The Montgomery tribune. (Montgomery City, Mo.) 1892-1910, 1908-02-07
Business" Hurt by Movement
for Honesty Should Be Crushed

1t is meet and fit thai the apologists
Tor corrupt wealth should oppose every
enort to relieve weak and helpless peo-
pie from crushing misfortune brought
upon them by injury in the business
from which they gain a bare livelihood.
The burden should be distributed. II
is hypocritical baseness to speak of a
girl who works in a factory where the
dangerous machinery is unprotected as
to espose eh ser g,ght TO dsnI to p contract
limb. She has no alternative but to
suner want or else to expose herself to
such dangers, and when she loses a
hand or is otherwise manned or disfig-
ured for life. 1T is a moral wrong tina
the. whole burden of the risk necessarily
Incidental to the business should be
placed with crushing weight upon her
weak shoulders, and all who profit by
her work escape scot-free. This is
what opponents of a just employers
liability law advocated; and ii is con-
sistent that they should usually also
advocate immunity for those most dam
gerous members of the criminal class
the criminals of great wealth.
Our opponents have recently been
bitterly criticising the two Judges re-
ferred to in the accompanying commu-
pany and the Stata Fe railroad for hav-
ing imposed heavy fines on these two
corporations and yet these same crit
selves in ~denouncing the most re-
spectful and cautious discussion of
the official action of a judge which re-
- IA ~ wealth. ana power
full wrongdoers. or which renders nuga-
tory a temperate effort to better the
conditions of life and work among
those of our fellow countrymen whose
need is greatest. Most certainly it be-
hooves us all to treat with the utmost
respect the high office of Judge: and
upright men: Respect for the law
must go hand in hand with respect for
the judges; and, as a whole. it is true
now as in the past. that the Judges
Stanu IN chAr4Ctar and SarNtNn -,
all other men among their fellow
servants Of the public. There is all
the greater need that the few who fail
high standard of integrity. of wisdom,
OF sympathetic understanding and of
courage, should have their eyes opened
to the needs of their countrymen. A
Judge who on the bench either truckles
to the mob and shrinks from sternIy
repressing violence and disorder, or
BOWS down before a corporation: who
fails to stand up ~valiantly for the
rlgn,s OF property on the one hand, or
on me other by misuse of the process
OF, injunction or by his attitude toward
all measures for the be~tterment of the
of labor. makes the wa ge-
worker feel with bitterness tina the
courts are hostile to him; or who fails
10 realize that all public servants in
their several stations must strive to
stop the abuses of the criminal rich
service TO the body polite than the
or executive who goes wrong.
ne Judge VINO does his full duty well
STANDS higher. n renders a better
service to the people. than any other
public servant he Is entitled to great
er respect; and II he is a true servant
OF the people, IL he is upright, wise and
he will unhesitatingly disre-
gard even the wishes of the people IL
they conflict with the eternal princi-
pies or right as against wrong. He
must serve the people: but he must
serve MS own conscience first. All
honor to such a Judge. "
the opponents of the measures WE
single out now one and now
another measure for especial attack. and
speak as " the movement in which we
are engaged was purely economic. m has
a large economic side, but IL Is funda-
an ethical movement. II Is not
a movement to be completed In one year
or TWO or three years; II is a movement
which must be presevered In until the
spirit which lies behind II sinks deem
into the heart and the conscience OF the
whole people. II Is always important
choose the right means to achieve our
purpose, hut It Is even more important
keep. this purpose clearly before us:
and this purpose Is to secure national
honesty in business and In politics. we
do not subscribe to the cynical belief that
dishonesty and unfair dealing are essen
tial to business success and are to be
condoned when the success II moderate
and applauded when the success IL great.
methods by which the Standard OH
people n those engaged In the other
Of which J have spoken