Arizona republican., 1909-09-17

taSes of trade unionism, great as they
 are, cannot weigh d feather in the
 scale against the right of any man
 lawfully seeking employment to work
 for whom and at what price he will.
 And I say this with all the emphasis
 possible, even though I were a work
 ing man I should probably deem it
 wise to join a union for the reasons
 given.
 The effect of organized labor upon
 such abuses as the employment of child labor, exposure of laborers to un- due risk and dangerous employments. the continuance of unjust rules of law exempting employers from liability for accidents to labOrers has been direct, immediate and useful. and such re- forms in these matters as have tsf;en place would probably be long delayed
 but for the energetic agitation of the question by the representatives of or ganized labor.
 Of course when organized labor permits itself to sympathize with vio- lent methods, with breaches of the law. with boycotts and other methods of both civil and criminal laws. To our sympathy. But it is not to be ex- pected that such organizations shall be perfect and that they may not at all times and in particular cases show defective tendencies that ought to be corrected. One defect which has beN pointed out has been a disposition of the majority of the members of labor unions to reduce the compensation of all men engaged in a particular trade to a dead level and to fail to recog- niZe the difference between the highly skilled and very industrious workman and the one less skilled and less in dustrious. I think there is a move ment among trades unions themselves to correct this levelling tendency, and nothing could strengthen the move ment more than the adoption of some plan by which there should remain among union workmen the impetus and motive to be found in greater reward for greater skill and industry.
 There is one thing to be said in re- spect to American trades unionlsm that it's critics are not generally alive to. In France the trades unions are intensely sOcialistic. Indeed, in some late difficulties it was plain that there was n strong anarchistic feeling among them and that they opposed all author ity of any kind. It is also plain that the tendency toward socialism in Eng laPd's trades unions is growing stronger. need not point out the de- deplorable results in this country if trade uniOnism became a synonym for socialism. Those who are now in act i've control of the Federation of Labor and all the great railroad organizations have set their faces like flint against the propaganda of socialistic princi- ples.. They are in favor of the rights of property and of our present insti- tutions. and such remedial legislation as to put wOrkingmen on an equality with their opponents in trade contrO- versies and trade contracts, and to stamp out the monopoly and the cor porate abuses which are an outgrowth of our present system, accompanied by proper limitation.
 ''Our friends of the great unions at times complain of our courts, more, perhaps, because of decisions in in junction cases than for anything else. T iiftNt eiAittibN Ap lillS lar phase of litigation in which they have an interest, but when the sub ject of courts is mentioned it suggests to me a large field for complaint and reform in which all the citizens are interested and have a right to be heard. There is no subject upon which I feel as deeply as upon the neces- sity for reform in the administration of bath civil and criminal laws. To sum it all up in one phrase, the diff ficulty in both is undue delay. It is not too much to say that the admin istration of criminal law in this coun- try is a disgrace to any civilization and that the prevalence of crime and fraud. which here is greatly in excess of that in the European countries, is due largely to the failure of the law and it's administrators to bring crim- inals to justice. I am sure that it's failure is not due to the corruption of officials. It is not due to their neg liSence or laziness, although, of course, there may be both in some cases, but it is chiefly due to the system against which it is impossible for an earnest prosecutor and an efficient judge to struggle.