The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1908-12-09

, |
t laws of the United States in this res
pect and the laws of European coun
= tries have been summarized in a re
: cent Bulletin of the Bureau of Labor
i and no American who reads this sum,
: mary can fail to be struck by the
great, contrast between our practices
and theirs-a contrast not in any
sense to our credit.
The Congress should without furth-
er delay pass model employers LA
: bility law for the District of Column
: bia The employers liability act re-
, Gently declared unconstitutional. on
} account of apparently including in its
provisions employees engaged in in
trastate commerce as well as those
engaged in interstate commerce, has
been held by the local courts to be
still in effect so far as its provisions
apply to the District of Columbia.
There should be no ambiguity on this
point. If there is any doubt on the
subject, the law should be reenacted
with special reference to the District
of Columbia. This act. however, ap>
plies only to employees of common
carriers. In all other occupations the
liability law of the District is the
old common law. The severity and
| injustice of the common law in this
matter has been in some degree or an
other modified in the majority OF our
States, and the only jurisdiction I'M
der the exclusive control of the Con-
gress should be ahead and not be-
| hind the States of the Union in this
respect. A comprehensive employers
| liability law should be passed for the
District of Columbia.
| renew by recommendation made
in previous message that half-holi-
days be granted during summer to all
wage-workers in Government employ.
1 also renew my recommendation
that the principle of the eight hour
day should as rapidly and as far as
practicable be extended to the entire
work being carried on by the Govern
ment; the present law should be
amended to embrace contracts on
those public works which the present
THE COURTS.
I most earnestly urge upon the Con-
gress the duty of increasing the to-
tally 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 so inadequate compared
to their work. Beginning with the |
Supreme Court the Judges should have
their salaries doubled. 1t is not befit- |
ting the dignity of the Nation that its |
most honored public servants should |
be paid sums so small compared to |
that the performance of public service
by them implies an exceedingly heavy |
pecuniary sacrifice
1t is earnestly to be desired that |
some method should be devised for do
ing away with the long delays which
now obtain in the administration OF
justice, and which operate with pc
culiar severity against persons of
small means, and favor only the very
criminals whom it is most desirable
to punish. These long delays in the
final decisions of cases make in the
aggregation crying evil; and rem
edy should be devised. Much of this
regard paid to technicalities which
are a mere hindrance to justice. IN
some noted recent cases this over-re- !
gard for technicalities has resulted in
q striking denial of justice, and flag
rant wrong to the body polite.
At the last election certain leaders (;
Of organized labor made violent and
sweeping attack upon the entire judi
eiary of the country, an attack couch
ed in such terms as to include the !
most upright, honest and broad-mind-
ed judges, no less than those of mar
rover mind and more restricted out
look. 1t was the kind Of attack adj ]
mirably fitted to prevent any success
ful attempt to reform abuses of the
judiciary, because it gave the cham
pions of the unjust judge their eagerly
desired opportunity to shift their
ground into a championship of just
judges who were unjustly assailed.
Last year, before the House Committee
On the Judiciary, these same labor
leaders formulated their demands. s
specifying the bill that contained {
hem, refusing all compromise, stating Ii
hey wished the principle of that bill I
Or nothing. They insisted on a pro- {
vision that in a labor dispute no in
junction should issue except to pro-
,ect property right, and specially {
provided that the right to carry on !
business should not be construed as
4 property right; and in a second pro-
vision their bill made legal in a la
Dor dispute any act or agreement by {
Or between two or more persons that
would not have been unlawful if done {
by single person. In other words, II
his bill legalized blacklisting and !.
Doycotting in every form, Iegalizing, II
,or instance, those forms of the secon- l.
larry boycott which the anthracite coal I
strike commission so unreservedly