The Chanute times. [volume] (Chanute, Kan.) 1897-1913, 1908-12-11

that no injunction or temporary re-
straining order issue otherwise than on
notice. except where irreparable injury
would otherwise result: and in such case
a hearing on the merits of the order
should be had within short fixed pc
Rod, and IL not then continued after
hearing II should forthwith lapse. De-
cisions should be rendered Immediately,
and the chance of delay minimized In
every way. Moreover, l believe that the
procedure should be sharply defined, and
the Judge required infinitely to state the
particulars both OF his action and of his
reasons therefor, so that the congress
can If 1t desires examine and investigate
the same.
For many of the shortcomings of
justice in our country our people as
whole are themselves to blame, and the
judges and juries merely bear their
share together with the public as
whole. 1t is discreditable to us as
people that there should be diniculty in
convicting murderers. or in bringing to
Justice men who as public servants
have been guilty of corruption, or who
have profted by the corruption OF
public servants. The result is equally
unfortunate. whether due to hairsplit-
ting technicalities in the Interpretation
of law by judges. to sentlmentality and
class consciousness on the part of
juries, or to hysteria and sensational
ism in the daily press For much OF
this failure of justice no responsibility
whatever lies on rich men as such. we
who make up the mass of the people
cannot shift the responsibility from our
own shoulders. But there is an impor-
tant part of the failure which has spe-
oial,y to do with inability to hold
to proper account men OF wealth. VINO
behave badly.
The Modern Corporation.
The huge wealth that has been accu
mulated by few individuals OF recent
years, in what has amounted to a So
cial and Industrial 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 its
officers and agents, it's many issues of
securities, and it's constant consolida-
ton with allied undertakings. finally
becomes an instrument so complex as
to contain a greater number of ele-
ments that, under various judicial de-
cisions, lend themselves to fraud and
oppression than any device yet evolved
in the human brain. Corporations are
necessary instruments of modern bust
ness. They have been permitted to
become a menace largely because the
governmental representatives of the
people have worked slowly in provid-
ing for adequate control over them.
Our great clusters Of corpora
tons. huge trusts and fabulously
wealthy multimillionaires. employ the
very best lawyers they can obtain to
pick flaws in statutes after their
passage; but they also employ class
of secret agents who seek under the
advice of experts, to render hostile
legisla Ion innocuous by making 1t un-
constitutional often through the inser-
ton of what appear on their face to be
drastic and sweeping provisions against
the interests OF the parties inspiring
them; while the demagogues, the cor
rupt creatures who introduce black
mailing schemes to strike" corpora
lions, and all who demand extreme,
and undesirably radical, measures.
show themselves to be the worst enc
mics of the very public whose loud
mouthed champions they profess to be.
Real damage has been done by the
manifold and conflicting interpretations
OF the interstate commerce law. Con-
troll over the great corporations doing
interstate business can be effective only
If 1t is vested with full power in an
administrative department a branch of
the federal executive. carrying out
federal law; 1t can never be effective II
a divided responsibility is left in both
the states and the nation; ii can never
be effective If left in the hands of the
courts to be decided by lawsuits.
Respect for Law Must Be Upheld.
The courts hold place of peculiar and
deserved sanctity under our form of gov
eminent. Respect for the law is essen
tial to the permanence of our institu-
lions; and respect for the law is largely
conditioned upon respect for the courts.
1t is an offense against the republic to
say anything which can weaken this re-
spect save for the gravest reason and in
the most carefully guarded manner. In no
other nation in the world do the courts
WELD such vast and far-reaching power
as in the United States. All that is nee
essary is that the courts as whole
should exercise this power with the far
sighted wisdom already shown by those
judges who scan the future while they
act in the present Let them exercise
this great power not only honestly and
bravely, but with wise insight into the
needs and fixed purposes of the people,
so that they may do justice, and work
equity. so that they may protect all per-
sons in their rights, and yet break down
the barriers of privilege, which is the foe
of right.
Forest Preservation.
II there is any one duty which more
than another we owe it TO our children
TO Ut ONCE IL Is " save tllt
ests of this country, for they constitute
the first and most important element in
the conservation of the natural re-
sources of the country. Just as
a farmer, after all his life making his
living from his farm, will. II he is an ex-
pert farmer, leave ii as an asset Of in
creased value to his son, so we should
leave our national domain to our chill
dren, increased in value and not worn
out. There are small sections of our own
country, in the east and in the west in
the AdrondaclSs, the White mountains
and the Appalachians, and in the Rocky
mountains, where we can already see for
ourselves the damage in the shape of
permanent injury to the soil and the
river systems which comes from reckless
deforestation. 1t matters not whether
this deforestation is due to the actual
reckless cutting of timber, to the fires
that inevitably follow such reckless cut
ting of timber, or to reckless and uncon-
trolled grazing, especially by the great
migratory bands of sheep, the un-
checked wandering OF which over the
country means destruction to forests and
disaster to the small home-makers. the
settlers of limited means.
Thanks to our own recklessness
in the use of our splendid forests,
we have already crossed the verge Of
timber famine in this country, and no
measures that we now take can. at least
for many years. undo the mischief that
has already been done. But we can pre-