The Idaho recorder. [volume] (Salmon City, Idaho) 1886-1927, 1908-12-17

Pending "a tnorOughgotnR inVegtl ga
ton and action there rs certain i-gls-
latiOn which should he enacted al once.
The law passed III the last session of
the congress granting compensation 70
certain classes Of employees % che gov
ernment should he extended 10 Include
ali employees ~ the government and
should be made more liberal In It's
terms. There is no good ground for
the distinction made IN the law be-
tween those engaged in hazardous oc-
cupations and those not 80 en-
gagged The terms of the act pro
vidiuE compensation should De- made
more liberal than In the present
act A years compensation Is not ade-
udate for a wHBe-enrner' family IN the
event of his death by accident ia the
course Of his employment And In the
event OF death occurring say ten or
eleven months after the accident. the
family would only receive as compen-
sntion the equivalent Of one or two
months earnings In this respect the
generosity OF the United states towards
It's employees compares most unfavora-
bly, with that OF every country In Eu-
ropc--even the poorest
The terms Of the act are also n hard
ship ia prohibiting payment in cases
where tks accident Is IN any way due
20 the negligence Of thu employe. IL is
inevitable that daily familiarity with
danger Will lead men 10 take chances
that can be construed into negligence.
So well - this recognized that In prac-
tlca ly all countries in the civilized
world. except the United States. only
great degree OF negligence acts as a
bar to securing compensation. Proba-
bly, In no other respect Is our legisla-
tion. both state and national so far be-
hind practically the entire civilized
world as IN the matter OF liability and
compensation for accidents In industry.
IL IS humiliattng that at European In
ternational congresses on accidents the
United States should be singled out as
the most belated among the nations in
respect to employers liability legisla-
ton. This government In Itself a large
employer OF labor and in its dealings
with Its employees II should set a stan
dard in this country which would place
II on a par with the most progressive
countries IN Europe The laws OF the
United States in this respect and the
laws OF European countries have been
summarized In a recent bulletin of the
bureau of labor. and no American who
reads this summary can fail to be
struck by the great contrast between
our practices and theirs--a contrast not
In any sense To our credit.
renew my recommendation made in
n previous message that half-holidays
he granted during summer to all wage
workers in government employ
also renew my recommendation that
the principle OF the eight-hour day
should as rapidly and as far as practi-
cable be extended TO the entire work
being carried on by the government
the present law should be amended to
embrace contracts on those public
works which the present wording OF
the act seems Ia exclude.
Would Double Salaries Of Judges.
most earnestly urge upon the con-
gress the duty OF increasing the totally
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 Be
ginning with the supreme court the
judges should have their salaries dou-
bled 1t Is not betting the dignity Of
the nation that It's most honored public
servants should be paid sugns so small
compared to what they would earn in
private life that the performance OF
public service by them implies an ex-
ceedlngly heavy pecuniary sacrifice.
II ls earnestly TO be desired that some
method should be devised for doing
away with the long delays which now
obtain In the administration OF justice.
and which operate with peculiar sever
ity against persons OF small means, and
l1NOI OnNN Nnt very tTitulndlb WnOm ~
Is most desirable To punish. These
long delays In the final decisions of
cases make In the aggregate a crying
evil; and remedy shout be devised.
Much OF this intolerable delay Is due
20 Improper regard paid to technicali.
ties which are a mere hinderance To
Justice. In some noted recent cases this
over-regard for techniealities has re-
suited In a striking denial OF justice,
and fragrant wrong 10 the body polite,
Labor Leaders Criticised.
At the last election certain leaders OF
organized labor made violent and
ciary OF the country. an attack couched
In such terms as to include the most
upright honest and broad mind ed
Judges. no less than those OF narrower
mind and more restricted outlook
Last year. before the house com
mittee on Judiciary. these same
labor leaders formulated their de-
mands. specifying : the bin that
contained them, refusing all compro.
mise stating they wished the principle
OF that hin or nothing They insisted
on provision that IN a labor disput,
no Injunction should Issue except t,
protect a property right and specincal.
| ~ provided that the right TO carry or
business should not be construed ms Z
| property right, and In n second provis
| ION their bill made legal In labor dts
/ pute any act or agreement by or be
/ tween two or more persons that woul,
not have been unlawful ~ done by
slugle person, In other words. this bill
| legaliged blacklisting and boycottinl
/ tn every form, legoliziug, for instance
| those forms OF tho secondary boycott
1 which the anthracite coal strike com
| mission so unrescrVcdly condemned
| while the right to carry on a bushes,
| WAS explicitly taken out from unde
| that protection which the law throw
1 over property The demand was mad
/ that there should be trial hy jury (,
1 contempt cases, thereby most seriousl,
/ impQiring the authority of the courts
| An this represented a course OF polio,
/ which n carried out would mean IN
] enthrnnement OF class privilege In Il
1 crudest and most hrutal0form. and IN
I destruction OF ono OF the most csss n
I tpi functions OF tho judiciary In all civ
/ tlized lands
The violence Of tho crusade for thi
| legislation ana It's complete failure
I Illustrate two truths which IL Is essen
tial our people should learn, In IA
hrst place they ought 60 teach an
I workiugman the lahorer. the wage
worker. that by dema ndug what Is I'm
proper aud Impossible no plays Into IN
hands Of hts foes. such crude an
Vicious attack upon the courts even
Il were temporarily successful woai
Z inevitably ln the end cause valor
reaction ana would hand the grca
mass ~ cltlzcns together, forcing thor
10 stand hY all the judges. cOmpcteu
and Incompetent alike, rather than {
see the wheels % Justice stopped.
The wawewerkcrs the warNtnsmcr
the lahoring men % the country hy IN
way IN which they repudiated the ei