Dakota farmers' leader. (Canton, S.D.) 1890-19??, 1908-12-11

OF the unjust Judge their eagerly desired
opportunity to shift their, ground toto a
unjustiy assumed ed 'I LAST 3! Yeas b wfo the
house committee on the judiciary. these
maod. la sSeoi lSaGers tb for 511' fhsq G their dsi
them, refusing all compromise, stating
they wished the principle of that bill or
that in a labor dispute no injunction
shoulo issue except to protect a property
right to carry on business should not be
second provision their bill made legal in
or between two or more persons that
would not have been unlawful II lone by
a single person; In other words, this bill
every form, leEalizinE, for instance. those
forms OF secondary boycott which the
reserNedly condemned; while the right to
carry on a business was explicitly taken
H Inw i rem NJ GndSr that profession which the
was made that there should be trial by
jury in contempt cases, thereby most
seriously impa!ring tho authority of the
courts. All this represented a course OF
policy which, II carried out. would mean
the enthronement of class privilege In It's
crudost and most brutal form, and the
obstruction of one OF tho most essential
functions of the judiciary in all Civilized
lands.
Attack Too Crude.
Tho violence of the crusade for his leg
~islation. and It's complete failure, Illus
trate two truths which 1t is essential our
people should learn. In the first place,
they ought to teach the w~orktngman the
laborer, the wageworker, that BY de-
he plays into the hands of his foes. Such
a crude and vicious attack upon the
~cessful. would inevitably in the end cause
a violent reaction and would band the
great mass of citizens together, forcing
them to stand by all the judges. COM
petent and incompetent alike. ra ther than
to see the wheels of Justice stopped, A
S Nhos :" o eSa1f' t is S0 no natnafS und shGss IN
This Is a most healthy. truth, which it is
movement based on that class hatrud
which at times assumes the name Of
mately to fail, and If it temporarily sue
ceeds, to do far reaching damage. "Class
other name for the odious vice of class
s~eltishness. Is equally n%oXious, whether in
question was one in which The appeal
was made to all workingmen to vote
primarily, not as American citizens, but
as individuals of a certain class in so
ciety. such an appeal In the first place
reVolts the more high Minded and far
sighted among the persons to whom it is
addressed. and in the second place tends
70 arouse a strong ~antagonism among all
fore tends to unite against the very or
ganization on whose behalf it is issued.
from ahe result Is therefore Hnfortunate
truth, by the way. will be learned by the
socialists If they ever succeed in estab-
tional party based on such class con-
sciousness And selfish class interest.
The wageworkers. the w~orkinsmen, the
In which they ~repudiated the effort to
get them to cast their votes in response
phasized their sound patriotism and
Americanism., The whole country. has
sturdy Independence, in this uncompro-
missing insistence upon acting simply as
5000 citizens, as good Americans, with
out regard to fancied-and improper-
object lesson in good citizenship to the
entire nation.
Reactionaries Should Pause.
But the extreme rcactiOnaries. the per-
sons who blind themselves to the wrongs
now and then committed by the courts on
laboring men, should also think seriously
as to what such a movement as this por-
tends. The judges who have shown them
selves able and willing effectively to
rich man who works iniquity by the mis-
management Of coTpordtions, who have
shown themselves alert to do justice to
the wagcworker, and sympathetic with
the needs Of the mass of our people,, so
that the dweller in the tenement houses,
the mar who practices a dangerous trade,
the man who is crushed By excessive
hours of labor, feel that their needs are
understood by the co~urts-these judges
go Wv iNai 70 " u III touIIS lllSSt
judges, the Judges Of the stamp of the
pr~esident-elect. who have been fearless
wrong, but fearless also in holding ndd sot to
strict account corporations that work
iniquity,, and far sighted In seeing that
the ~workingman gets his rights, are the
men of all others to whom we owe it thai
the appeal for such violent and mistaken
ieglslation mas fallen on deaf ears, that
without substantial basis.
The courts are jeopardized primarily by
judges who show inability or unwilling
ness to put a stop to the ,wrongdoing of
conditions, and inability niaiih 9n or unw ihnagrrsas
to give relief to men of small means or
wageworkers who are crushed down by
these modern industrial conditions; who,
In other words, fail TO understand and
apply the needed remedies for thee new
wrongs produced by the new and highly
complex social and Industrial civiliza-
ton which has grown up in the last half
The rapid changes in our social and in
dustrial life which have attended this
rapid growth have made 1t necessary
g ehea' IN aP Of rirEEt to laid fo down in cases asr od The
stitution. there should be a full under
standing and appreciation of the new
applied. What would have been an
Infringement upon liberty half a century
ago may be the necessary safeguard OF
Unworthy Judges.
The chief lawmakers in our country
may be, and often are, the Judges, be-
cause they are the final seat. of authority.
Every time they interpret contract, prop
erty, vested rights, due process Of la ",
liberty, they necessarily enact into law
parts OF a system Of social philosophy;
and as such Interpretation is fundament-
al, they give direction to all law making.
The decisions of the courts on economic
and social questions depend upon their
economic and social philosophy; and for
the peaceful progress of our people during
the twentieth century we shall owe most
to those judges who hold to a twentieth
and not to a long outgrown philosophy,
which was itself the product or primitive
economic conditions. OF course, a Judges
views on progressive social philosophy
possession of q high and fine character;
which means the possession of such ele-
mentaTy virtues as honesty, courage and
fairmindedness. The judge who owes his
electlon to pandering 10 demagogic senti-
ments or class hatreds and prejudices,
and the judge who owes either his cleo
ton or his appointment to the money or
the favor OF a great corporation, are
alike unworthy to sit on the bench, are
alike traitors TO the people: and no pro-
fundity Of legal learning, or correctness
OF abstract conviction on questions OF
public policy, can serve as an offset to
such sh0rtcomings. But it is also true
that Judges, like ~xecutive and legis-
%lators, should hold sound views on the
questions of public policy which are of
vital interest to the people.
The legislators and executives are chos-
en- to represent the people in enacting and
not chosen to represent the people in this
sense. Their function IS to Interpret the
laws: The legislators are responsible for
the laws: the judges for the spirit In
laws. We stand aloof from the reckless
agitatorS who would make the irdoas