The Hope pioneer. [volume] (Hope, N.D.) 1882-1964, 1908-12-10

WillS lNS TlSHI 10 carry on q business
was explicitly taken out from under
that protection which the law throws
over property. The demand was made
that there should be trial by jury in
contempt cases, thereby most seriously
impairing the authority of the courts.
All this represented a course OF policy
which. If carried out, would mean the
crudest AMI most brutal form. and the
destruction OF n of the most essen.
tt'l functions OF the judiciary in all civ.
ilized lands.
Evil In Class Consciousness.
The violence of the crusade for this
legislation. and It's complete failure,
Illustrate two truths which it is essen
tial our people hould learn. In the
first place, they ought to teach the
workingman. the laborer. the wage
worker. that by demanding what is inn
proper and impossible he plays into the
hands OF his foes. Such a crude and
vicious attack upon the courts, even II
1t were temporarily successful, would
inevitably in the end cause a violent
reaction and would and 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 car ultimately
result in nothing but damage to those
In whose behalf it Is nominally UNDER
taken. This Is a most healthy truth.
which 1t is wise for all our people to
learn. Any movement based on tina
class hatred which at times assumes
the name of class consciousness" 10
certain ultimately to fail. and II 1t tenn
p0rarily succeeds. to do ia, reaching
damage. GLASS consciousness" where
IT Is merely another name for the odi-
Gus Vice of class selfshness. is equally
~..et >,,n To-
ISOLATION or In a workingman's assocl-
alton. The movement in question was
one in which the appeal was made to
all v~'orkingmen to vote 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 ,r-sighted
among the persons to whom 1t is ad-
dressed and In the second place tend
to arouse Il strong antagonism among
all other classes of citizens. whom 1t
therefore tends to unite against the
very organization on whose behalf It Is
issued. The result is therefore unror-
healthy. truth. by the way. will he
learned by the Socialists If they ever
succeed in establishing In this country
an important national party based on
such class consciousness and selfish
class interest.
lue WdSe"OEkeFS, Tie WOFR!NV.nen,
the laboring men OF the country by tho
way in which they repudiated the ef-
fort to get them to cast their votes In
response to an appeal to class hatred.
have emphasized their sound patriotism
and A~mericanism.' The whole country
has cause to feel pride in this attitude
OF sturdy independence. In this uncom-
promising insistence upon acting sim
ply as good citizens. al good Ameri-
cans. without regard to f~ancied-and
improner-class interests. Such an at
titude is an object lesson in good citi.
zenship to the entire nation.
Plea for Court Buiwark.
Blu the extreme ~reactlonartcs. the
persons who blind themselves to the
WRONGS nov and then committed by
the courts on laboring men. should also
think seriously as to what such a
movement az this p%ortends. The Judges
who have shown themselves able and
willing effectively to check the dishon-
est activity OF the very rich mar who
works ini0nity by the mismanagement
of corpora tons. who have shown them.
selves alert to do Justice to the wage
worker. and sympathetic with the
needs of the mass of our people. SO that
the dwellcr in the tenement houses. the
man who practices a dangerous trade.
the man who Is crushed by excessive
hours Of labor. feel that their needs are
understood by the courts-these judges
are the real bulwark Of the courts;
these Judges. the Judges of the stamp
OF the pres.dent-elect. who have been
fearless in opposing labor when 1t has
gone wrong. but fearless also in hold
ing to strict account corporations that
work iniquity. and far-sighted in see-
ing that the workingman gets his
rights, ore the men of all others to
whom we owe 1t that the appeal for
R1lch violanf and mistaken o0iQ1at i0n
has fallen on deaf ears, that the agitA.
ton 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 inability or unwillingness to put
a stop to the wrongdoing OF very rich
men under modern industrial condi-
tons. and inability or u~nwillingness to
give relief to men of small can or
wageworkers who are crushed down
by these modern industrial conditions:
who. in other words. fail to UNDER
stand and apply the needed remedies
for the new wrongs produced by the
new and highly complex. social and In
dustrlal civilization which has grown
up in the last half century.
The rapid changes in our social life
which lave attended this rapid growth
ave made 1t necessary that. in applying
to concrete cases the great rule OF right
AdlN uO"h AL ouA SoASal0IAOus IA40SV
should be a full understanding and ap-
probation Of the new conditions to which
the rules are to be applied. What would
have been an infringement upon liberty
half a century ago may be the necessary
safeguard Of liberty to-day. What would
ave been an injury to property then
may be necessary to the enjoyment OF
property now. Every judicial decision
involves two terms-one. an interpreta-
ton Of the law; the other. the under
standing Of the facts to which 1t is to
be applied. The great mass OF our ju-
dcial officers are I believe alive to these
changes Of conditions which 90 materi-
ally affect the performance OF their ju-
dicial duties. Our judicial system IL
sound an effective at core, and 1t re-
mains, and must ever be maintained, az
the safeguard of those principles OF lib
erty 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 rave Jagged be-
hind in their understanding of these
great and vital changes in the body
polite, whose minds have never been
opened to the new applications of the old
principles made necessary by the new
conditions. Judges Of this stamp do last
ing harm by their decisions. because they
eopv{rco pnor MAN ~ pood o% ~rotookl~.