Ladysmith news-budget. [volume] (Ladysmith, Rusk County, Wis.) 1907-1927, 1908-12-10

so as to make it far safer than at
present for the man Of small means to
invest his money in stocks. There
| must be prohibition of child labor;
stock watering should be prohibited
and stock gambling so far as possible
| discouraged. There should be a pro-
| gressive inheritance tax on large for
tunes. Industrial education should be
/ encouraged. AS far as possible we
| should tighten the burden Of taxation
on the small man. We should put q
| premium on thrift, hard work and
business energy. 1t is eminently right
! that the nation should fix the terms
| upon which the great fortunes are in
herited. They rarely do good and
they often do harm to those who in
| herit them in their entirety. The
| above is the merest sketch, hardly even
sketch in outline, of the reforms for
which we should work. But there is
one matter with which congress should
| deal at this session. There should no
! longer be any paltering with the ques-
ton of taking care of the wage work
| erS who, under our present industrial
| system, become killed, crippled or worn
| out as part of the regular incidents of
given business. The majority Of
wage workers must have their rights
secured for them by state action; but
the national government should legis-
late in thorOughgoing and farreaCh-
ing fashion not only for all employees
Of the national government, but for all
persons engaged in interstate COM
merce. The object sought for could
be achieved to q measurable degree, as
far as those killed or crippled are con-
cerned, by proper employers liability
! laws. AS far as concerns those who
have been worn out, definite steps
toward providing old-age pensions
have been taken in many Of our pri-
vate industries. TO strengthen these
practical measures should be our i'm
mediate duty. When a workman is
| injured what he needs is not an ex-
pensive and doubtful lawsuit, but the
certainty of relief through immediate
administrative action.
The law passed at the last session of
congress granting compensation to GER
tain classes Of employees of the gov
eminent should be extended to include
all employees of the government and
should be made more liberal in it's
terms. Congress should without
further delay pass a model employ
ers' liability law for the District Of
Columbia.
The president recommends that the
principle of the eight-hour day should
as rapidly and as far as practicable be
extended to the entire work being car
ried on by the government.
The president urges upon congress
the duty of increasing the salaries now
given our judges. Beginning
courts. with the supreme court, he
says, the judges should have
their salaries doubled.
1t is earnestly to be desired that
some method should be devised for
doing away with the long delays which
now obtain in the administration of
justice, and which operate with pc
cullar severity against persons Of
small means, and favor only the very
criminals whom it is most desirable
to punish. These long delays in the
final decisions of cases make in the
aggregate crying evil; and a remedy
should be devised.
Our judicial system is sound and eff
fective at core, and it remains, and
must be maintained, as the safeguard
of those principles of liberty and
justice which stand at the foundation
of American institutions. The presi-
dent thinks there is ground for the
belief that substantial injustice is
often suffered by employees in conse-
quence Of the custom OF the courts is
suing temporary injunctions without
notice to them, and furnishing for con-
tempt of court in instances where, as
q matter of fact, they have no
knowledge of any proceedings. There
is a widespread feeling that this sys-
tenn often works great injustice to
WageWorkers when their efforts to
better their working condition result
in industrial disputes. A temporary
injunction procured ex parte may as
a matter of fact have all the effect of
permanent injunction in causing
disaster to the WagewOrker's 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 unwisely expressed, and
often improperly expressed, but there
is a sound basis for it, and the order
ly and law-abiding people of q COM
munity would be in a far stronger
position for upholding the courts if the
undoubtedly existing abuses could be
provided against.
Such proposals as advocated by
some of the extreme labor leaders
contain the vital error of being class
legislation of the most offensive kind.
and even if enacted into law would
rightly be declared unconstitutional.
The power of injunction is great
equitable remedy, which should on no
account be destroyed. But safeguards
should be erected against It's abuse
Provision should be made that no in
junction or restraining order issue
otherwise than on notice, except where
irreparable injury would otherwise
result; and in such Il case q hearing
on the merits of the order should be
had within a short fixed period and
if not then continued after hearing 1t
should forthwith lapse. Decisions
should be rendered Immediately, and
the chance of delay minimized in
every way.
If there is any one duty which more
than another we owe it to our chill
dren and our children's
Forests. children to perform at once,
it IS to save the forests of
this country, for they constitute the
first and most important element in
the conservation of the natural re-
sources of the country. Thanks to our
| own recklesSneSS in the use Of our
| splendid forests, we have already
crossed the verge of a timber famine
in this country, and no measures that
we now take can, at least for many
years, undo the mischief being done;
and it would be in the highest degree
reprehensible to let any consideration
| OF temporary convenience Or tempo
rary cost interfere with such action,
| especially as regards the national
| forests which the nation can now, at
this very moment, control.
| Nothing should be permitted to
| stand In the way Of the preservation
VI TIE forests, ana II Is criminal to
permit individuals to purchase a little
gain for themselves through the de-
struction of forests when this destruc-
ton Is fatal to the wellbeing of the
whole country in the future.
Action should be begun forthwith
/ during the present session of congress
for the Improvement
Inland of our inland water
| Waterways. ways-action which
will result in giving
us not only navigable but navigated
rivers. We have spent hundreds of