Daily Kennebec journal., 1908-12-09


| creditable to US as d people that there
should be difficulty In convicting murder
ers, or in bringing to justice men who as
public servants. have been guilty Of cor
| ruption. or who have profted by the
corruption Of public servants. The result
is equally unfortunate, whether due to
| hairsplit ting tecinicalities IN the intcrprc-
| tation OF law by Judges, TO ScntimentaIitv
ana class corsciousness on the par: u
| juries, or to hysteria and sensat ionalism
in the daily press For much Of tbis fail
| ure Of justice no responsibility whatcver
| lies on rich men as such. We WHO make
up the mass Of the people can not .hift
| the responsibility from our own Shoulders.
BIT there IS an important part Of tho
failure which has especially 10 do with
inability to hold to proper account men Of
| wealth who behave badly.
| The chief breakdown is in dealing with
| the new relations that arise from the
mutualism. the interdependence Of our
| time Every new social relation bcgcts a
1 new type of wrongdoing-of sin to use
an old-fashioned word-and many years
always elapse before society is able to
turn this sin into crime which can be ef-
| fectively punished at law During the
I lifetime of the older men now alive the
social relations have changed far mofe
| turtles. THE immense growth Of CORPORA
| TONS of BUSINESS dcne by associations
and the extreme strain ard pressgr Of
which render the public confused as to-
who its really dangerous foes are; and
among the public servants have not only
| shared this confusion, but by Sorne of
| their acts have increased it, are certain
| Judges. Marked inef'iciency has been
in re-settling the proper attitude to be
| taken by the public not only towards
| corporations. but towards labor, and tow
ards the social questions arising out OF
| the factory system, and the enormous
| growth of our great cities.
The huge wealth that has been accumu-
| lated by Il few individuals of recent years,
in what has amounted to a social and in
| dustrial revolution, has been as regards
some of these individuals made possible
only by the Improper use of the modern
corporation. A certain type of modern
| corporation. with it's officers and agents,
its many issues of securities. and its con-
| slant consolidation with allied urder.ak-
| inSs, finally becomes ar instrument ."
complex as to contain greater nuIrbHT
of elements that, under various judicial
decisions, lend themselves to fraud and
oppression than amy device yet evolved in
the human Erain Corporations are nee
ess'ty ir*truments of modern business
They have been permitted to become n
menace largely because :he governmental
representatives. Of the peopl.' have ;E"lked
SLOWLY, in providing for adequate control
The chief offender In any given case
may be an executive, a legislature, or
a indSe. Every executive head who ad-
sweeping measures of reform Especially
if they al'e tainted with vindictiveness. t
ority) is particularly blameworthy. The
several legislatures are responsible for the
fact that our laws ar5 often rIeIrIared
tion Moreover they arc often prepared.
and still more frequently amended durins:
, passage, st the suggestion of the very
parties against whom they are afterwards
enforced Our great clusters Of CORPORA
tions huge trusts and fabulously wealthy
multimilionaries employ the very nest
lawyers they can obtain to Pick flaws in
these statutes after their passage; but
they also employ a class OF secret agents
render hostile legislation in?ocuous by
making it unconstitutional, often through
the insertion of what appear on thelr face
to he drastic and sweeping provisions
against the interests of the parties m
spring them: While the denagogues: tie
corrupt creatures who introduce hiack-
and all who GeUand extreme, and unde-
sirahly radical. measures. show them
selves II be the worst enemies OF the
very public whose loud-mouth cham
pons they profess to be. a very stllHlHG
illustration of the consequences o: care
lessness in the preparatii,o?,n OF statute ,ans
In the eases arising under that law, four
out of six courts of first instance held 1t
une9nsituticnal SIX six cnt to, Of nine ]gsGSGs G
iect-matter was within the PROVING" OF
congressional action; and four Of tine
nine justices held it valid: 1t was, how
maj iority of the court-five to four. 1t
was surely a very sloverly piece of work
to leave the question open at ali.
Real damage has been done by the
manifold and conflicting Interpretations
of tie interstate commerce law Cnmroi
over the great corporations dong inter-
state business can he effective only if it
is vested with full power in an admins
trative department. a branch Of the FED,
eral executive, carving out a fedi rai
law; it car never he effective if divided
responsibility IS left in both the St@tes
and the. Nation it can never | nI be elf9ctHs We
if left in the hands of the courts 10 he
decided by lawsuits.
The courts hold place of peculiar and
deserved sancity under our form oi gov
ernrient. Respect for the law IS essen
tal to the peI1nanence of our institutions
and respect for the law Is largely condl-
toned upon respect for the courts II Is
an offense against the Republic TO say
anything which can weaken this respect
save for the gravest reason and IN the
most carefully guarded manner; Our Juds1
es should be held in peculiar honor; ana
the duty of respectful and truthful com
ment and criticism, which should be nina-
ing when we speak of anybody, should ps
especially binding when we speali OF
them. On an average they stand above
any other servants of the community ana
the greatest Judges have lracIHa We
high level held hv those few sreateSt la-
tliuts wkom the whole country delights
to honor. IS,t we WuSt face the Gact ,hal
there are wise and unWise Judges. Just as
there are wise and nhwise executives @ ar,n
legislators. When a president or COY
ernor behaves improperly "r ur"i'"H
the remedy is easy. for his term IS
short: the sane is true With tn lee!S'
la tor. although net to the same deg:ee'
fOr he is one of many who belong 10
some given legislative body. and II u
therefore less easy to fix his personal
| responsibility and hold him accountants
| therefore. With a judge. who, being NJ
man, is also likely to err. but who's" Ten,
ure is for life. there is no similar way ol
holding him to responsibility. JHder or
binary conditions the only forms of pres
sure to which he is in any way amenda-
ble are, public opinion, and the action OF
his fellow Judges. 1t is the last WhlCh Is
most iE,mediately effective. and to whlcn
we should look for the reform Of ahuses.
Any remedy applied from without -
fraught with risk 1t is far better. IRON,
every standpoint, that the remedy shouu
come from within In TO other nation II:
the world do the courts WELD such !asii
and far-reaching power as in the Iritsd
States. All that is recessary isLhat the
courts as a whole should exercise TINS
pow er with the farsishted wisdom alreanS
shown by those judges who scan ny
future while they act in the present bM
them exercise this great power not cnN
honestly and bravely,s but with wise ns ln
sight into tie, ne eds and fixed purposes'
of thetDeople. so that they may, do lnr lus
tice, and work Ieauity, so that they n,o, nrn
r,pfPct ,al pecss,n; in their rights. and ytt