The Montgomery tribune., 1909-12-10

ness to which that court Is subjected II
is impossible to hope that n radical and
proper reform OF the federal equity pro-
cedure can be brought about. therefore
recommend legislation providing for the
appointment by the president OF n conn
mission with authority to examine the
law and equity procedure Of the federal
courts OF first Instance. the law of APP
peals from those courts to the courts of
appeals and to the supreme court, and the
costs imposed in such procedure upon the
private litigants and upon the public treas
ury and make recommendations with a
view to simplifying and expedltng the
procedure as far as possible and making
1t as inexpensive as may be to the liti-
CANT Of little means.
Injunctions Without Notice.
The platform OF the successful party In
the last election contained the following:
The Republican party will uphold at
all times the authority and integrity Of
the courts, state and federal. and will
ever insist that their powers to enforce
their process and to protect life. liberty
and property shall be preserved invioate.
We believe, however, that the rules of
procedure in the federal courts with re-
spect to the Issuance Of the writ OF in
junction should be more accurately de-
fined by statute and that no Injunction
or temporary restraining order should be
issued without notice. except where ir-
reparable injury would result from delay,
in which case speedy hearing there
after should be granted"
recommend that In compliance with
the promise thus made appropriate legis-
lation be adopted. The ends Of justice
will best be met and the chief cause OF
complaint against ill-considered injunc-
tions without notice will be removed by
the enactment of a statute forbidding
hereafter the Issuing of any injunction
or restraining order, whether temporary
or permanent, by any federal court,
without previous notice and reasonable
opportunity to be heard on behalf of the
parties to be enjoined unless 1t shall ap-
pear TO the satisfaction of the court that
the delay necessary to give such notice
and hearing would result in Irreparable
injury to the complainant and unless also
the court shall from the evidence make
a written finding, which shall be spread
upon the court minutes, that immediate
and irreparable injury is likely to ensue
to the complainant, and shall define the
injury, state why II is irreparable and
shall also indorse on the order issued the
date and the hour OF the issuance of the
order. Moreover. every such injunction
or restraining order issued without pre-
vious notice and opportunity by the de-
fendant to be hard should by force OF
the statute expire and be OF no effect
after seven days from the issuance there
of or within any time less than that pc
riod which the court may fix, unless
within such seven days or such less pc
riod the injunction or order is extended
or renewed after previous notice and op-
portunity to be heard.
My Judgment is that the passage OF
such an act which really embodies the
hest practice in equity and is very
like the rule now in force in some
courts will prevent the issuing of ILL
l.rs- Ar1a nf int inn Nyit hnf
notice and will render such orders
when issued much less Objectionable
by the short time in which they may
remain effective.
New Laws Needed.
The jurisdiction of the general gov
ernment over interstate commerce has
led to the passage of the so-called
Sherman antitrust law" and the "in-
terstate commerce law" and it's amend
| ments. The developments in the oper-
alton of those laws, as shown by in
| dictments, trials, judicial decisions,
| and other sources of information, call
| for a discussion and some suggestions
as to amendments. These L prefer to
| embody in a special message instead
| of including them in the present COM
| munication, and I shall avail myself
! of the first convenient opportunity tc
| bring these subjects to the attention OF
| congress.
Second-CIass Mail Matter.
| The deficit every year in the post
| office department is largely caused by
the low rate OF postage of l cent g
| pound charged on second-class mai
| matter, which includes not only news
| papers but magazines and miscellan-
| eous periodicals. The actual loss
1 growing out of the transmission oi
this second-class mail matter at / cen
/ - AA
| year. The average cost of the trans
| portation of this matter Is more thar
| 8 cents a pound.
1t appears that the average distances
| over which newspapers are delivered
to their customers is 291 miles. whil'
| the average haul of magazines is 1.049
and of miscellaneous periodicals 1.12'
| miles. Thus. the average haul of th'
| magazine is three and one-half times
and that of the miscellaneous period
| ical nearly four times the haul of th
daily newspaper. yet all of them pa,
the same postage rate of / cent
pound The statistics of 1907 SHOW
that second-class mail matter consti
tuted 63.91 per cent of the weight o
| all the mail and yielded only 5.19 pc
cent of the revenue.
The figures given are startling, AM
show the payment by the government
OF an enormous subsidy to the news
papers. magazines and periodicals. AM
congress may well consider whethe
radical steps should not be taken T.
reduce the deficit in the post office de
partment caused by this discrepanc,
between the actual cost OF transporta
tion and the compensation exacte'
therefor.
A great saving might be made
amounting to much more than half o
the loss, by imposing upon magazine
and periodicals a higher rate of post
age. They are much heavier tha
newspapers, and contain a much highe
proportion of advertising to reading
matter. and the average distance O
their transportation is three and hal
times as great.
The total deficit for the last fisca
year in the postoffice department
amounted to $17.50o.o0o. The branche
OF its business which 1t did at a los
were the second -class mail service. 1
which the loss. as already said, wa
s63, ,0o0, 900. and the free rural delivery 1
which the loss was s2S,0o0ooo. Thes
losses We're in part offset by tn
profits of the letter postage an
other sources OF income. 1t woul
seem wise to reduce the loss upo
second-class mail matter, at leas