Bisbee daily review., 1908-12-09

only for all employees of the national government. but for all persons en- gagged in interstate commerce. The object sought for could be achieved to measurable degree, as far as these killed or crippled are concerned, by proper employers liability laws. As far as concerns those wno have
 been worn out. I call your attention to the fact that definite steps towara
 prov. ding old-age pensions have bee.a
 taken in many of our private indus
 tries. These may be indefinitely e&-
 tended through voluntary association
 and eontributory schemes or through
 tie agency of savings banks. as undea
 the recent Massachusetts plan. To strengthen these practical measures
 should be our immediate duty; 1t ls
 not at present necessary to consider the larger and more general govern
 mental schemes that most European
 governments have found themselves
 obliged to adopt.
 The congress should, without fur ther delay, pass model employers
 liability law for the District of Co
 lumbia. The employers liability act. recently declared unconstitutional on account Of apparently including in it's provisions employees engaged in intFa- state commerce, as we'll as those eIl-
 gagged in interstate commerce, nas bsen held by the local courts to be still
 in effect, so far as provisions apply to the District of Columbia.
 l also renew my recomrnendauuh that the principle of the eighthour day should as rapidly and as far as practicable be extended to the entire work being carried on by the govern
 ment: tae present law should be amended to embrace contracts on | those public wOfks which the present
 wording of the act seems to exclude. most earnestly urge upon the con
 gress the duty of increasing the totally !! inadequate salaries now given to our | judges On the whole there is no body of public servants who do as valuable work. nor whose moneyed reward is so inadequate compared to their work. Beginning vita the Sweme court the judges should have their salaries , doubled. It is not befUting the dignI, i ty of the nation that it's most honored public servants should be paid sums so small compared to what they would earu in private life that the perform ance of public service by them implies
 an exec edinEly heavy pecuniary sacri- i flee.
 It is earnestly 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 SC 1 yeTity against persons of small means, and favor only the very criminals. whom it is most desirable to punish. ! These long delays in tae final decis- l ions of cases make in the aggregate a | crying evil; and a remedy should be devised Much of this intolerable .se. 1 lay is due to improper regard paid tU i technicalities, which are mere hin
 drance to justice. In some noted re-
 cent cases this over-regard for tecn- nicaIities has resulted in a striking denial of justice, and fragrant wrong to the body polite.
 There are certain decisions by V=- [ .ious courts waich have been exceed . ingly detrimental to the rights OGswage- workers. This is true of all the decis- ions that decide that men and women are, by the Constitution guaranteed their liberty" to contract to enter G
 dangerous occupation, or to work an undesirable or improper number of hours, to work in unhealthy surround ings; and therefore can not recoVeI damages when maimed in that Ocupa- ton, and can not be forbidden to VOL !,
 what the legislature decides is an e2s- cessive number of hours, or to c;trr, on the work under conditions which the legislature decides to be unhealthy. The most dangerous occupations are often the poorest paid, and those whcI, the hours of work are longest; and
 in many cases those who go into them are driven by necessity so great ltha, they have practically no alternative. Decisions such as those alluded to
 above nullify the legislative effort to
 protect the wageworkers, who most need protection, from those employers
 who take advantage of their grinding need.
 There is also. I think, ground for the belief that substantial injustice is often suffered by employees in conse- quence of the custom of courts issu- ing temporary injunctions withOuu
 notice to them, and punishing them for
 contempt of court in instanceswhere
 as matter of fact, they have no
 knowledge of any proceedings. Out
 side of organized labor there is a
 widespread feeling that this system
 often works great injustice to wage
 workers when their efforts to better their working condition result in in dustrfal disputes. A temporary in junction procured ex parte. may as a matter of fact have all the effect Of permanent injunction in causing dis
 aster to the wageworkers' side in a dispute. Organized labor is chafing
 under the unjust restraint which comes from repeated resort to this plan of
 procedure. Its dfscontent has been unwisely expressed, and often imprUp- Ierly expressed, but there is sound
 basis for it, and the orderly and law abiding people of community would be
 in far stronger position for uphold
 ing the courts if the undoubtedly ex-
 isting abuses could be provided against
 The legislators and executives are
 chosen to represent tae people in en-
 acting and administering the laws.
 The judges are not chosen to fepfe-
 sent the people in this sense The leg
 fslators are responsible for the laws;
 the judges for the spirit in which they interpret and enforce the laws We stand aIoof from the reckless agita-
 tors who would make the judges mere
 pliant tools of popular prejudice and
 passion; and We stand aloof from those
 equally unwise partisans to reaction and privilege who deny the proposi-
 ton that, inasmuch as judges are chosen to serve the interest Of the