Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1908-09-23
BRYAN WHACKs TAFT
IN LABOR DAY SPEECH.
Nebraskan Declares wage-Earners
Deserve Participation in the
Governments Councils.
TEXT is THE INJUNCTION.
Republican Candidate Not Unbiased
Judge Where Jury System Is
Under Consideration.

Under Consideration.
William Jennings Bryan received a
series of oyations in Chicago on Labor
Day. The first was when he arrived at
the station; the next was when he stood
upon the steps of the Auditorium hotel
In Michigan avenue, watched the army of
thousands of toilers pass by in review and
was cheered until he was forced to make
an lmpromptu speech; another came
when he was whisked away in an auto to
the Iroquois Club for luncheon, in com
pany with labor leaders, when he had
to speak again. and the final one came
Just before he began his main speech Of
the day before the mighty throng which
mad awaited his coming for hours at
Forest Park. Here Mr.. Bryan, in an
address to union men, said in part:
II 1t We're proper to speak from text,
would select passage from Proverbs,
Tor know OF no better one than that fur
nished by the words of Solomon when he
declared that as man, .thinketh in his
heart, SO he Is" This is Bible doctrine !;
1t Is common sense, and 1t is human ex-
perience. We think in our hearts as we'll
as In our heads-out of the heart ARE the
issues OF life. 1t is a poor head that can
not md a plausible reason for doing what
the heart wants to do. ] begin my Such
with this proposition because l want to linz
press 1t upon the minds of those who listen
20 me. and upon those who read what 1 say
TO you. The labor question Is more of a
moral than an Intellectual one.
me world is growing toward brother.
mood, and our nation is leading the way.
nj tpyt L.
anywhere else In the world. and more to-day
than there ever has been before There is
more recognition Of the kinship that exists
between US. more thought about the quesI
lions which concern n common humanity
than at any preceding time.
me labor organization helps those out
side OF 1t as well as Its members, because the
increased wages and improved conditions are
union men.
Do not understand me to say that la
bor organization is perfect; 1.-THE king can
90 no wrong can no more be spoken of a
group than of individuals. The labor or
ganizatfon Is composed Of men Its affairs
are controlled by human beings not per-
feet All that man touches is stained with
mans tmperfections, and his frailty can
be traced through all his works. But, for
tunately for the laboring man, the judy
ment pronounced against his mistakes must
be tempered by the fact that those with
whom the lnboring man comes into contact
are also likely to err. When the employee
deals with the employer. he is dealing with
one Of like passions with himself Each
Is likely to be inslstcnt upon what he be.
jlieves to be right, and the opinion of each,
as to what is right, is likely to be colored'
by selfish interests and affected by incom-
plete information as to the facts.
The labor organization has been seriously
Handicapped by the fact that 1t has been
and am not sure that 1t has not been
done unwittinsly-yokedu up with the indus
I'm
proneness Of trust defenders to use the
labor organization as an excuse for COM
binations In restraint of trade has aroused
the suspicion that they have been classei
together for the purpose of shielding the
combinations of capital. As the result of
eighteen years of antitrust legislation, only
one man has been given penal sentence
for violating the Federal law on this sub
organization rather than trust magnate.
The laboring man Is justified in his de-
Inand that distinction shall be drawn be-
tween the labor organization and the indus
trial monopoly.
The trust and the labor organization can
not be described In the same language The
trust magnates have used their power TO
amass swollen fortunes. while no one will
say that the labor organization has as yet
secured for its members more than their
share of the benefits arising from their
work. But there are fundamental differ
ences. The trust Is combination of dol
lars; the labor organization Is In assOcia-
tion of human beings. In trust a few
men attempt to control the product Of 9th.
ers; In labor organization, the members
unite for the protection Of that which Is
their own. namely, their own labor, which,
being necessary to their existence. is a part
of them. The trust deals with dead mat maj
ter the labor organization deals with life
and with intellectual and moral forces. No
Impartial student of the subject will deny
the right OF the laboring man to exemption
nnQ Az I'm vf,4ty, -
law. + :
II the labor organization needs to be reg.
ulated by law. let It be regulated by a law,
which deals with man as man. and not by n
law that was aimed to prevent the corner.
ing OF a commodity or the forestalling of
Trial by Jury.
Upon the jury question Mr.. Taft clearly
takes Issue with us. He Is thoroughly
aroused by what he regards as menace to
the courts. Here Is his lament
Never in the history of the country has
there been such an insidiOus attack upon
the judicial system as the proposal to in
ter1ect jury. trial between all orders Of
the court made after full hearing and the
enforcement of such orders' -
This would come under the head of "Im-
portant. II true But the fact is, our
platform specifically declares that we favor
q measure (which passed the United States
Senate in 1896, and which Republican
Congress has ever since refused to enact"
ETC.. providing for trial by Jury, in cases al
indirect contempt. Are not the proceed.
ings of the United States Senate part of
the history of the country? This measure
passed the United States Senate more than.
twelve years ago, and the vote upon it was
30 nearly unanimous that no roll call was
demanded. The bill was not smuggIed
through without discussion 1t was amend.
ed In open Senate and the members Of the
Senate had ample opportunity to understand
1t. 1t would have passed Congress and be-
come law long ago but for the fact that
few large corporate employers of labor
have kept lobby in Washington ever
since, and have been able to coerce Con.
gress into ignoring the laboring mems plea,
MI. TAFT is not an unbiased Judge where
the jury system Is under consideration. He
ment by Injunction. but he Is prejudiced
against the jury system. Every man is un.
consciously influenced by his environment.
and NJ. Iafts long service upon the bench
has led him to underrate the Importance of
the jury system. In his address to the stu.
dents of Yale, entitled "A judge on the
bench" he shows a decided leaning toward
an increase Of the authority of the Judge.
and praises the procedure In the Federal
court at the expense of the Western courts.
even though he admits that "the jury avs.
TEN popularizes the court and gives the
people to understand that they have, mot
administration Of Justice" He has fallen
into the error of assuming that any i'm.
provement In the method OF court procedure
Is an attack upon the authority of the
court. This IL an ancient method of on
posing reforms. Lord Nacauley had to en-
counter a similar objection when he IA
vored the reform of the rotten borough sys.
TEN of England. Those who were opposed
to the reform construed 1t as an attack
upon the throne and as menace to the
stability of government but the reform WAS
secured and the government OF England
was improved rather than Impaired So the
reform attempted by the Senate twelve
years ago. and endorsed by three Demo,
cratic national conventions. is hi the in
terest of justice.and has for It's object the
strengthening Of the court in public estl-
nation.
While the laboring men have been the
first to complain of this denial of the right
of trial by jury in cases of indirect con-
tempt, 1t ought not to he considered a labor
question. The Jury system is so essential to
the administration of Justice that the sub
ject ought to appeal to all who make a
study of the science of government. If
citizens would only be on their guard
against the beginnings of evils, 1t would be
very easy to apply necessary remedies, but
In the struggle for existence the voters are
often Indifferent to the application of an
erroneous principle until repeated appIica-
lions establish custom. and In time a
custom crystalizes into law. 1t behooycs us,
as lovers Of our country and as the friends
of liberty, to insist upon the independence