Arizona republican., 1911-12-31
SUNDAY...............DEC. 51. 191
The Right of Contract.

If the news dispatches are to be relied upon railroad has brought suit to compel its former employees, who are on strike. to return to work. It is alleged. according to. the re- ports, that the action of the strikers is d violation of the Sherman anti trust law in that it is a combination in restraint of trade
 The significant thing about this proceeding is, not that the railroad company can really hope to win in suit of that kind. for assurcdly its officials have too much intelligence that such a move would even be considered. It shows the untenable position of what may be called the public mind with reference to the possibility of adjusting all human af- fairs by law.
 It is not difficult for a close student of the present trend of thought to arrive at the bottom of this matter. old established prin- ciples of law and business, principles upon which the government of this country is founded. and under which il has prOspered as no other country has ever prospered, are about to be thrown away as so much rubbish And the reason is that the people have accepted as literal truth the dema- gogic utterances of a large contingent of newspapers and publicists.
 IL seems to The Republican that it is time to clear away a little brush In the language of the Arizona con- stitutiOn. it is time to get back to first principles
 Either the contention of the rail road men in this proceeding is true or it is not. And if it is true. then what has been accepted as law for the past hundred years and more is not and never has been the law
 It is about time to remember that there are such things as contractual rights and obligations The right of contract is a part of the common law; and more than that. it is a part of the constitution of the United States.
 When you get at the base of mat ters. the right of one man is the right of all men. A man has the right to work or not to work, as he sees fit It may be an unfortunate thing if he refuses to work but that is his business. And all the power of the government can't make him work unless through his idleness he becomes a charge upon the com munity.
 If a man violates contract by quitting work, his employer has legal remedy. Just as a man who iss unjustly discharged has remedy But that remedy lies in an action for damages and not d proceeding in equity.
 
 thousand men or hundred thousand men. but there is no law in the world that he can invoke to keep them at work against their will.
 And of course. the converse of the proposition is true. There is no law in the world that can be invoked to compel an employer to keep men at work if he doesn't want to do so.
 It is well to remember that con tracts are mutual. A contract is the meeting of two or more minds And let us not forget that contracts lie at the base of all rights. all duties. all obligations. and all law Our government itself is contractual government And if the theory of this railroad company be sustained. then the constitution of the United States is not worth the paper it is written on.
 It is true we have adopted policy that a dozen years ago would have been thought untenable. The ma tional government has assumed and is exercising powers many able lawyers yet believe to be beyond its ken But The Republican is badly