The Billings gazette. [volume] (Billings, Mont.) 1896-1919, 1908-12-29

IL We are to nave Two dlStr1CtS aanC
1t is impossible to have 1t quartere6
at some point east Of Bozeman, ther
the bill should be SO amended that The
court be required to sit at specified
points in the eastern portion of the
state.
THE DECISION IN THE CONTEMPT
PROCEEDINGS.
One may hear a great variety o
opinions on the streets, in business
houses and elsewhere, respecting the
decision Of the supreme court Of the
District Of Columbia, in finding the
officers Of the American Federation Of
Labor guilty Of contempt Of court.
One class. will tell you that 1t Is
an outrage that injunction proceedings
may go so far that men may beaim
prisoned, and another that it marks
the time when the employer may ne
longer be interferred with by labor
unions.
AS a matter of fact, the decision
means neither one nor the other.
This decision does not settle the
Buck Stove and~Range cast It does
not affect, one way II the other, the
American Federation of Labor or the
MS - :, 20 ~ !, ri n y oonopopxy &ME i
The proceedings by which the three
men were given Jail sentences is in
a matter Of contempt Of court-an en-.
tirely different proceeding.
When the stove company first ap,
piled for a Injunction these men said
they would not respect the order OF
the court if the prayer of the manu-
featuring company was needed. The
court issued an injunction, restrain.
ing the federation and it's officers from
posting the Buck company's name in
an unfair list" until such time as
a decision respecting the rights OF
each could be determined.
The federation officers declared
that they would not respect the court
order, and would go to Jail for con
tempt of court rather than do so.
Instantly the case resolved itself
into q question as to which was the
greater-the court, to which each of
the parties to the dispute looked for
a decision, or the officers of the fed
GRAFTON, who declared that they would
not respect one ruling but would abide
by another.
In other words, they maintained
that the stove company had no right
to maintain a blacklist Of employees,
but insisted on keeping a blacklist OF
employers.
If the officers of the federation were
right in their contention, then the
court, to which 1t appealed for relief
on their side Of the controversy was
powerless to grant even that which
they sought. /
On the other hand, If the court was
the proper tribunal, then 1t had the
power not only to issue the restrain
ing order, but to enforce its mandate.
Without that power in the one case,
1t lacked 1t likewise in the other.
It was simply a question of the right
of the court to enforce an order, which
the federation officials declared in adj
vance they would not observe il de.
cided a certain way. Thus, the officials
themselves in the position of
Judge and jury, in addition to being
the defendant in the action.
The decision Wednesday was rem
dered on the contempt of the men for
the court, and the open name in
which they stated that under no con-
%sideration would they observe the in
junction order, and that rather than
do so they would go to jail-thus
showing they were aware at the outset
that in violating the decree they were
liable to a prison sentence.
These men knew in advance just
what would happen If they violated
that ordcr-they said so on the stump,
and in convention-and the court SEN
fenced them for doing what they knew
they were forbidden to do.
In order to realize exactly what is
meant by all this, it is only necessary
to turn the case around the other way,
and place the stove company in the
position of the federation officials. II
the officers of the stove concern had
done what these men admit that they
have done, and they had been SEN
fenced for SO doing, there would be
general approval of the actor, of the
court on the part of the majority Of
the workmen of the United States.
sHElNZE MUST HAVE MONEY.
Fritz Augustus Heinze, late Of Butte
and more recently of New York, has
again bounded into the limelight of
publicity by giving a dinner in Goth
ham the cost of which is placed at
$3.50 per plate.
Can it be possible?
Here in Montana, where Fritz used