The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1911-05-15
Jail Sentences Imposed on Presi- dent, Vice President and Sec retary of American Federation Unwarranted
Contempt at Most Was Civil Contempt and Should Have Been Punished by Fine if at All - Plaintiffs Abandoned Case
GOmpers Had Been Sentenced to One Year in Jail, Morrison to Six Months and Mitchell to Nine Months-Nine Justices Sign Opinion
Especial from United Press. )

Especial from United Press)
 Washington. May 15-Holding that 1 the imposition of jail sentences on Samuel Gompers, John Mitchell and
 Frank Morrison, president, vice-pres-
 ident and secretary, respectively. of the American Federation of Labor,
 were unwarrented by the nature of
 the contempt and that the District Supreme Court should only have inn posed a. fine, the Supreme Court of 1 the United States. today, freed the labor leaders and directed that the cases against them be dismissed.
 The decision was that the case was punishable by fines and that, since '. it was established that the Bucks ! Stove 6 Range Company had patch ed up its differences with the, Ameri- can Federation of Labor. the case should be dismissed outright.
 When the decision was handed , down, Samuel Gompers was on a train between Philadelphia and Bal timore, enroute to Washington from New York.
 The decision of the highest court was one of the greatest victories ever won by union labor in this country. Because it involved the imprison- CTS, it was looked upon by union men as marking the turning point in the fight of unionisn- in America.
 The tribunal held that when GomperE, Mitchell and Morrison dis obeyed the mandate of the District of Columbia Supreme Court and con- tinued the boycott against the Bucks Stove & Range Company. they were guilty of only civil contempt and they should have been punished by fire paid to the stove company-a fine measured by the wrong done the complainants.
 This construction reversed the de- cision of the lower courts which had punishable by imprisonment It ad- judged that Gompers should serve one year in taii, Mitchell nine months and Morrison six months.
 Justice Lamar read the decision of the Supreme Court of the United States He held that Justice Wright should have imposed a fine But he contended, if the two parties to the controversy had settled their differ ences in the original case of action case was ordered ramanded to the lower court with instructions to dis miss 1t.
 There was no dissenting opinion in the case, the decision being acuuies- ced in by all the nine members of the court.
 Justice Lamar's opinion was an ex- haustive study of the whole controv- erey. Much of it was technical an- alysis of the classifications of con- tempt "held that this contempt case was not a part of the main case between the American Federation of Labor and the Bucks Company and vet the three defendants were called as wit .nesses and made to testify against themselves which would not have been the case if the controversy were separate. 1t is purely a civil case. The only relief was the imposition of la fine. payable by the three defend | ants to the Bucks Stove & Range Company. There was aNfatal vari- | ance with the procedure when the court imposed a jail sentence. It was fundamentally erroneous"
 Secretary Morrison. of the Ameri 1 gcan Federation of Labor, danced with glee when informed of the decision.
 We are naturally eiated that the Supreme Court has supported us al- l though we felt all along they couIl | have always contended that Justice Wright's decision was wrong Now ] am going home to eat and I expect to enjoy my meal.
 The prominence of the persons in volved as we'll as the magnitude oe the issues raised combined to make the Ia bor contempt cases of greater public interest in some ways than any litiga ton before the Supreme Court since the famous Dred Scott case. ]
 The principals in the suit are Sam uel Gompers, president; John Mitchell, vfce-president and Frank Morrison, secretary. of the American Federation of Labor. The issues. as urged by the labor leaders. are the rights of free speech. free press and the | boycott
 The case grew out of a boycott be- ginning with a strike of metal polish- CTS in the plant of the Bucks Stove and Range Co, at St. Louis August % 1906. The stove company insisted on maintaining an "open shop and refused to accede to the unions re- quest for an eight hour day.
 The union thereupon instituted a | boycott, and, being affiliated with l the American Federation of Labor. | shortly afterward secured the aid of | that vast organization in their fight | In March 1907. the Federation voted to | place the name of Bucks Stove and | Range Co, on the "We Don't Patro- ! nize list in the American Fedora tionist. official organ of the federation. | This was the list of firms against | which organized labor was warned l because of their alleged unfair atti- tude toward the unions. The boycott | against the St. Louis firm was made nationwide.
 On August 19. 1907. after this na- tional boycott had been in progress for several months. the Stove Go. sued 1 the officers of the fedora ton to en- join further boycott. On December Is. l 1907 Justice Gould of the Supreme 1 r vrf sf the District of Columbia.