The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1912-02-22


free people to do their duty as a con-
scientiouS people IN removing grave
wrons and social Injustice. These foolish
and iniquitous decisions have almost al
ways been rendered at the expense Of the
weak; they have almost always been the
means OF putting stop to the effort to
remove burdene from wage-workers, to
secure to men who toll on the farm and
on the railway, or In the factory. better
and safer conditions OF labor and Of life
Often the judges who have rendered these
decisions have been entirely well-meaning
men. who. however, did not know life as
they knew law, and who championed
some outworn political philosophy which
they assumed to impose on the people.
Their associations and surroundings were
such that they had no conception Of the
cruelty and wrong their decisions caused
and perpetuated. Their prime concern
was with the empty ceremonial Of per-
functory legalism and not with the living
spirit Of Justice.
A typical case was the decision rendered
but Q few months ago by the Court Of
Appeals OF my own State. the State Of
New York. declaring unconstitutional the
workmen's compensation act. In their
decision the judges admitted the wrong
and the suffering caused BY the practices
against which the law was aimed. They
admitted that other civilized nations had
But they took, the ground that the Con-
stitution Of the United States. instead of
being an instrument to secure Justice. had
been inEeniously. devised absolutely to
prevent justice. In other words. they
insisted that the Constitution had per-
manently cursed our people with impo-
tence to right wrong, and had perpetuated
a cruel iniduity: for cruel iniquity Is not
too harsh term to use in describing the
law which. In the event OF such an ac-
cident. binds the whole burden Of Grip
piing disaster on the shoulders least able
TO bear it--the shoulders of the crippled
man himself or Of the dead mans helpless
wife and children. No anarchist orator.
raving against the Constitution, ever
framed an Indictment OF II so severe as
these worthy and well-meaning judges
must be held to have framed II their
reasoning be accepted as true. But as
a matter Of fact, their reasoning was un-
sound. and was as repugnant to every
sound defender of the Constitution as to
every believer in Justice and righteous
ness.
l wish I could lake you visualize to
yourselves what these decisions against
which I 20 yehernently protest really rep
| resent Of suffering and injustice. I wish
had the power to bring before you the
man MANNED or dead. the woman and
children lef; to struggle against bitter
poverty because the breadwinner has
4
ology OF the decision, nor Of what seem
, TO me the hair-splittinE and metculous
arguments elaborately worked out to jus
ury q great and a terrible miscarriage
Of Justice. Moreover. I am not thinking
only OF the sufferers In any given case.
but Of the tens Of thousands Of others who
suffer because of the way this case is
decided. In the New York case the rail-
way employee who was injured was a
man named. / believe. Ives. The court
admits that by every moral consideration
he was entitled to recover as his due
the money that the law intended to give
him. Yet the court by its decision forces
that man to stageer through life MANNED,
and keeps the money that should be his
in the treasury Of the company in whose
service. ss an incident Of his regular en-
ploy ment and In the endurance OF ordin-
AIRY risks. he lost the ability to earn his
own livelihood. There are thousands of
Iveses in this country thousands Of cases
such as this come UP every year and
while this 10 true. while the courts deny
| essential and elementary justice to these
men and give to them and the people in
exchange for Justice a technical and
empty formula, II IL idle to ask me not
to criticise them. As long as injustice
is kept thus intreNched by any court.
will protest a. strongly as in me lies
against such action.
FOOLISH" TO TALK OF sASCTITr OF JUDGE
Remember. when I am asking the pco-
pie themselves in the last resort to inter-
pret the law which they themselves have
made. that after all | am only asking
that they step In and authoritatively rec
oncile the conflicting decisions of the
courts, In all these cases the Judges and
courts have decided every which way, and
Il Is foolish to tala of the sanctity OF a
Judge made law which half Of the Judges
strongly denounce. IL there must be de-
cislon by a close majority. then let the
people ster In and let it be their ma
jority that decides. According to one OF
| the highest Judges then and now on the
Supre me Court OF the nation, we had lived
for a hundred years under a constitution
| which permitted a national income tax.
until suddenly by one vote the SUI
preme Court reversed its previous de-
cis!ons for a century. and said that for
century We had been living under
| wrong Interpretation OF the Constitution
| that Is. under a wrong constitution). /.
! and therefore In effect established - new
! constitution which We are now laboriously
| trying to amend SO to get II back to
| the constitution that for a hundred years
everybody, including the Supreme Court.
| thought II to be-