they constitute
the first and most important element in
the conservation Of the natural re-
sources Of the country Just as
farmer, after all his life making his
living from his farm will If he is an eX-
pert farmer. leave II as an asset OF in
creased value to his son, so we should
leave our national domain to our chill
dren, increased in value and not worn
out There are small sections of our own
country, in the east and in the west in
the Adirondacks, the White mountains
and the Appalachians, and in the Rocky
mountains, where we can already see for
ourselves the damage In the shape of
permanent injury to the sell and the
river systems which comes from reckless
doforestation, 1t matters not whether
this deforestation is due to the actual
reckless cutting Of timber, to the fires
that inevitably follow such reckless cut
ting OF timber, or to reckless and uncon-
trolled grazing especially by the great
migratory bands Of sheep, the un-
checked wandering Of which over the
country means destruction to forests and
disaster TO the small home makers, the
settlers of limited means,
Thanks to our own recklessness
In the use of our splendid forests,
we have already crossed the verge of