The Dakota chief. (Gann Valley, Buffalo County, S.D.) 18??-1913, 1908-02-06

emies Of honest corporatiosn and honest
labor unions; the rebate taker, the fran
chise tranicker. the manipuiator OF Sc
vice, the biackmailing ward boss, the bal
lot-box suffer, the demagogue, the mob
ali Isi alike wv work W at the same me- web I Of COR
ruption. and all alike should be abhorred
by honest men.
Hurts Right Business.
The business which Ia hurt by the
movement for honesty 10 the kind OF bus
mess which, IN the & long run. n It i pays a the e
business which has tended to make the
very name high finance, term of scan
dal to which all honest American men OF
The special pleaders for business dishon-
esty, In denouncing, the present admin
strdon for ne a@ wheh
defied the law. also denounee It for en-
deavoring to secure sadly needed labor
sgsia maEins s1n sesn Employers liable for m
juries to their employees. 1t is meet
and fit that the apologists for corrupt
lieve weak and helpless people from
crushing misfortune brought upon them
by injury in the business from which they
be distributed. 1t is hypocritical baseness
to speak of girl who works in fac
| tory where the dangerous machinery is
unproteeted as s having bness,r tine "a ireers
| to life and limb. She has no alternative
but to suffer want or else TO expose her
| self to such dangers, and when she loses
| ured for life, II is a moral wrong that
| the whole burden of the risk necessarily
! incidental TO the business should be placed
with crushing weight upon her weak
| shoulders, and all who profit by her work
escape scot-free. This is what opponents
| of a just employers liability law adyo-
| cate: and 1t is consistent that they should
| usually also advocate immunity for those
| most dangerous members of the criminal
class-the criminals of great wealth.
| our opponents have recently been Bit
| terly criticising the two judges referred
| to in the accompanying communications
from the Standard Oil company and the
Santa Fe railroad for having imposed
! heavy fines on these two corporations;
| and yet these same critics of these two
| Judges exhaust themselves in denouncing
| the most respectful and cautioLs discus
! sion of the official action OF. "a jud ,e which,
| results in Immunity TO wealthy aud pow
| erful wrongdoers. Most certainly II be-
hooves us all to treat with, the utmost
| respect the high office of Judge; and our
| Judges, as whole, are brave and up
right men. Respect for the law must go
| and, as a whole, it is true now as in the
| past that the judges stand in character
and service above all other men among
their fellow servants of the public There
| is all the, greater need that the few who
| fail in this great office, who fall below
this high standard of integrity, of wis
I
| courage should have their eyes opened
to the needs of their countrymen,
A Judge who on the bench either
| truckles to the mob and shrinks from
| sternly repressing violence and dis
order. or bows down before corpor-
alton; who fails to stand up yaliantiy
for the rights of property on the one
| hand, or on the other by misuse or
the process of injunction or by his
:attitu1e toward all measures for the
| lAptf tft -pann nfg tnara nj
makes the wageworker feel with Bit
| ternesS that the courts are hostile 70
him; or who fails TO realize that all,
| u: public servants in their several sta
| tions yuust strive to stop the abuses
of t':.1 criminal rieh-such a man per ~
l.: forms an even worse service 70 the
| :body polite than the legislator or
executive who goes wrong
Spirit is Ethical.
! The opponents of the measures we
champion single out now one and now now
speak as il the movement In which we
are engaged was purely economic, IT has
mentally mt III i an ethical I movement. @ t 1t is not
! a. movement to be completed in one year,
or two or, three years; 1t Is movement
spirit which Hes behind it sinks deep into
the heart and the conscience of the whole
people It is. always important to
buf fght r { means 70
to keep this purpose clearly before us:
and this purpose is to secure national
honesty in business and politics. sFe 90
dishonesty and unfair dealing are essen
tial to business success, and are to be
condoned when the success Is moderate
!: The methods by which the.
/ I: Standard OIL people and those. en-,
| gagged In the other combinations -
| which / above
| have achieved great fortunes can
only be justified. by the advocacy -
| {: of system of morality which
I would also justify every form of
/ criminality on the part of a labor
union, and every form of vio-
!: lence, corruption. and fraud. from
| Z: murder to bribery and ballot box ::
stuffing in politics.
|
We are trying to secure equality OF OPP
portunity for ALL and the struggle for
honesty lis the same whether it is made
on behalf of one set of men or Of another.
In the interest of the small settlers and
landowners. and against the embittered
opposition of wealthy owners of huge wan
dering flocks of sheep, or of corporations
desiring to rob the people Of coal and
timber, we strive to put an end to the
theft of public land in the West When
we do this and protest against the action
of all men, whether in public life or in
private life, who either taxi part IN or
refuse to try to stop such theft, we are
really engaged in the same policy as when
we endeavor to put stop to rebates or
to prevent the upgrowth of uncontrolled
monopolies. Our effort is simply to en-
force the principles of common honesty
and common sense. 1t would indeed be
i'll for the country should there be any
halt in our work.
Must Have Justice.
The laws must in the future be admin
istered as they are now being admins
tered, so that the department of justice
may continue to be- what 1t now Is, in
very fact the department OF justice, where
so far as our ability permits justice is
meted out with an even hand to great
Moreover there should be no delay in
supplementing the laws now on the statute
books by the enactment of further legis-
lation as outlined in the message / sent
to the congress on it's assembling. Under
the, existing laws much, very much, has
been actually accomplished during the
mast Six wears and IL has been shown by