Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-12-08

| such violent and mistaken legislation has
| fallen on deaf ears. that the agitation for
| its passage proved to be without substan-
| tial basis.
The courts are jeoparded primarily by
| the action of these federal ands state
| judges who show inability or unwilling
ness to put a stop to the wronEdoing OF
very rich men under modern industrial
conditions, and inability or unwllilngness
to give relief to men of small means or
wage workers who are crushed down by
these modern industrial conditions; who.
in other words. fail to understand and
apply the needed remedies for the new
wrongs produced by the new and highly
complex social and industrial civilization
which has grown up in the last half CEN
fury.
Dealing With New Conditions.
The rapid changes in our social and In
dustrial life which have attended this
rapid growth have made it necessary
that in applying to concrete cases the
great rule of right laid down in our con-
sttution, there should be full under
standing and appreciation of the new con-
ditions to which the rules are to be ap-
piled. What would have been an infringe
ment upon liberty half century ago
may be the necessary safeguard of lib
erty today. What would have been an
10 piOPCitS tiCh may NC hSSSSAS
to the enjoyment Of property now.
Every judicial decision involves two
terms-one. an Interpretation of the law:
the other, the understanding of the facts
to which it Is to be applied
The great mass of our judicial officers
are, l believe, alive to these changes OF
conditions which so materially affect the
performance of their judicial duties. Our
judicial system is sound and effective at
core. and 1t remains, and must ever be
maintained, as the safeguard of those
principles of liberty and justice which
stand at the foundation of American in
stitutions; 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 behind
in their understanding of these great and
vital changes in tina body polite, whose
minds have never been opened to the
new applications of the old principles
Judges Of this stamp do lasting harm by
their decisions. because they convince
poor men in need of protection that the
courts of the land are profoundly ignor-
ant Of and out of sympathy with their
needs and profoundly Indifferent or hos
tile to any proposed remedy. To such
men it seems a cruel mockery to have
any court decide against them on the
ground that it desires to preserve lib
erty' in purely technical form, by
structive sense.
1t Is desirable that the legislative body
should possess. and wherever necessary
exercise, the power to determine whether
are not on an equal footing. so that the
necessities of the latter compel them to
submit to such exactions as to hours
and conditions of labor as unduly to tax
their strength: and only mischief can re-
suit when such determination is upset
on the ground that there must be no in
reference with the liberty to contract
often a merely academic liberty" the
exercise of which Is the negation of real
liberty.
Decision Hurtful to Wageworkers.
There are certain decisions by various
courts which have been exceedingly detri-
mental to the rights of wageworkers.
This is true of all the decisions that de-
eide that men and women are, by the
Constitution, guaranteed their liberty"
to contract to enter dangerous occupa-
ton, or to work an undesirable or i'm
proper 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 number OF hours. or to carry
on the work under conditions winch the
legislature decides to be unhealthy.
The most dangerous occupations are
often the poorest paid, and those where
the hours of work are longest; and In
many cases those who go into them age
driven by necessity so great that they
have practically no alternative. Decis-
ions such as those alluded to above multi
fy the legislative effort to protect the
wageworkers who most need protection
from those employers who take advantage
of their grinding need. They halt or
hamper the movement for securing better
and more equitable conditions of labor.
The talk about preserving to the misery
hunted beings who make contracts FOR such
service their liberty" to make them. Is
either to speak in a spirit of heartless
IRONY or else to show an utter lack of
knowledge of the conditions of life among
the great masses of our fellow-country-
men, a lack which units a judge to do
good service just as 1t would unit any
There is also I think, ground for the
belief that substantial injustice is often
suffered by employees in consequence or
the custom of courts Issuing temporary
injunctions 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 proceedings
Outside of organized labor there Is
widespread feeling that this system often
works great injustice to wageworkers
when their efforts to better their work.
ing condition result in industrial dis
putes.
temporary injunction procured ex
parte may as matter of fact nave all
the effect of a permanent Injunction in
causing disaster to the wagerworkers
side in such a dispute. Organized labor
is chafing under the unjust restraint
which comes from repeated resort to this
plan of procedure. It's discomfort has
been unwsely expressed. and often i'm
property expressed, but there is sound
basis for it, and the orderly and law
abiding people of a community would
be in far stronger position for up
holding the courts if the undoubtedly
existing abuses could be provided against.
Application of Injunction.
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 If enacted into law
believe that the law would rightly be
held unconstitutional. Moreover, the
labor people are themselves now be-
ginning to invoke the use of the power
of injunction During the last ten years,
and within my own knowledge, at least
fifty injunctions have been obtained by
labor unions in New York city alone
most of them being to protect the union
'"hel Ia property right'). but some
being obtained for other reasons against
employers.
The power of injunction is a great