Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1908-12-10
Industrial civilization which has

sary that i'll applying to concrete cases
The great rule of right laid down in
our constitution there should La Il full
understanding and appreciation of the
new conditions to which the rules are
to be applied. What would have been
an infringement upon liberty half a
century ago may be the necessary safe
guard of liberty today. What would
nave been an injury to property then
may be necessary to the enjoyment of
property now Every judicial decision
involves two terms-one an interpreta-
ion of the law. the other the under
standing. of the facts to which it is to
be applied. The great mass of our iu-
ficial officers are, L believe, alive 10
:hese changes of conditions which so
materially affect the performance of
heir Judicial duties. Our judicial sys-
:em is sound and effective at core, and
1t remains and must ever be main
Gained as the safeguard of those prin-
-lples OF liberty and Justice which
stand at the foundation of American
Institutions, for, as Burke finely SAID.
when liberty and justice are separated
lelther is safe. There are, however.
'ome members of the judicial body
Who have Jagged behind in their I'M
ierstanding of these great and vital
.hanges in the body polite. whose
minds have never been opened to the
aeW applications of the old principles
made necessary by the new conditions.
Judges of this stamp do lasting harm
oy their decisions, because they con.
rlnce poor men in need of protection
nat the courts of the land are pro.
toundly ignorant OF and out of SYM
2athy with their needs and profoundly
Indifferent or hostile to any proposed
'emedy. To such men it seems cruel
mockery to have any court decide
against them on the ground that it de-,
iires to preserve liberty in purely
technical form by withholding liberty
n any real and constructive sense, II
s desirable that the legislative body
should possess and. wherever neces-
iafy, exercise the power to determine
whether III a given case EMPLOYERS
IND employees are not on an euunl
.ooting, so that the necessities of the
after compel them to submit to such
sxactions as to hours and conditions
u labor as unduiy to tax their
strength, and only mischief can result
When such determination is upset on
;he ground that there must be no sin
iefference; with the liberty to con
act.-oftcn merely academic lib
sfty,' the exercise of which is the he
CATION of real liberty.
There are certain decisions bv va
rlous courts which have been exceed
lngly detrimental to the rights of
Wagewcrllers. This is true of all tho
decisions that decide that men and
women are by the constitution GUAR
anteed their liberty to contract to
enter dangerous occupation, or to
work an undesirable Or Improper nun.
per or hours, or to work in unhealthy
surroundings, and therefore cannot re.
cover damages when MANNED in that
occupation and cannot be forbidden
10 work what the Legislature decides is
an excessive number of hours, or TO
carry on the work under conditions
winch the legislature decides to be I'M
nealthy. The most dangerous occllpa.
ions are often the poorest paid and
those where the hours of work are
longest, and in many cases those who
go INTO them are driven by necessity
50 great that they have practically no
alternative. Decisions such as those
alluded to above nullify the legislative
effort to protect the wageworkers who
most need protection from those en-
Dloyers who take advantage of their
grinding need. They halt Or hamper
he movement for securing better and
more equitable conditions of Labor.
The talk about preserving to the mis-
.ry hunted beings who make contracts
or such service their ''liberty'' to
make them is either to speak i'm a
spirit of heartless irony or else to
snow an utter lack OF knowledge of
he conditions Of life among. the great
masses of our fellow countrymen, a
ack which units q Judge to do good
service just as it would unfit any ex-
'cutive or legislative officer.
There is also, think, ground for the |
,elief that substantial Injustice is
'ften suffered by employees in conse-
luence of the custom of courts issu- |
ng temporary iniunctions without no.
ice to them and Furnishing them for |
ontempt Of court in instances where.
IS 4 matter of fact, they have no
knowledge of any proceedings. OUT I
ide of organized labor there is a wide |
pread feeling that this system often
york. great injustice to wageworiers /
Then their efforts to better their work I
ng condition result in Industrial dis |
utes. temporary injunction pro-
ured eS parte may. as a matter of /
act, have all the effect of perma- /
ent injunction in causing disaster to /
he WageWorkers side is such a dis.
ute Organized labor is chatting ,in.
err the unjust restraint which comes
rom repeated resort to this plan of
rocedure. Its diScoptent has been un-
'isely expressed and often improper-
expressed but there is a sornd
asis for it. and the orderly and law
biding people Of a community would
e in a far stronger position for up-
- s,,1-t 4.