The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1911-09-23
Government By Law, Or 3 Ven
4 Treatse q Govern 81 injunction. -
@s BY ANDREW FuRUsETH .@.s
Chairman American Federation d Labor
q Treatise on Government 81 IS
BY ANDREW FURUsEnlE

y 81
veto, and he will shortly be found to
be exercising positive powers, be-a
cause those having or being invested
With the positive power Will consult
him before acting: Negative ahsoiut-s
Ism, and the Tribune elected for life
becomes Caesar, the autocrat.
#Ea Caesar, given the tribunition power
for life. was by that fact made the
autocrat Of Rome, and when for q
Z short. time the tribunition power was
taken from the Caesars, they, having
lost that power, became so nearly a
joke that the power was restored.
The fact that our courts are exer-
acising the power Of veto !. on laws
passed, by determining their con-
:stitutionality. makes the legislators
zexpend much of their time in trying
to write the laws to suit the decisions.
This is so patent that it never es-
capes the attention Of visitors who
listen to the debates in either. house
OF congress. ..$
@.ss>-.a Equity Enforcement.
In some few instances congress has
enacted laws and then provided that
they could be enforced; by equity
process q. e., by injunction) ). but
those Instances are rare. Outside Of
the Sherman antitrust law and the
interstate commerce law there have
been some statutes dealing with the
temperance question. Whatswe here
call the equity power, is in England,
whence we obtained it, known as the
Chancery power; that is. the power
Of the. Chancellor, who was acting
for the king, sitting in his place. be
i cause the king did not have the time
or perhaps the inclination to sit.
The power or prerogative was the
kings; it was the creation of, the
! Roman sovereign. and has been the
prerogative of sovereignty ever. since.
The struggle between the king and
the commons in England may be
said to have been about this power,
the king trying to keep it, and the
people trying to curtail It, It had
been settled that Chancerye sh ould not
have any jurisdiction over personal
relations by the time that this coun-
try tore itself loose from the mother
country. The equity or Chancery
jurisdiction was limited to property.
relations, and then only where there
was no remedy at law. It was in
this shape with these limitations that
1t was adopted into our system. It
may very well be questioned whether
even congress has the right to extend
this power without a constitutional
judgment. Be that as. 1t may, the
judges certainly have no right to. ex-
tend it simply by construction. -
49, Injunction Revolutionary.
The following statement upon the
subject was read by me to the Amer
lean Academy of Political and Social
Science In 1910, published, In Vol.
SO Of its Annals: %:= I. ...E Z s..s.
; The modern use Of the writ Of Tn
junction., especially in labor disputes,
is revolutionary and destructive Of
popular government. Our govern.
Inent was designed to be q govern
ment by law. said law to be enacted
by the legislative branch, construed
by the judiciary and administered BY
the executive. An Injunction Is ian
extraordinary writ issued out Of
equity, .enjoining Threatened IN
July " pAOPO1Sy W pAVR01J AA8Alos
where there is not plain. adequate
and complete remedy at law.
Definition of Equity"
The definition Of equity is: The
application Of right and Justice to
the legal adjustment of differences
Iwheer the law. by reason Of It's uni.
versatility, is deficient" or that sys-
tenn Of Jurisprudence which compre-
hends every matter Of law for which
the common: law provides no, remedy
springing originally from
the royal prerogative, moderating the
harshness of the common law ac-
cording to good conscience" In
other words. it is the exercise Of
power according to the Judgment and
conscience Of one man. It was for
this reason that in Great Britain,
whence the United States derives Its
system Of equity, as we'll as Of law,
the equity power was limited to the
protection Of property or property
rights, and to such, cases only where
there was no remedy at law; the
words adequate and complete have
been added here.
When the courts Of equity issue In
functions in labor disputes, they do
SO to protect business, which, under
late rulings by several courts, IL held
to be property. These rulings ara
disputed and condemned by other
courts, which hold that relations be-
tween employers and employes-be-
tween buyer and seller-are personal
relations, and as such, f regulated
at all, are regulated by statute or
common law only. II the latter con-