The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1908-04-28

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pIoyees who suffer injury whib engaged
in the public service; that there will be .
child labor law enacted for the District
Of Columbia; that the Waterways Com
mission will be continued with sufficient
financial support to increase the elective
meas Of It's preparatory work; that steps
win be taken OF provide for such inVestiga-
ton into tariff conditions by the appro-
pirate committee Of the House OF Repre-
sentatives and by Government experts in
the executive service o. will secure the
full information necessary for immediate
action in revising the tariff at the hands OF
the Congress elected next fall, and finally
that financial legislation will be enacted
providing for temporary measures for
meeting any trouble that may arise In
the next year or two. and for a commission
Of experts who shall thoroughly investi-
gate the whole matter. both here and in
the great commercial countries abroad.
90 as to be able to recommend legislation
which will put our financial system on an
efficient and permanent basis.
II Is much to be wished that one feature
Of the financial legislation Of this session
should be the establishment OF postal saw
inEs banks. Ample appropriation should
be made 10 enable the Interstate Commerce
Commission TO carry out the very important
feature Of the Hepburn law which gives
to the Commission supervision and control
over the accounting systems OF the rail-
ways. Failure 10 provide means which
will enable the commission TO examine
the books Of the railways would amount
TO an attack on the law at its most vital
point and would benefit, as nothing else
could benefit, those railways which are
oorruptly or incompetently managed. Dor
est reserves should he established through
out the Appalachian Mountain region
wherever il can he hOwn that they viii
have a direct and real connection with the
conservation and Improvement VI naYlgd-
bic rivers.
There seems. however. much doubt about
two Of the measures | have recommended,
the measure TO do away with abuse u the
power Of injunction aud the measure or
group " measures tOstrengthen and render
both more efficient and more wise the con-
troll by the national Government over the
great corporations doing an Interstate
business.
First, as To the power Of Injunction and
ri. punishment for contempt. In contempt
eases, save where immediate action is i'm
perative, the trial should be before another
Judge. As regards inlunCtionB, some such
legislation as that ! have previously recon-
Inended should be enacted They are blind
who fail to realize the extreme bitterness
caused among large bodies Of worthy citi-
Sens by the use that has been repeatedly
made OF the power Of Injunction in labor
disputes. Those in whose judgment we
have most right to trust are Of the opinion
that while much Of the complaint against
The use Of the Injunction IL unWarlanted
yet that il is unquestiOnably true that IN a
number Of cases this power has been used
10 the grave injury Of the rights OF labor1ng
men. / ask that il he limited in some such
way as that have already pointed out in
my previous messages, FOR the very reason
that | do not wish to see an embittered
effort made to destroy it.
IL is unwise stubbornly to refuse to pro-
. vide against a repetition Of the abuses
which nave caused the present unrest.
In 4 democracy like ours it is die 10 expect
permanently to thwGrt the determination
cr he great body Of our citizens II may
- a nd often is TIE highest duty Of a court,
? Legislature, or an Executive, 70, resist
and defy a gust Of popular passion; and
most certainly nc public servant, whatever
msy be the consequences to himself, should
Weld 10 what he thinks wrong. But in q
question which Is emphatically one OF
public policy. the policy which the public
demands is sure in the end TO be adopted,
and a persistent refusal to grant to a large
portion Of our people what is right is only
100 apt in the end to result in causing such
irritation that when the right is obtained
IL is obtained in the course OF q movement
90 III considered and violent az TO be accom-
PANIED by much that is wrong. The process
Of injunction in labor disputes, as well as
where State laws are involved, should be
used %sparingly, and only when there II the
clearest necessity for II; but i is one 30
necessary 10 the efficient performance Of
duty by the court on behalf Of the nation
that il il in the highest degree to be re-
Rretted that il should be liable TO reckless
use, for this reckless use tends TO make
honest men desire so to hamper it's execution
as TO destroy its usefulness.
Every farsighted patriot should protest
first OF all against the growth in this coun-
try of that evil thing which is called "olass
Consciousness" The demagogue, the
sinister or foolish socialist visionary who
strives TO arouse this feeling OF class con-
~sOiousness in our working people does a
foul and evil thing, for he is no true Ameri-
can, he il no self-respecting citizen Of this
republic; he forfeits his right 70 stand with
manly self-reliance on a footing Of entire
equality with all other citizens, who BOWS
W EuN dhAA kiftht WV NAN'NR AAAS NNSNNA NV |
Of class hatred into a shibboleth, who sub
~stltutes loyalty TO men Of a particular
status. whether rich or poor, for loyalty
TO those eternal and immutable principles
81 Righteousness which bid US treat each
man on his worth as a mar without regard
TO his wealth or his poverty.
But evil though the influence OF these
demagogues and Missionaries ia II is no worse
In its consequences than the influence e1er-
cised by the man Of great wealth or the
man Of power and position in the industrial
world who by his lack Of sympathy with
and lack Of understanding Of, still more
by any exhibition Of uncompromisinR
hostility TO, the millions OF our working
people tends TO unite them against their
fellow Americans who are better OF in this
worlds goods. II is a bad thing to teach
our working people that men Of means,
that men who have the largest proportion
Of the substantial comforts OF life, are neces-
sarily greedy, grasping and cold hearted
and that they unjustly demand and APP
proprate more than their share Of the
substance Of the many. Stern condemna-
ton should be visited upon ~demagogue
and visionary who teach this untruth.
and even sterner upon those capitalists
who are in truth grasping and greedy and
brutally ~disregardiul Of the rights of others
ana who by their actions teach the dread.
full lesson far more effectively than any
mere preacher Of unrest. A ]class Rriev-
ance' left too long without remedy breeds
'class consciousness, ' and therefore class /
resentment.
The strengthening OF the antitrust law
is demanded upon both moral and economic
grounds. Our purpose in strengthening
IL IL TO secure more effective control by the
national Government over the business
use Of the vast masses Of individual, and
especially OF corporate, wealth, which at