The herald-advance. (Milbank, S.D.) 1890-1922, 1908-12-11

commission SO reServeSty condemned;
while the right to carry on a business
was explicitly taken out from under
that protection which the law throws
over property. The demand vas made
that there should be trial by jury in
contempt cases, thereby most seriously
lmpairinS he authority of the courts.
All this represented u course of policy
when, If carried out, would mean the
~enthronement of class privilege In Its
Crudest and most brutal form. and the
obstruction OF one OF the most essen
tial functions OF the judiciary in all
civilized lands
The violence of the crusade for MS
legislation. and it's complete failure. il
l~Gstrate two truths which it is essen
tial our people should learn. In the
first place, they ought to teach the
wCrkingman, the laborer, the wage
worker, that by demanding what is
improper and impossible he plays into
the hands OF his foes. Such a crude
and vicious attack upon the courts.
even if it. were temporarily successful.
would inevitably in the end cause a
violent reaction and would band the
great mass of citizens together. fore
ing them to stand by all the judges,
competent and incompetent alike,
rather than TO see the wheels of jus
tice stopped.
A movement of this kind can ulti-
mately result in nothing but damage to
those in whose behalf It is nominally
Undertaken. This is a most healthy
truth. which it is wise for all our peo-
pie to learn. Any movement based on
that class hatred which at times as
suIncs the name of class conscious
ness is certain ultimately to fail, and
if it temporarily succeeds, to do far
reaching arnag Glass conscious
ness where ii is merely another name
for the odious vice of class s~eltishnesS.
is equally noxious, whether in an en-
ployerS association or in a working
mans association. The movement il
question was one in which the appeal
was made to all W~orkingrnen to vot~
primarily, not as American citizens,
but as individuals of a certain class
in society. Such an appeal in the first
place revolts the more high-minded
and far-sighted among the persons to
whom it is addressed, and in the sec
ond place tends to arouse a strong an
tagonism among all other classes of
citizens, whom it therefore tends to
unite against the very organization
IN whose behalf it is issued. The re
suit is therefore unfortunate from
every standpoint. This healthy truth.
by the way, will be learned by the so
~cialists If they ever succeed in estab-
fishing in this country an important
national party based on such class
consciousness and selfish class interest.
The WageworkerS. the workingrnen.
the laboring men of the country by tn"
way, in which they repudiated the
effort to get them to cast their votes
in response to an appeal to class ha-
tired, have emphasized their sound pa
triotism and AmeriCaniSm. The whole
country has cause to feel pride in this
attitude of sturdy Independence, in this
uncompromising insisterCe upon acting
ci-,p ri 50, ---I z~-I
Americans. without regard to fancied
and improper-class interests. Such
an attitude is an object lesson in good
citizenship to the entire nation.
But the extreme re~actionaries, the
persons who blind 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 pOrtends. The
z who have shown themselves
able and willing effectively to check
the dishonest activity of the very rich
man who works i%niquity by the mis-
management of corporations. who have
shown themselves alert 10 do justice
to the w~ageworker, and sympathetic
with the needs Of the mass of our peo-
pie. SO that the dweller in the tene-
ment houses, the man who practices
a dangerous trade, the man who is
crushed by excessive hours Of labor
lt'i tIla tIFiI IlteiS 1 ullIEI Sioot
by the courts-these judges are the
real bulwark of the courts; these
judges, the judges of the stamp of the
president elect. who have been fear
less in opposing b when it has gon.
wrong, but fearless also in holding i.
strict account corporations that work
iniquity, and far-sighted In seeing that
the workingman gets his rights. ar,
the men of all others to whom we
owe it that the appeal for such violent
and mistaken legislation has fallen Oh
deaf ears, that the agitation for its
passage proved to be without sub
stantiai basis. The courts are teor-
arded primarily by the action OF these
federal and state judges who show in
ability or unWillingness 20 put a stoI
to the wrongdoing of very rich mcn
under modern industrial conditions.
and inability or unwillingness 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 century.
The rapid changes in our social and
industrial life which rave attended
this rapid growth have made 1t neccs-
sary that, in applying to concrete
cases the great rule OF right laid down
in our constitution. there should be d
full understanding and appreciation of
the new conditions to which the rules
are to be applied. What would have
been an infringement upon liberty half
a century & may be the necessary
safeguard OF liberty today. What
would have been an injury to property
then may be necessary to the enjoy
nent of property now. Every judicial
! decision nvolves 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, I 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 it remains. and must ever be
maintained. as the safeguard of those
principles of liberty 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 behind in their under
standing OF these great and vital