The Utah County Democrat. [volume] (Provo City, Utah) 1898-1909, 1908-12-10

similar movements
Pending demonstrating investfga-
ton and action there ia certain iceis-
lation which should hc enacted NJ once
Tine law. passed. nj fhc last seeTion Of
the congress granting compensation TO
certain classes u employees % tho gov
eminent should be extended TO Include
all employees Of the government and
should be made more liberal in It's
terms There Is no good ground for
the distinction made IN The law boz
tween those engaged In hazardous oc-
equations and those not 20 en-
gaged. Tho terms OF tho asst pro
vidiuR compensation should be made
more liberal than IN the present
oct years compensation ~ not ade-
quate for wage-oarner's family In tho
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 cOfnpen-
sation the equivalent OF one or two
months earnings. In this respect the
generosity OF the United States towards
us employees compares most unfavorn-
bly, with that 81 every country in Eu
rope--even the poorest
The terms Of the act are also n hard
slip In prohibiting payment In cases
where the accident IN In any way due
TO the negligence OF the employe. u Is
Inevitable that daily familiarity with
danger will lead men to take chances
that can be construed into negligence.
So well II this recognized that In prac-
ticnlly all countries In the civilized
world, except the United states, only n
great degree OF negligence acts as n
bar 20 securing compensation. Proba-
bly, In no other respect Is our lcgisla-
ton, both state and nauonal. 40 far be-
hind practically the entire civilized
world az In the matter OF liability and
compensation for accidents in Industry
It In humiliating that AT European In
ternationai congresses on accidents the
United states should be singled out as
the most belated among the nations in
respect 10 employers liability leglsla-
ton. This government Is itself large
employer OF labor and In its dealings
with It's employees It should set a stan
dard in this country which would place
II on n 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 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
a previous message that half holidays
h' duAiHk HuinAnFf w Nii Whkt-
workers In government employ
] also renew my recommendation that
the principle OF the elght-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 IL no body
OF public servants who do as valuable
work, nor whose moneyed reward Is so
inadequate compared to their work. Be
ginning with tho supreme court the
judges should have their salaries dou-
bied. II is not behtting the dignity OF
the nation that Its most honored public
servants should be paid sums 80 small
compared TO what they would earn in
private life that the performance OF
public service by them implies an OK
ceedingly heavy pecuniary sacrifice
IL Is earnestly 20 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 peculiar sever
ity against persons of small means. and
favor only the very criminals whom IL
II most desirable to punish. These
long delays In the final decisions OF
cases make in the aggregate crying
evil; and a remedy shout be devised
Much OF this intolerable delay In due
to improper regard paid 90 TECHNICAL
ties which are mere hnderance 20
Justice. In some noted recent cases this
over regard for technlcalities has re-
suited In n striking denial OF Justice.
and Migrant wrong TO the body polite,
Labor Leaders Criticised.
At the last election certain leaders OF
organized labor made violent and
ciary OF the country. an attack couched
in such terms as to include the most
upright. honest and broad minded
judges no less than those OF narrower
mind and more restricted outlook.
Last year. before the house COM
mittee on judiciary. these same
labor leaders formulated their de-
manda specifying the bill that
contained them refusing all compro-
mise. stating they wished tho principle
OF that bill or nothing They insisted
on a provision that IN a labor dispute
no Injunction should Issue except TO
protect n property right, and specifical-
iy provided that the right TO carry on
business should not be construed as a
property right; and I'm second provis-
ion their bin made legal In n labor dis
pute any act or agreement by or. be-
tween two or more persons that would
not have been unlawful " done by a
single person. In other words. this bill
legalized blacklisting and boycotting
Ia every form, lcgalizing. for instance.
those forms OF tho secondary boycott
which the anthracite coal strike COM
mission 80 unreservedly condemned;
while the right TO carry on business
that projections which the law throws
over property. The demand was made
that there should be trial by jury In
contempt cases, thereby most, seriously
lmpairinE the authority OF the courts.
All this represented a course OF policy
which. N carried out would mean tho
enthronement OF class privilege In its
crudost and most brutal form. and the
destruction Of one OF tho most essen
tinl functions OF the judiciary In all qly-
illzed lands
The violence OF the crusade for this
LEGISLATION. and it's complete failure.
iliustrate two truths which Il IL essen
f-t--r -'IrrT rH'11rrr rr--rrr
first place they ought 10 teach the
! workingman the laboror. the wage
worker. that By demanding what Is im-
proper and impossible he plays into tho
hands OF his foes. Such crude and
vicious attack upon the courts. even II
II were temporarily successful, would
inevitably In the end cause a violent
reaction and would band the great
mass 81 citizens together forcing them
90 stand by all the Judges competent
and Incompetent alike ratheI than to
sce the wheels of justice stopped.
The wageworkers. the workingmen
/ the laboring men OF the country by the
way In which they repudiated the 81.
/ fort 10 set them 70 cast their votes In
a
/ have emphasized their sound patriotism
I and Amcricanism Such an attitude