Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1908-12-09

dangerous occupation. or to work an
undesirable or improper number of hours,
or to work In unhealthy surroundings;
and therefore cannot recover damages
when manned In that occupation, and
cannot be forbidden to work what the
legislature decides is an excessive num-
Der of hours, or to carry on the work
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 for 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
tnjunctions without notice to them, and
Furnishing them for contempt of court in
| instances where. as a matter of fact,
they have no knowledge of any proceed
ings. Organized labor is chatting
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
ton for UNFOLDING the courts if the I'M
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 be-
lieve 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
lnjunctions have been obtained by labor
unions in New York city alone most of
them being to protect the union label "a
property rightly. but some being OBJ
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 it's 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
| a hearing on the merits of the order
Rod, 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, believe that the
| procedure should be sharply defined. and
| the Judge required infinitely 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 a
whole are themselves to blame, and the
judges and juries merely bear their
share together with the public as a
whole. 1t is discreditable to us as a
people that there should be difficulty in
convtcting murderers, or in bringing to
Justice men who as public servants
have been guilty of corruption, or who
have profited by the corruption Of
public servants. The result is equally
unfortunate, whether due to hairsplit-
ting technicalities in the Interpretation
or law by judges. to sentlmentality and
class consciousness on the part Of
juries 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
tant part of the failure which 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 a So
! cia1 and industrial revolution, has been
as regards some Of these individuals
1o
of the modern corporation. A certain
| type of modern corporation, with it's
officers and agents, it's many issues Of
securities, and it's constant consolida-
ton with allied undertakings, finally
becomes an instrument so complex as
to contain greater number of ele-
ments that. under various judicial de-
c1sions. lend themselves to fraud and
| oppression than any device yet evolved
in the human brain. Corporations are
necessary instruments of modern BUSH
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
tons. huge trusts and fabul ously
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 lion innocuous by making it I'M
| 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
al nj
and undesirably radical. measures
show themselves to be the worst enc
mics of the very public whose loud
! mouthed 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
| II it is vested with full power in an
administrative department. branch of
the federal executive, carrying out a
federal law; it can never be effective If
divided responsibility is left in both
the states and the nation; it can never
be effective if left in the hands of the
courts to be decided by lawsuits.
Respect for Law Must Be Upheld.
The courts hold a place of peculiar and
deserved sanctity under our form of gov
eminent Respect for the law is essen
! tial to the permanence of our institu-
tto.'s; and respect for the law is largely
conditioned upon respect for the courts.
| 1t Is an Offense against the republic to
say anything which can weaken this re-
spect, save for the gravest reason and in
the most carefully guarded manner. In no
other nation in the world do the courts
| WELD such vast and far-reaching power
as IN the United States. All that is nee
essary is that the courts as whole
should exercise this power with the far
sighted wisdom already shown by those