The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-12-09

and privilege who deny the proposi- | ton that inasmueh as judges are whole people. they should strive te | Ind out what those interests are, and. 2 as Tar as they conscientfously can, should strive to give effect to popular conviction when deliberately and duly l expressed by the lawmakinR body. | The courts are to be highly commend- ed and staunchly upheld when they set their faces against wronsdolng or to be blamed when they fail to re- cogntxe under government like ours the deliberate judgment of the ma- policy when duly expressed by the Legisle ture- Such lawfully expressed and deliberate judgment should be giv- on effect by the courts. save in the extreme and exceptional cases where there has been clear violation of q constitutional provision. Anything like frtvolity or wantonness in upset ting such clearly taken governmental Republic. To protest against tyranny. to protect minorittes from oppression. to nullify an act committed in spasm to the Republic. But for the courts to arrogate fo themselves functions which properly belong to the legisla- tive bodies is all. wronEs and in the end works mischief. The people should not be permitted to pardon evil and slipshod legislation on the theory that the court will set 1t right; tbey should se 6;, taught that the right way to get islatue repeal 1t, and not to have the courts by ingenious hair-spiitting null fly 1t A law may be unwise and im- reasons be declared unconstitutional hy a strained interpretation. for the re- suit of such action is to take away rom the people at large their sense Of strey their capacity for orderly self restraint and self government. Under such q popular Aovernynept as ours, run the win of the people is suprsme. the ultiIuate safety of the nation can only rest in training and guiding the people so that what they will shall be defeat their win by the technicalftiss of strained construction.
 For many of. the shortccminRs of justice In our country our people as a whole are Themselves to blame. and the share together with the public as a whole. It is discreditable to us as a people that there should be dfd1culty wants have been guilty o9 corruption, or who have pfonted by the cor~ups ton of putlic servants. The result IA terpretation of law by judses. to sent. mentality and class consciouansss on sS pa6s If Srs' S ts tSSy to Systs. aSS much of this failure of justice no re. sponsibility whatever lies on rich men es such We who make up tht nasi sIbility from our own shonidern. But there ls an important part of the fall vre which has specially. to do with ,nsod1ty meg at o,,s 10 hold to proper account
 The chief breakdown IS in deaiing with the new relations that arise from the mutualism, the interdependenes of begetss a new type of wronrdofns sTl--og sin, to use an old-fashioned word--and many years always eIapse before socie- y Ls anIe to turn this sin into crime law During the lifetime Of the older men now alive the social relations have cnsngea cns Tar more rapidly than in tho preceding two centuries. The i'm. msnse growth of corporations. of bvs. mess done by associations, and the ex. treme strain and pressure of modern nLe. nave produced conditions which render the public confused as to who US really dangerous foes are; and among the public servants who have not only shared this confusion, but by some of their acts have increased it, are certain judges. Marked ineaSeIency has been shown in dealing with corr CT attitude to be taken by the public not only towards corporations, but to- wards labor and towards the social system, and the enormous growth, of our great cities. -e-.l-
 The huge wealth that has been ae- cumulated by a few individuals of re- cent years, in what has amoupted to a been as regards some of these individ- uals made possible only by the i'm. proper use of the modern corporation A certain type of modern corporation, with its officers and agents, ite many issues of securities. and It's constant consolidation with allied undertakings. hnally becomes an instrument SO com plex as to contain greater number of elements that, under various judi cial decisions. lend themselves to fraud and oppression than any device yet eopporat,ona exGIxSd m tas hTmsn nsrSa., brs,n. ness. They have been permitted to become Q menace largely because the people have worked slowly in provfd- ing for adequate control over them.
 The chief offender in any given case may pc an executive, Legislature. or vises violent. instead of gradual. action, or who advoctes ill-considered and sweeping measureB of reform (egpocial- " if they are tainted with vindictive-
 
 the minorIty) is particularly bIafne- worthy. The several Legislatures are responsible for the fact that our laws are often prepared with slovenIy haste and lack of consideration. Moreover they are often prepared and still more frequently amended during passage, at th9 suggestion of the very Dafafew against whom they are afterwards sn- forced. Our great clusters of eorpora- tions. huge trusts and fabuIousIy 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 the advice of experts, to render hostile leR- lslation innocuous by making 1t uncon- atitutIoual, often through the insertion Of what appear on their face to be drastic and sweeping provisions against the interests of the parties inspiring them: while the demagogues the eor- rupt creatures who introduce black mailing schemes to strike corpoFa- tions. and all who demand extreme, and undesirably radical, measures, show the very public whose loud -mouthed champions they profess. to bs. A very striking illustration of the consequences of carelessness in the preparation oG a statute was the employers liability law of 1906. In the cases arising under that law four Out of six courtg of first instance held it unconstitutional; six out of nine Justices of the Supreme Court held that it's subjeet-matter was within the province of sCongressional action; and four of the nine Justices held 1t valid. It was. however. adludg- ed unconstitutional by bare majority oRf fha tn fnnr