The Detroit times., 1909-01-02
ROOSEVELT IS Man
WHO ATTACKED
JUDICIARY
SAMUEL GOMPERs.
CNsLAUoHTs WE'RE FAR MORE
SWEEPING AND ABUSIVE THAN
ANYTHING LABOR EVER UT
TERED. SAYS Mr.. ooMPERs.

WASHINGTON, Jan. 2.-Samuel
Compers president OF the American
Federalism of Labor, says In THIS
months issue OF the American FEEDER
ationist:
I'm view OF the utterances OF Presi-
dent Roosevelt during the recent CAM
paign all looked forward with keen
interest to what he would say III ms
recent annual message to congress.
He DISTORTED himself as was anticipat-
ed. There was a mixture OF sugges-
ton of reform, with criticism. denun-
citation. abuse. and Misrepresentation
of all who differ in any degree from
him. II is perhaps impossible to fiu1
in all our country another public man
so intolerant. bitter. and relentless 10
ward any man who happens 10 De
unable 70 agree with him.
"The presidents suggestions on the
employers liability law and the eight
hour law ire sound and to the poiEt'
but IL is doubtful that hew Ill puoiiciy
give credit to the sources or his mon
tai development on this score. In go
far as organized labor can work In CO.
operation with the reforms the presi'
dent recommends, so as to secure th@i:
enactment by congress as well as tnt'r
enfCrceme by governmental officers,
this will assurediy be done. Whsn
labor dissents from the views EXPRESS
ed by the president, II surely sfouid
not be counted to the discredit or our
movement our cause, or our men, that
he may have Jagged in his mental de-
,clopmenI
1--WE wish TO concern ourselves here
particularly with what the press char
acterizes as AN attack on labor leadi
ers" in the presidents message. Ii
does not call for much disccrnment TO
infer to whom the president directs
his abuse. 1t is doubtful that any pres
,dent OF the United States in an official
message 10 congress ever before de-
seconded to such misrepresentation ard
vilifcation of individual citizens as
Mr. Roosevelt has in his last annual
message.
president Roosevelt absolutely
misrepresents the attitude Of certain
leaders OF organized labor In his
sweeping denunciations. He does this
knowingly and wilfully. because he
has from time to time during the last
seven years conferred with the Ger
tain" and nearly ell the well-known
officers cad other representatives OF
labor unions. and has had ample op-
nortunity &c know how fair and just
IL their contention against the abuse
OF the Injunction power by the courts,
and how different their attitude from
what he charges II to be. Mr.. Roose-
welt can not quote for he can not find
any violent and sweeping attack upon
the entire judiciary of the country
which he charges the men of labor
with making.
THE fact is that no representative
Of labor made any attack upon ayry
individual Judge or the judiciary as
such. We leave such Nominations to
Mr.. Roosevelt. We need go no further
than his present message to discover
attacks upon the judiciary far more
sweeping and abusive than anything
We have ever thought. much less NJ
tered. We have had occasion before
20 point out that In previous messages
lie did not hesitate to attack judges
whose decisions displeased him-he,
as usual, constituting himself the
Judge OF whether or not his attack was
justified
"Labors representatives have ut all
times attacked the Principle under
which unjust decisions have been is-
sued and never the judges who ma lie
these decisions. We refer to all that
We have said about the supreme court
in connection with the Danbury hat
ters' decision which classed labor in.
ions with trusts under the Sherman
antitrust law. We refer to anything
we said IF President-elect Taft in con.
nection with his history as a Judge,
when issuing injunctions. We have
never used personal abuse as our
Weapon