Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-09-24
TAFT ON |NJUNCT|ONS
Defends His Course on Bench
in Labor Disputes.
HAS NO APOLOGY TO MAKE
Calls Eugene V. Debbs "a Socialist
Tending to Anarchy"
FULL DINNER PAIL STILL ISSUE
Election of Bryan Unsafe, He Says,
With His Unstable Bust
ness Policies.
FULL DINNER PAIL STILL ISsU]

Taft reached here last evening and made
! an address at Orchestra Hall to the Rail-
way Mems Taft Club devotins all of it
to discussion of labor problems within
| the sphere of the judiciary and the ma
tional legislature.
He said there is no good reason why
the injunction should not be used in
labor disputes as we'll as in any other
threatened damage to property or bust
ness. He referred to Eugene V. Debbs
as "a socialist tending to anarchy.
Then he dug up Bryan's New York
speech advocating government owner
ship of railroads. saying that while the
democratic candidate has laid aside this
theory for the present, he nevertheless
believes in government ownership He
implied that Bryan would try to put that
idea into effect at the earliest favorable
opportunity.
Discusses Phelan Case
Taft defended his action i'm issuing
lnJunctions in labor cases while United
States circuit judge. OF the Phelan case
he said:
1T grew out of the attempt of the
American Railway Union, and Eugene
Debs to starve, the country by stopping
all the railroads and thus compel the
Pullman company to pay higher wages
to it's employees Neither the starving
country nor the railroads had control
over Mr. Pullman. Some railroads had
| contracts with him for carrying his cars.
They were not justified in breaking those
contracts. In other words. the action
against the railroad companies by Debs
and by his lieutenant, Phelan, was
secondary boycott.
| cat this time the Cincinnati Southern
| railroad was being operated by a receiver
under my orders as United States cir
cult judge. Phelan knew this and was
warned Of it. He held meetings of the
Cincinnati Southern railroad employees
and advised them to strike and tie up
| the road, and by hints and winks and side
remarks he instigated them to violence.
| ION an affidavit charging him with
| contempt in attempting by such meth
DDS to defeat the order of the court d
rectlng the receiver to run the road, ne
clearly esta blished his guilt. ! there
fore sentenced him to Jail for six months"
Injunction Against Capital.
Taft then told of an injunction ruling
he made which was not against laboring
people, but a combination of iron pipe
manufacturers who divided up the terri
| tory and maintained exorbitant prices
An application was made by the United
| States for an Injunction.
We there decided that an injunction
| would ISSUE" he continued. THE In
|
| was broken up.
Mr.. Bryan says l am the father of
| injunctions in industrial causes This
| is not true. The use of the injunction
was in accordance with precedent in a
| number of cases which | cited, both in
| the Arthur case and in the Phelan case
l am not apologizing for what l did in
| these cases. for they were in accordance
| with my duty as Judge
THE owner of a business, whether rail-
i ic 1o1
| to be protected In his pursuit of it and
| to immunity from unlawful injury to it,
To take away from him the remedy is to
! introduce into the law class legislation in
| favor of employees and laboring men. and
| it is to take them out of the ordinary
| operation of civil remedies because they
are laborers. ] say that that kind of
class legislation is pernicous.
Injunctions Without Notice.
| objection is made to the issuing of
| injunctions without notice. There is OPP
portunity for abuse in such practice
| though there are cases when no other
remedy seems adequate.
| Il have been willing, nevertheless, to
adopt a rule by which notice shall be re-
| quired before the issuing of any in
| junction. temporary otherwise. The
| republican convention, however, thought
| 1t wiser that the best present practice
| should be embodied in statute in order
| to bring the matter to the attention of
| the court. and in that way future abuses
| could be avoided. l hope and believe that
| this is true.
| Under the republican platform a
statute can pass and ought to pass which
| shall not allow a temporary restraining
| order to issue and have effect for more
| than forty-eight hours unless a hearing
| can be had during that forty-eght hours
extending the operation of the Injunction
No Jury in Contempt Cases.
| "The democratic platform does not give
any remedy with respect to notice. 1t
merely resolves that injunctions ought
not to be issued in industrial disputes
where they would not issue in other dis
| putes. This is either meaningless or de-
1 ceitful.
The provision i'll the democratic plat