The Plymouth tribune. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1901-1911, 1908-12-17

cuniary 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 severity against per-
sons of small means. and favor only the
very criminals whom it is most desirable
to punish
At the last election certain leaders OF
organized labor made a violent and sweep
ing attack upon the entire judiciary of the
country. an attack couched In such terms
as to include the most upright, honest and
broad-minded judges, no less than those OF
narrower mind and more restricted outlook.
Ii was the kind Of attack admirably fitted
to prevent any successful attempt TO reform
abuses of the judiciary, because ii gave the
champions of the unjust judge their eagerly
desired opportunity to shift their ground
into championship of just judges who
were unjustly assaulted. Last year, before
the House Committee on, the judiciary
these same leaders formulated their de
mands, specifying the bill that contained
them, refusing all compromise. stating they
wished the principle of that bill or nothing.
They insisted on a provision that in
labor dispute no Injunction should Issue
except to protect property right, and spe-
cihcally provided that the right to carry
on business should not be construed az
property right; and in a second provision
their bill made legal in labor dispute
any act or agreement by or between two
or more persons that would not have been
unlawful il dSne by n single person. In
other words, this bill legalized blacklisting
and boycotting in every form, legalizing.
for instance, those forms of the secondary
boycott which the anthracite coal strike
commission so rnreservedly condemned !;
| while the right to carry on a business was
| explicitly taken out from under that pro
| lection which the law throws over proper
ty. The demand was made that there
| should be trial by jury in contempt cases
| thereby most seriously impairing the au-
thority of the courts. All this represented
a of III nrf
| would mean the enthronement of class priv
| iege in its crudest and most brutal FORM
and the destruction OF one of the most
essential functions of the judiciary in all
| civilized lands.
The violence of the crusade for this legis-
| lation, and its complete failure, illustrate
| two truths which IL Is essential our people
should learn. In the first place. they ought
| to teach the workingman. the laborer. the
| wageworker. that by demanding what Is
| improper and impossible he plays into the
| hands Of his foes. Such a crude and vi
| cious attack upon the courts, even If 1t were
| temporarily successful. would inevitably in
| the end cause 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
| A movement of this kind can ultimately re-
| Sllt in nothing but damage to those in
| whose behalf 1t Is nominally undertaken.
The wageworkers. the workingmen, the
| laboring men of the country by the way in
| which they repudiated the effort to get
| them TO cast their votes In response to an
| appeal to class hatred, have emphasized
their sound patriotism and Americanism.
/ The whole country has cause to feel pride
| in this attitude of sturdy independence in
| this uncompromising insistepS- upon acting
| simply as good citizens. as good Americans.
| without regard to fancied-and improper
| class interests Such - stitude Is OBJ
| iect lesson in good CT lieu nip to the en-
| tire nation.
But the extreme reactionaries. the per
| sons who bind themselves to the wrongs
now and then committed by the courts on
| laboring men, should also think seriously
as TO what such a movement as this por-
| tends. The judges who have shown them
selves able and willing effectively to check
the dishonest activity of the very rich man
| who works iniquity by tie mismanagement
| Of corporations, who have shown them
| selves alert TO do justice TO the wagework-
er. and sympathetic with the needs of the
| mass OF our people, so that the dweller In
the tenement houses, the man who prac-
| tees dangerous trade, the man who Is
| crushed by excessive hours of labor, feel
that their needs are understood by thu
| courts-these judges are the real bulwark
OF the courts; these judges, the judges of
| the stamp OF the President-elect who have
been fearless In opposing labor when II
has gone wrong. but fearless also In hold
| ing to strict account corporations that work
iniquity. and far-sighted in seeing that
the workingman gets his rights. are the
| the appeal for such violent and mistaken
| legislation has fallen on deaf ears, that the
| agitation for its passage proved to be with
| out substantial basis. The courts are
| Jeoparded primarily By the action of these
/ Federal and State judges who show in
| ability or unwilllngness 10 put a stop to
| the wrongdoing of very rich men under
| modern Industrial conditions, and inability
or unwillingness to give relief to men OF
small means or wageworkers 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 century.
There are certain decisions by various
| courts which r ave been exceedingly detri-
mental to the r;-hts OF wageworkers. This
Is true of all tie decisions that decide that
| men and women are. by the constitution.
guaranteed their liberty" TO contract to
| enter dangerous occupation, or to work
an undesirable or improper number of
| hours, or to work in unhealthy surround
| ingS; and therefore cannot recover dam
| ages when MANNED In that occupation, an
l cannot be forbidden TO work what the Leg
islature decides Is excessive number
OF hours. or to carry Oh the work under
conditions which the Legislature decides
to be unhealthy. Decisions such these
alluded to above nulli.y the legislative
| effort to protect the wageworkers who most
| need protection from those employers who
take advantage of their grinding need
There Is also, ! think, ground for the be-
| lief that substantial injustice Is often suf-
| fercd by employees in consequence of the
custom OF courts issuing temporary njunc-
tions without notice TO them, and punish
| ing them for contempt of court in instances
| knowledge OF any proceedingS Outside OF
| organized labor there Is a widespread feel
| ing that this system often works great in
| justice to wagew0rkers when their efforts
to better their working conditions result In
| Industrial disputes temporary injunction
procured ex parte may matter of fact
have all the effect Of permanent injunc-
1 tioI In causing disaster to the wageWork-
| ers' side in such dispute Organized labor
| Is chatting under the unjust restraint which
comes from repeated resort to this plan OF
| procedure. Its discomfort has been unwise-
| ~ expressed, and often improperly ex-
| pressed, but there Is sound basis for 1t.
and the orderly and law-abiding people OF a
community would be In far stronger posi-
| ton for upholding the courts IL the I'M
doubtedly existing abuses could be provided
/ against.
| Such proposals those mentioned above
| as advocated by the extreme labor leaders,
| cort lin the vital error of being class legis
| lat sel of the most offensive kind and even
| il enacted into law 1 believe that the law
would rightly be held unconstitutional
Moreover, the labor people are themselves
now BEGINNING TO invoke the use of the
| years, and within my own knowledge, al
least fifty injunctions have been obtained
| by labor unions In New York City alone.
most Of them being to protect the union
label Ga property rlght'). but some belne
obtained for other reasons against employ
| ers The power OF injunction is a great
equitable remedy which should on no ac-
| count be destroyed. But safeguards should
| be erected against its abuse | believe thai
some such provisions as those ! advocated
a year ago for checking the abuse of the
issuance of temporary iDjunctions should be
| adopted
| The chief lawmakers In our country may
| be. and often are, the judges, because they
| are the final seat of authority. Every time
| they interpret contract, property, vested
| rights, due process of law, liberty, they
| necessarily enact into law parts of a sys
| tenn of social philosophy; and as such in
| depreciation Is fundamental, they give di.
| rection to all law-making. The decision
1 of the courts on economic and social ques-
lions depend upon their economic and SO
| cial philosophy and for the peaceful prog
| reSs Of our people during the twentieth
| century we shall owe most to those judges
i who holG In n tvvpnffpfh 81.