The Hope pioneer. [volume] (Hope, N.D.) 1882-1964, 1908-12-10

A law may be unwise and Improper;
but 1t should not for these reasons be
declared unconstitutional by a strained
Interpretation. for the result Of such
action is to take away from the people
at large their sense Of responsibility
aid ultimately to destroy their capacity
for orderly self restraint and self gov
eminent. Under such a popular gov.
eminent as ours. founded IN the theory
that in the long run the will Of the
people is supreme. the ultimate safety
OF the n~tion can only rest In training
and guiding the people SO that what
they will shall be right and not In de-
vising means to defeat their will by
the technicalities Of strained construc-
ton.
People Sometimes to Blame.
Fol man, Of the shortcomings OF
justice In u country our people as a
whole are themselves to blame, and the
judges and juries merely Dear their
share together with the public as q
whole. 1t is discreditable to US as a
people that there should be difficulty in
Justice men who as public servants
have been guilty Of corruption. or who
have proited by the corruption Of
public servants. The result Is equally
unfortunate, whether due to hairsplit-
ting technicalities in the Interpretation
of law by judges. to s~entlmentality and
class consciousness on the part Of
1uries, or to hysteria and sensational
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 wnlch has spe-
cial:y to do with inability to hold
to nrnnar aCpN11nt. man nf wealth MIN
behave badly.
The chief breakdown is in dealing
with the new relations tina arise from
the mutualism. the interdependence Of
our time. Every new social relation
begets a new type Of wrongdoing-of
SIN. to use an ~old-fashioned word
and many years always elapse before
crime which can be effectively pun
ished at law. During the lifetime Of
the older men now alive the social re-
lations have changed far more rapidly
than in the preceding two centuries.
hhe immense growth Of corporations,
Of business done by associations. and
the extreme strain and pressure Of
modern life have produced conditions
which render the public confused as to
who its really dangerous foes are; and
among the public servants who have
not only haired this confusion, but BY
some OF their acts have increased It,
are certain Judges. Marked inefaciency
has been shown in dealing with corpor-
atoms and in re-settling the proper at
titude to be taken by tho public not
only towards corporations, but towards
labor. and towards the social questions
arising out Of the factory system, and
the eEormous growth Of u great
cities.
Corporations Of Huge Wealth.
The huge wealth that has been accu-
INFLATED by a few individuals Of recent
years.. in what has amounted to a so.
cial and Industrial revolution. has been
made possible only by the improper use
OF the modern corporation. A certain
type Of modern corporation. with its
officers and agents. its nan issues Of
securities. and its constant consolida-
ton with allied undertakings, finally
becomes an instrument SO complex as
to contain a greater number Of ele-
ments that. under various judicial de-
c!sions, lend themselves to fraud and
oppression h 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
governmental representatives of the
people have worked slowly in provid-
ing for adequate control over them.
The chief offender in any given case
may be an executive. a legislature, or a
Judge. Every executive head who ad-
vises violent. instead Of gradual, action.
or who advocates ill-considered and
sweeping measures Of reform (espe-
cially If they are tainted with vindic-
t%iveness. and disregard for the rights
Of the minority is particularly blame.
worthy. The several legislatures are
responsible for the fact that our laws
are often prepared with slovenly haste
and lcck Of consideration. Moreover,
they are often prepared. n still more
frequently amended during passage. at
the suggestion Of the very parties
against whom they are afterwards en-.
forced. Our great clusters OIL corpora.
lions. huge trusts and fabulously
wealthy multimillionaires. employ the
very best lawyers they can obtain to
pick flaws in these statutes after their
passage; but they also employ a class
Of secret agents who seek. under tho
advice of experts, to render hostile
legisla Lon tnnocuous by making 1t un-
constitutional. often through the inser-
ton 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
lions, and all who demand extreme,
and undesirably radical, measures,
show themselves to be the worst enc
mics of the very public whose loud
mouthed champions they profess to be.
A very striking illustration Of the con-
sequences Of carelessness in the prep
aration Of a statute was the employers
liability law Of 1906. In the, cases
arising under hat law. TOUR out Of six
courts of first instance held It uncon-
stitutional: six out Of nine Justices OF
the supreme court held that its subject
matter was within the province Of
congressional action; and four Of the
nine justices held II valid. It was how.
ever. %adjudged unconstitutional by q
bare majority Of the court-fve to four.
It was surely a very slovenly piece Of
work to frame the legislation in such
shape as to leave the question open At
all.
Real Damage has been done by the
manifold and conflicting interpretations
OIL the interstate commerce law. Con-
troll over the great corporations doing
Interstate business can be effective only
II 1t is vested with full power in an
administrative department, a branch Of
the federal executive, carrying out 4
federal law: It can never be effective II
. divided responsibility IL left in both
the states and the nation: It can never
be effective II left In the hands OF the
courts to be decided by lawsuits.