Milford chronicle., 1908-10-30
Mr.. TAFT GAVE
LABOR ITS RIGHTS
Defined Them in the PheIan Case
Beyond Successful Attack
and Blew Breath of Life
Into Sherman Law.
TRADE UNIONS BEST WEAPON
porous.

Made Them Lawful and Pros
porous.
Judge Taft's career upon the
bench will ever receive its most i'm.
portant reflection, in the popular
mind, from the decisions affectine
labor which it became his duty to
utter. That his services on the Sixth
circuit, in collaboration with Judge
william r. Day (nOw an Associate
justice OF the Supreme Court) and
Judge II. II. Lurton, who remains
on the Sixth Circuit, in Illuminating
the obscurities, defining the meaning
and direeting the enforcement of the
statutes, were no less important, does
not detract from the weight of his
decisions concerning labor.
Ranking with these labor decisions.
OF which there were three, was the
decision in the "Addystone pipe'
case, which blew the breath of life
into the moribund Sherman law. 1t
showed Mr.. Roosevelt the line to
which to hew in instigating success
full proceedings against the trusts.
and establish the right of the Federal
, Government to control Interstate
commerce. The rights of labor have
been marked out by Mr.. Taft so that
they stand as sharply and clearly de-
fined as they were confused and un-
derestimated before. This has been
altogether to the profit of unionized
labor, not to its disadvantage. Judge
Taft placed firmly in the hand of
labor, to use properly as weapon of
offense and defense, the right of
strike, to proceed lawfully against
unfair employees and in a manner to
secure 1t from prosecution. These
Iacts cannot successfully be contro-
verted.
Mr.. Taft has been held accountable
for the sins implied by a phrase.
government by injunction" in real
tty as void of meaning as most catch
phrases are, which sprang into exist
ence during the American Railway
Union strike of 1894. His decision.
which was in the Phelan case. was
inspired by incidents growing out of
the endeavor of Eugene Y. Debs to
tie up all the railroads in order to
reinforce the efforts of the Pullman
Company to obtain higher wages and
Just and needed concessions. Debs'
idea was that if the railroads would
refuse to handle Pullman cars it
would insure the success of the strike.
as undoubtedly it would have done.
In some of his efforts to tie I'D roads
that would not bar the Pullmans, his
men cOllided with the law of iniunc-
tions and were worsted.
One of these men was F. w. Phe-
Ian, who was commissioned by Deb5
to go to Cincinnati and tie up the
roads entering there. Among them
was the Cincinnati, New Orleans and
Texas Pacific, or Cincinnati Southern.
which was being managed by a re-
ceiver appointed by Judge Taft. The
ordering out OF these men as a meas
ure OF sympathy with the Pullman {
strikers was in effect boycott. The
receiver of the railroad sought and {
obtained from Judge Taft an iniunc-
tion prohibiting the strikers from
interfering with traffic Phelan was
determined. He told his followers
to go ahead and disregard the iniunc-
tion. {
Phelan was hailed into court. The
strikers were not in a conciliatory q
mood, to say the least, and the de- l
gree of animOsity that was manifest '
cd against Judge Taft was such as to t
alarm his friends for his personal S
safety. The courtroom was packed a
with strikers, and they were grim 4
and ugly, for Phelan they considered
In the light of one who was on the T
way to martyrdom, largely because j
ohtho anger OF 4 judge whose iniunc-
lion he had spurncd. Q
1t was forcgone conclusion, on
The evidence, that Phelan would be
Judge Taft reviewed
he evidence fully. He cited authori- t
lies to establish beyond dispute that a
while the employees of the railroad a
lac n right to cease work, they had a
10 right to combine to injure the a
'oad or to cause it to withdraw from 81
! profitable business with a third b
)Rrty With tho effect of injuring that p
1arty, when the relation thus inter-
'pptcd had no connection with the q
Iind OF service given by the en- d.
1loyes or the compensation they re- g
.eived for It, W
Attorneys for labor unions have 1
ince successfully utilized in pleading al
or the rights of their clients in court K
his definition of the rights of labor III
Gse: fe
Tho employees of the receiver had h
no right TO organize into or Join ra
labor union which would take ac- 81
Ion as to the terms of their en- NJ
loyment. A
''Tt is a benefit to them and to the p
ubilc that laborcrs should unite for he
heir common interest and for law tn
NJ purposes. tn
They have labor to sell. If they he
tand together they are often able
II Of them. TO obtain better prices
Or their labor than dealing singIy w
18th rich employers, because the of
Of the single employe may sn
ompcl him 10 accept any price that I'll
offered. tn
Tho accumulation of a fund for on
hose who feel that the wages offered ha
re below tho legitimate market value lily
such labor is-desirable. lif
"Tbey have the right to appoint
Hcors who shall advise them as to
ls cpursc to be taken in relations TIC
'ith their employers. 23
"They may unite with other Ia
Mons. ce
1.-THE officers they appoint. or any M.
Lher person they chose to listen to.
lay advise them as to the proper
,urse to be taken, both in regard to we