The Greenville journal. [volume] (Greenville, Ohio) 1850-1918, 1908-12-10

a
undesirable or improper number OF hours.
or 10 work in unhealthy surroundings;
and therefore cannot recover damages
when MANNED in that occupation. and
cannot be forbidden to work what the
legislature decides IL an excessive num-
Der OF hours. or TO carry on the work i
under conditions which the legislature
decides to be unhealthy. Decisions
such as those nullify the legislative /
effort to protect the wage-workers who
most need protection from those employ
ers who take advantage Of their grind /
ing need. They halt or hamper the move
ment 70, securing better and more equi- |
table conditions of labor.
There is also, think, ground for the |
belief that substantial injustice is often |
suffered by employees in consequence OF |
the custom of courts Issuing temporary |
injunctions without notice to them, and |
Furnishing them for contempt OF court in |
instances where, as matter of fact,
they have no knowledge OF any proceed
ings. Organized labor is chahng
under the unjust restraint which
comes from repeated resort to this
plan of procedure. Its discomfort
has been unwisely expressed, and
often improperly expressed. but there
is a sound basis for it, and the or
derby and law-abiding people Of COM
munity would be in far stronger posi-
ton for upholding the courts IL the un-
doubtedly existing abuses could be pro-
vided against.
Matters for Thought for Labor.
Such proposals as those mentioned
above as advocated by the extreme labor
leaders, contain the vital error of being
class legislation of the most offensive
kind, and even II enacted into law l be-
leve that the law would rightly be held
unconstitutional Moreover, the labor
people are themselves now beginning to
invoke the use of the power of injunc-
ton. During the last ten years, and
within my own knowledge, at least fifty
injunctions have been obtained by labor
unions in New York city alone. most of
them being to protect the union label "a
property right'O, but some being OBJ
tained for other reasons against employ
ers.
Injunction Must Remain.
The power of injunction is a great
equitable remedy, which should on no
account be destroyed. But safeguards
should be erected against its abuse.
In substance, provision should be made
that no injunction or temporary re-
straining order issue otherwise than on
notice, except where irreparable injury
would otherwise result; and in such case
hearing on the merits Of the order
riod, and, If not then continued after
| hearing, it should forthwith lapse. De-
| cisions should be rendered Immediately,
and the chance of delay minimized in
every way. Moreover, l believe that the
procedure should be sharply defined, and
| the Judge required minutely to state the
particulars both of his action and OF his
| reasons therefor, so that the congress
| can If it desires examine and investigate
! the same.
| For many of the shortcomings OF
| justice in our country our people as
whole are themselves 10 blame, and the
| judges and juries merely bear their
share together with the public as
whole 1t is discreditable to us as
people that there should be difficulty in
| convicting murderers, or in bringing to
| justice men who as public servants
have been guilty OF corruption, or who
| have profted by the corruption of
| public servants. The result Is equally
| unfortunate, whether due to hairsplit-
ting technicalities in the Interpretation
| of law by judges. to sent.mentality and
class consciousness on the part of
| iuries or to hysteria and sensational
ism in the daily press. For much Of
this failure of justice no responsibility
| whatever lies on rich men as such. We
| who make up the mass of the people
cannot shift the responsibility from our
own shoulders. But there is an impor-
tant part of the failure winch has spe-
cial.y to do with inability to hold
to proper account men of wealth who
behave badly.
The Modern Corporation.
The huge wealth that has been accu-
mulated by few individuals of recent
years, in what has amounted to So
cial and industrial revolution, has been
as regards some of these individuals
made possible only by the improper use
of the modern corporation. certain
type of modern corporation, with its
officers and agents, its many issues of
securities. and its c"n3tant consolida-
ton wish e;Nad Undertakings finally
becomes an instrument so complex as
to contain a greater number of ele-
ments that, under various judicial de-
cisions lend themselves to fraud and
oppression than any device yet evolved
in the human brain. Corporations are
necessary instruments of modern busi-
ness They have been permitted to
become a menace largely because the
governmental representatives of the
people have worked slowly in provid-
ing for adequate control over them.
Our great clusters of corpora
tions. huge trusts and fabulously
wealthy multimilliOnaires, employ the
very best lawyers they can obtain to
pick flaws in statutes after their
passage; but they also employ class
of secret agents who seek under the
advice of experts, to render hostile
legisla ion innocuous by making 1t un-
constitutional. often through the inser-
ton of what appear on their face to be
drastic and sweeping provisions against
the interests of the parties inspiring
them; while the demagogues, the cor
rupt creatures who introduce black
mailing schemes to strike" corpora
tions, and all who demand extreme
and undesirably radical. measures
show themselves to be the worst enc
mics of the very public whose loud
Inouthed champions they profess to be
Real damage has been done by the
manifold and conflicting interpretations
OF the interstate commerce law. Con
troll over the great corporations doing
Interstate business can be effective only
IL it is vested with full power In ar
administrative department, a branch Of
the federal executive. carrying out 6
federal law; 1t can never be effective Il
a divided responsibility is left in botf
| the states and the nation; it can never
be effective If left in the hands of thu
courts to be decided by lawsuits.
, Respect for Law Must Be Upheld.
3 | The courts hold place of peculiar ant
deserved sanctity under our form of gov
= ernment. Respect for the law is essen
. tial to the permanence of our institu
l tons; and respect for the law is largel!
conditioned upon respect for the courts
l 1t is an offense against the republic t.
! say anything which can weaken this re
t spect, save for the gravest reason and IL
n the most carefully guarded manner. In NJ
t other nation in the world do the court
D WELD such vast and far-reaching powe
as in the United States. All that is nee
l. essary is that the courts as a who'll
c should exercise this power with the far
= sighted wisdom already shown by thos
n judges who scan the future while the,
|, act in the present. Let them eXercis
n this great power not only honestly an
e braveIy. but with wise insight into tn
o needs and fixed purposes of the people
so that they may do Justice. and wor