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

duly expressed by the Legislature. Such
lawfully expressed and deliberate judgments
should he given effect bv the courts, save
in the extreme and exceptional cases where
there has been a clear violation OF constl-
tutional provision. Anything like frivolity
or wantonness in upSetting such clearly tax
en- governmental action Is a grave onense
against the republic.
For many of the shortcomings OF justice
in our country our people as a whole are
themselves to blame, and the judges and
jules merely bear their share together with
the public as a whole. 1t Is dscreditable to
US as a people that there should be diff
Guilty in convicting murderers, or in bring
Ing TO justice men who as public servants
have profited by the corruption of public
servants. The result is equally unfortu-
nate, whether due to hairsplitting techni-
caIities in the Interpretation of laws by
judges, to sentimentality and class con-
seriousness on the part of Juries, or to hys-
terra and sensatiOnalism in the daily press.
For much of this failure of justice no re-
sponsbility 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 as an i'm
pOrtant part of the failure which has Spe-
cially to 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 arose from the mu-
tualism, the interdependence of our time.
Every new social relation begetS a
type of wrongd0ing-0f sin, to use an old
fashioned woodland many years always
eiapSe before society IS able to turn this
sin into crime which cSn be effectively pun
shed at law. During the lifetime of the
older men now alive the social relations
have chs eyed far more rapidly than in the
preceding two centuries. The immense
growth of corporations, OF business done by
associations, and the extreme strain and
e,sure of modern life. have produced con-
dtions which render the public confused
as to who its really dangerous foes are !;
and among the public servants who have
not only shared this confusion, but by some
of their acts have increased ii, are certain
judges. Marked inefliciency has been shown
in dealing with corporations and In re-
settling the proper attitude to be taken
by the public not only towards corporations
but towards labor, and towards the social
questions arising ont of the factory sys-
TEN, and the enormous growth of our great
cities
The huge wealth that has been accumu-
lated by 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. certain type of modern
corporation, with its officers and agents, its
many issues of securities, and its constant
consolidation with allied undertakings,
finally becomes an instrument so complex
as to contain a greater number of e. ments
that, under various judicial decisions, lend
themselves TO fraud and oppression than
any device yet evolved in the human brain.
Corporations are necessary instruments of
modern business. They have been permit
ted to become. n menace largely because
the governmental representatives, of the
people have worked slowly in providing for
adequate control over them.
ihe courts hold a place of peculiar and
deserved sanctity under our form of gov
eminent. Respect for the law Is essential
to the permanence of our institutions and
respect for the law is largely conditioned
upon respect for the courts. IL is an of
Tense against the republic to say anything
which can weaken this respect, save for
the gravest reason and in the most care
| fully guarded manner. Our judges should
| be held In peculiar honor. On on average
they stand above any other servants OF the
community, and the greatest judges have
reached the highest level held by those few
| greatest patriots whom the whole country
delights TO honor. But we must face the
| fact that there are wise and unwise judges.
| just there are wise and unwise execu-
| tives and legislators. When a President or
| governor behaves improperly or unwise-
| ly, the remedy Is easy. for his term is
/ short; the same is true with the legislator.
| although not to the same degree, for he Is
one of many who belong TO some given
legislative body, and ii is therefore less
| easy 10 fix his personal responsibility and
| hold him accountable therefor. With a
judge. who, being human, is also likely TO
| err, but whose tenure is for life, there is
no similar way Of holding him 10 response.
bIlity Under ordinary conditions the only
forms of pressure to which he is in any
way amenable are public opinion, and the
| action of his fellow judges. IL Is the last
| which Is most Immediately effective. and to
which we should look for the reform of
| abuses. Any remedy applied from without
is fraught with risk. Ii is far better. from
| every standpoint, that the remedy should
| come from within. In no other nation in
the world do the courts WELD such vast
4 and For 4 fr..~ IT.aff "A
| States. All that Is necessary is that the
| courts as whole should exercise this
/ power with the farsighted wisdom already
shown by those judges who scan the flu
| ture while they act in the present.
| Forests.
| II there Is any one duty which more
| than another we owe Ii TO our children and
our childrens children TO perform at once,
| II Is TO save the forests of this country, for
| they constitute the first and most impor-
tant element in the conservation of the
| natural resources OF the country. 1t mat
| ters not whether this deforestation Is due
| to the actual reckless cutting of timber, to
| the fires that inevitably follow such reck-
| less and uncontrolled grazing, especially 10y
| the great migratory bands of sheep, the
| unchecked wandering of which over the
| country means destruction TO forests and
| disaster To the small home makers, the
settlers of limited means.
Shortslghted persons. or persons blinded
TO the future by desire to make money In
| every way out of the present, sometimes
speak as IL no great damage would be done
| by the reckless destruction of our forests.
| IL Is difficult TO have patience with the ar
| Suments OF these persons. Thanks to our
own recklessness In the use of our splen-
did forests, we have already crossed the
| verge of timber famine in this country,
| and no measure that we now take can, at
( least for many years, undo the mischief
4 that has already been done But we can
4 m nd
] IL would be in the highest degree repre-
| hEsible TO let any consideration Of temper
| airy convenience or Temporary cost inter
fere with such action. especially as regards
the national forests which the nation can
| now, at this very moment. control.
| Inland Waterways.
Action should be begun forthwith, during
| the present session of the Congress, for the
| Improvement of inland waterways
| acton which will result In giving not
| only navigable but navigated rivers. We
| have spent hundreds of millions Of dollars
| upon these waterways, yet the traffic on
| nearly all of them is steadily declining.
| This condition Is the direct result of the
| absence OF any comprehensive and far-see-
Ing plan OF waterway improvement. OBJ
the revenues of the government without re-
| turn. Ii is poor business to spend money
| for Inland navigation unless we get II.
Such shortsighted. validating and futile
water-borne commerce and increasing traf-
| Rc congestion on land, by increasing floods,
and by the waste of public money. The
| remedy lies in abandoning the methods
which have so signaly failed and adopting
new ones In keeping with the needs and
demands of our people. The time for play
| ing with our waterways Is past. The coun-
| try demands results.
National Parks.
| urge that all our national parks ada
| cent to national forests be placed COM
| pletely under the control of the forest
| service of the agricultural department, in
| stead of leaving them as they now are,
| under the interior department and policed
by the army.
Pure Food.
The pure food legislation has already
worked benefit difficult to overestimat tie.
Indian Service.
IL has been my purpose from the begin
ming of my administration to take the In
| dian service completely out Of the atmos-
! phere OF political activity, and there has
| been steady progress toward that end.