The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1911-06-17

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il which there 49, oas highly import
ant stipulation. Mind this now. for It |
profoundly and vitality affects organ
lied labor even In our own distant
time and country. 81 .s:ss
The chancellor agreed not to inject
the kings elastic conscience into GRIM
inal matters IA wise stipulation that, |
in the interest of personal rights.
If the chancellor could NEEDLE in
criminal matters. lie might finally de-
! stroy the safeguards OF English liberty
and while England had more than
the usual supply Of those safeguards,
she had none to spare.
Except for that stipulation person
might go to the chancellor and say: /
my neighbor threatens to steal my
pigeons and the regular Judges won't
head him off, nor punish him for
stealing them until he steals them; is ]
that according to kings conscience q
| And then the chancellor could reply:
1T is not according to the kings
conscience; the kinS'c conscience re-
volts at it. / will issue an injunc-
ton forbidding your neighbor to steal
your pigeons, and then if your pigeons
disappear will punish him. for con-
tempt Of court for breach Of that
| Injunction"
Again, except for that stipulation,
the chancellor might issue injunctions
against libellous statements before
publication, so as to make any kind
Of publication, no matter how lawful
it might be nor how useful. a fear
l h{,ooe IN efv,ro 1oef 1hoS
cellor decide the case by the kings
conscience, which was elastic, instead
of the law of the land, which was
rigid. -
Again, except for the stipulation
the chancellor might get to issuing
ingenious injunctions against criminal
conduct in labor strikes. when in
the process of social evolution the
time for them should come; or against
innocent acts or words by strikers,
such as asking other workers to Join
them in the strike; Or against strikes
themselves; and might, by thus sub
jecting strikers TO arbitrary trials by
himself without juries. so intimidate
organized workers that they would
not dare to go on with lawful strikes
in lawful ways lest they get tangled
in his web of judge-nade law. :
But this was prevented by that
compromise between those old English
chancellors and those old English
judges. The. compromise left the
chancellors, with their kings con-
science, to deal with quarrels between
property claimants over peculiar ques-
tions Of property rights; but questions
of human liberty and of all other
human rights except properly rights
. outside Of crime. were given up by
!. the chancellors. ~ Hn
, This important to Americans For
our country was originally a col.
| lection Of British colonies, governed
! by the laws of England; and when
: they seeded from the mother coun-
. try in 1776, they retained the British
. laws at that time in force among
}. them. So we had chancery courts,
and law courts apart from chancery
courts, with different groups Of Judges
in each; and our chancery courts
were not allowed to manufacture
y judge-made law affecting human IL
= berty or freedom Of speech or Of the
= press nor to try criminal cases on
. pretense Of trying cases of contempt
y Of court. > 49, * 5s&E.s:s.
II we had continued this separation
Of chancery and law courts, it is
probable. that no chancellor in OUT
: country would ever have ventured tc
u grant injunctions, either creating
crimes or forbidding those the Law
: created. The judges of the othe,
= courts would have seen to that, fol
judges are pretty jealous Of thei,
: powers. and this would have en-
croached upon the powers Of the Law
: judges. ~ ~:
i But in course of time the distinc
> ton between chancery courts and Law
; courts was abolished with us; not ii
: form everywhere, but in fact, for thu
same men came to sit as judges IL
4 both courts. It was as II the king.
conscience had been turned over t.
= the law Judges, so that IL ready-madt
\ law wouldn't fit g. particular case
! they could peer into their chancery
powers and construct judge-made Law
i for that case. After this there were
9 no law judges to be jealous of chan
8 cellors for they were themselves botl
q chancellors and law judges; and IL
y due course the chancellor in then
usurped a good deal Of their authorit!
b as law judges. without any protest
. So judge-made law for particula,
r cases encroached upon the regula,
e law for all cases.
q Many people approve this, becaus,
o they think that Justice is only ques
e ton of doing the right thing in eacl
: case. It might be II Judges were In
i fallible. But judges are mere men
70 and, like all the rest of us, they hay
q their hearts chock full Of all kind
Q Of devils, as Mr. Chesterton says. TIL,
Q only way, then to do Justice in parti
:. cular cases is to apply the genera
d rules. This may make misfits some
: times, but never with the dangerou
g consequences Of judge-made law. Fo
o isn't it plain that business associa
! ton, personal friendship and elias
= prejudice are powerful. influences |,
s. courts where judge-made law flour