The new era. (Walden, Colo.) 1906-19??, 1908-12-24

months earnings. In this respect the
| generosity of the United States towards
Its employees compares most unfavora-
| bly, with that of every country in Eu-
| rope-sven the poorest
renew my Recommendation made In
| previous message that half-holidays
| be granted during summer to all wage
| workers in government employ
| I 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 to exclude.
| Would Double Salaries Of JudQes.
1 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 its most honored public
| servants should be paid sums SO small
| compared to what they would earn in
| private life that the performance of
| public service by them implies an ex-
| ceedingly heavy pecuniary sacrifice.
1t is 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
| favor only the very criminals whom II
Is most desirable to punish. These
| long delays in the final decisions of
cases make in the aggregate crying
evil: and remedy shoull be devised.
| Much of this intolerable delay is due
to improper regard paid to technicali-
ties which are mere hinderance to
justice. In some noted recent cases this
| overregard for technicalities has re-
suited in a striking denial of Justice.
and fragrant wrong to the body polite.
Labor Leaders Criticised.
At the last election certain leaders of
| organized labor made a violent and
sweeping attack upon the entire judi
ciary of the country. an attack couched
/; in such terms as to include the most
upright. honest and predetermined
judges. no less than those of narrower
mind and more restricted outlook.
Last year, before the house COM
labor leaders formulated their de-
mands. specifying the bill that
| contained them, refusing all compro-
mise. stating they wished the principle
| of that bill or nothing. They insisted
on a provision that in labor dispute
| protect property right. and speclfical
| ly provided that the right to carry on
business should not be construed as a
| property right; and in second provis-
| lon their bill made legal in a labor dis
| pute any act or agreement by or be-
| tween two more persons that would
not have been unlawful IL done by
single person. In other words. this bill
legalized blacklisting and boycotting
| In every form. legaliZing, for instance,
| those forms of the secondary hOVcOft
which the anthracite coal strike COM
| mission unreservedly condemned;
| while the right to carry on business
was explicitly taken out from under
that protection which the law throws
over property. The demand was made
that there should be trial by jury in
| contempt cases. thereby most seriously
impairing the authority of the courts.
All this represented course of policy
| which, II carried out. would mean the
enforcement OF class privilege In Its
crudest and most brutal form. and the
destruction Of one of the most essen
tial functions Of the judiciary in all CIV
ilized lands.
The violence of the crusade for this
legislation. and its complete failure
illustrate two truths which It Is essen
tial Our ;eonle should learn. In the
first place, they ought &c teach the
workinEman. the laborer, the wage
worker. that by demanding what is i'm
proper and impossible he plays into the
| hands of his foes. Such a crude and
vicious attack upon the courts even II
It were temporarily successful. would
| inevitably in the end cause a violent
reaction and would band the great
mass of citizens together. forcing them
to stand by all the judges. competent
and incompetent alike. rather than to
see the wheels of justice stopped.
The wageworkers. the 'workingmcn,
the laboring men of the country by the
| in which they rpDuliated the eff
fort to get them to cast their votes in
response to an appeal to class hatred,
have emphasized their sound patriotism
and Americanism. Such an attitude
is an object lesson in good citizenship to
the entire nation.
Judicial System Sound.
Our judicial system is sound and
effective . at core, and 1t remains,
and must ever be maintained. as
the safeguard of those principles of lib
erty and justice which stand at the
| foundation OF American institutions; for.
as Burke finely said. when liberty and
justice are separated. neither is safe.
| There are. however. some members of
the judicial body who have Jagged be-
| hind in their understanding OF these
great and vital changes In the body
| polite, whose minds have never been
! opened to the new applications of the old
| principles made necessary by the new
conditions. Judges of this stamp do last
| ing harm by their decisions, because they
| convince poor men in need of protection
| that the courts of the land are pro-
foundly ignorant of and out Of sympathy
with their needs, and profoundly ignorant
| or hostile to any proposed remedy To
| such men 1t seems a cruel mockery to
have any court decide against them on
| the ground that 1t desires to preserve
| ''liberty" In a purely technical form, by
| Withholding liberty in any real and con-
| structive sense.
There are certain decisions by various
| courts which have been exceedingly det-
rimental to the rights OF wage-workers.
| This is true of nil decisions that decide
| that men are. by the constitution, guar
anteed their liberty" to contract to enter
a dangerous occupation, or to work an
undesirable or improper number of hours.