Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1908-12-10

Ee0ulllS q lnoTOuBn 6OlnB lnfttIlka- /
tion and action there is certain legis-
lation which should be enacted at once.
The law, passed at the last session OF
the congress, granting compensation to
certain classes Of employees OF the gov
eminent should be extended to include
ali employees Of the government and
should be made more liberal in its
terms. There is 10 good ground for
the distinction made in the law be-
tween those engaged in hazardous oc-
equations and those not so en-
gagged. The terms of the act pro-
viding compensation should be made
more liberal than in the present
act. A years compensation is not ade-
uuate for a wage-earner's family in the
event of his death by accident in the
course of his employment. And in the
event of death occurring, say. ten or
eleven months after the accident, the
family would only receive as compen-
sation the equivalent of one or two
months earnings. In this respect the
generosity of the United States towards
it's employees compares most unfavora-
bly, with that of every ountr in Eu-
rope-even the poorest.
The terms of the act are also a hard
ship in prohibiting payment in cases
where the accident Is in any way due
to the negligence of the employe. 1t is
lllCNltdblt NLd ooAly WAN
danger will lead men to lake chances
that can be construed into negligence.
So we'll is this recognized that in prac-
tically all countries in the civilized
world, except the United States, only a
great degree of negligence acts as a
bar to securing compensation. Proba-
bly, in no other respect is our legisla-
ton, both state and nauonal, so far be-
hind practically the entire civilized
| would aa In fha pnuftar Of lilo htIifU and
compensation for accidents in industry,
1t is humiliating that at European in
ternational congresses o N accidents the
United States should be singled out as
the most belated among the nations in
respect to employers liability legisla-
ton. This government Is itself a large
employer of labor and in it's dealings
with its employees 1t should set a stan
Hard in this country which would place
1t on a par with the most progressive
countries in Europe. The laws of the
United States in this respect and the
laws of European countries have been
summarized in a recent bulletin of the
bureau of labor, and no American who
reads this summary can fail to be
struck by the great contrast between
our practices and theirs-a contrast not
in any sense to our credit.
I renew my recommendation made in
1 q ltNlOI5 AiltSpiSS NlihN AACNA - ~
be granted during summer to all wage
workers in government employ
I also renew my recommendation that
the principle Of the eight-hour day
should as rapidly and as far as practi-
cable be extended to the entire work
being carried on by the government;
the present law should be amended to
embrace contracts on those public
works which the present wording of
the act seems to exclude.
Would Double Salaries of Judges.
I most earnestly urge upon the con-
gress the duty of increasing the totally
inadequate salaries now given to our
judges. On the whole there Is no body
of public servants who do as valuable
work, nor whose moneyed reward Is sc
inadequate compared to their work. Be-
ginning with the supreme court the
judges should have their salaries dou
bled. 1t is not BETTING the dignity OF
the nation that its most honored public
servants should be paid sums so small
compared to what they would earn In
private life that the performance OF
public service by them implies an ex'
ceedingly heavy pecuniary sacrifice.
1t is earnestly to be desired that some
method should be devised for doing
way with the long delays which nov
obtain in the administration of justice
and which operate with peculiar sever
ity against persons of small means. am
favor only the very criminals whom |
Is most desirable to punish. Thes'
long delays in the final decisions o
cases make in the aggregate a crying
evil; and a remedy should be devised
Much of this intolerable delay is du
to improper regard paid to technical
; ties which are a mere hinderance t
: Justice. Il some noted recent cases thi
) ove~r-regard for t~echnicalities has re
: suited in a striking denial of justice
: and fragrant wrong to the body polite
: Labor Leaders Criticised.
At the last election certain leaders @
organized labor made a violent an
t sweeping attack upon the entire judi
ciary of the country, an attack couche
In such terms as to include the mos
upright, honest and broad-minde
judges, no less than those of narrowe
mind and more restricted outlool
Last year, before the house con
mittee on judiciary, these SAN
6 labor leaders formulated their d,
n mands, specifying the bill thu
contained them, refusing all comprc
mise, stating they wished the principl
of that bill or nothing. They insiste
on a provision that in a labor disput
IS no injunction should issue except I
n protect a property right, and speciica
ly provided that the right to carry G
business should not be construed as
property right; and in a second provi!
IF ion their bill made legal in a labor di'
o pute any act or agreement by or b.
l. tween two or more persons that wou
e not have been unlawful If lone by
= single person. In other words, this bi
legalized blacklisting and boycottir
'e in every form, legalizing, for instanc
is those forms of the secondary boyco
Il which the anthracite coal strike con
h mission so unreservedly condemne
h while the right to carry on a busine
s, was explicitly taken out from und
lie that protection which the law throw
IS over property. The demand was ma,
re- that there should be trial by jury
o. contempt cases, thereby most serious
le impairing the authority of the court
TX All this represented a course of poll,
,e which, If carried out, would mean Z
a. enthronement of class privilege in
A. crudest and most brutal form, and t.
ID destruction of one of the most esse
re tial functions of the judiciary in all CT
IL ilized lands.
The violence of the crusade for tt
IL legislation, and it's complete failul
T. Illustrate two truths which it is esse
IN tial our people should learn. In t
III first place, they ought to teach t
tn w~orkingman, the laborer, the wag
st worker, that by demanding what is II
err proper and impossible he plays into t
III hands of his foes. Such a crude a
IS. vicious attack upon the courts, even
it were temporarily successful. wor
e. inevitably in the end a viole
r.: reaction and would band the gre
ID. mass of citizens together, forcing tn,
H. to stand by all the judges, compete
a and incompetent alike, rather h
see the wheels of justice stopped.
Id The wageworkers. the ~worklngm'
the laboring men of the country by I
on way in which they repudiated the
a fort to get them to cast their votes
nd response to an appeal to class hatr'
es have emphasized their sound patriots