Daily Arizona silver belt., 1908-12-09

with the new relations that arise iron
 the mutualism, the interdcpendence O
 our time. Every new social relation be
 gets new type of wrongdoing--o sin
 to use an old.fashioned word--an,
 many years always elapse before soci
 ety is able to turn this sin into crim,
 which can be effectively punished a
 law. During the lifetime of the olde
 men now alive the social relations hay,
 changed far more fapidly than in tn,
 preceding two centuries. The immens,
 growth of corporations, of business don,
 by associations, and the extreme strair
 and pressure of modern life, have pro
 duced conditions which render the pub | lie confused as to who it's really dan
 gerous foes are; and among the public
 servants who have not only shared this
 confusion, but by some of their acts
 have increased it, are certain judges
 Marked inefficiency has been shown in
 dealing with corporations and in re
 settling the proper attitude to be taken
 by the public not only towards corpor
 atfons, but towards labor, and towards the social questions arising out of the factory system, and the enormous growth of our great cities.
 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 it's 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 greater number of clements that, under various judicial decisions, lend themselves to fraud and oppression than any device yet evolved in the human brain. Corporations are neces- sary instruments of modern business. They have been permitted to become a menace largely because the govern mental representative of the people have worked slowly in providing for adequate control of them.
 The chief offender in any given case may be an executive, legislature or a judge. Every executive head who advises violent, instead of gradual &C., tion, or who advocates illconsidered and sweeping measures of reform (es- pecially if they are tainted with vim dictiveness and disregard for the rights of the minority) is particularly blame worthy. The several legislatures are responsible for the fact that our laws are often prepared with slovenly haste and lack of consideration. Moreover, they are often prepared, and still more frequently amended during passage, at the suggestion of the very parties against whom they are afterward en- forced. Our great clusters of corpora tions, huge trusts and fabulously veal thy multimillionaires, employ the very best lawyers they can obtain to pick flaw sin these statutes after their pas sage; but they also employ a class of secret agents who seek, under the ad- vice of experts, to render hostile legis- lation innocuous by making it unconsti- tutional, often through the insertion of what appear on their face to be drastic and sweeping provisions against the in- tcrests of the parties inspiring them; while the demagogues, the corrupt erea lures who introduce blackmailing scheme sto ''strike' corporations, and all who demand extreme, and undesir- ably radical measures, show themselves to be the worst enemies of the very pub lie whose loud-mouthed champions they profess to be. A very striking illus tration of the consequences of careless ness in the preparation of a statute was the employers liability law of 1906. Jn the cases arising under that law, four out of six courts of first in stance held it unconstitutional; six out of nine justices of the supreme court held that its subject matter was within the scope of congressional action; and four of the nine justices held it valid. It was, however, adiudged unconstitu- tional by bare majority of the court five to four. It was surely very piece of work to frame the legislation in such shape as to leave the question open at all
 Real damage has been done by the manifold and conflicting interpretations of the interstate commerce law. Con trol over the great corporations doing interstate business can be effective only if it is vested with full power in an department, branch of the federal executive, carrying out federal law; it can never be effective if a divided responsibility is left in both the states and the nation; it can never be effective if left in the hands of the courts to be decided by lawsuits.
 The courts hold place of peculiar and deserved saneity under our form of government. Respect for the law is essential to the permanence of our in- stitutions; and respect for the law is largely conditioned upon respect for the courts. It is an offense against the republic to say anything which can weaken this respect, save for the gray est reason and in the most carefully guarded manner. Our judges should be ned in peculiar honor; and the duty of respectful and truthful comment and criticism, which should be binding when we speak of anybody, should be espe- rially binding when we speak of them On an average they stand above any other agents of the community, and the greatest judges have reached the high level held by those few greatest patriots whom the whole community delights to honor. But We must face the fact that there are wise and unwise judges, just ls there are wise and unwise executives md legislatures. When president or