The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1912-03-22

The decisions Of which we complain
are, as II rule, bused upon the constitu-
tional provision that no person shall
be deprived OF life, liberty or property
without due process of law. The terms
'fllfe, liberty and property" have been
/ used In the constitutions of the English
speaking peoples since Magma Charta.
/ Until within the last sixty years they
were treated as having specific mean-
ings-"property" meant tangible prop
erty; elderly" meant freedom from
personal restraint, or, In other words,
from Imprisonment in its largest def
milton About 1870 our court began to
attach TO these terms new meanings.
Now property" has come to mean
every right of value which n person
could enjoy, and liberty" has been
made to include the right to make con-
tracts As result, when the state
limits the hours for which women may
labor, II IS told by the courts that this
law dcprives them OF their "liberty,"
and when It restricts the manufacture
Of tobacco in a tenement 1t is told that
the law deprlvcs the landlord of his
property" Now | do not believe
that any people, and especially our
free American people, will long con
sent that the term liberty" shall be
defined for them by bench OF judges.
Every people has defined that term for
itself in the course of its development.
Task Is to Strive For Justice.
Friends, our task as Americans is to
strive for social and Industrial justice,
achieved through the genuine rule of
the people. This Is our end, our pur-
pose. The methods for achieving the
end are merely expedlents to be finally
accepted or rejected according as actu-
al experience shows that they work
well or Ill. But In our hearts we must
have this lofty purpose, and we must
strive for ii in all earnestness and sin
certify or our work will come to moth
ing In order 10 succeed we need lead
ers Of inspired ideallsm, leaders to
whom are granted great visions, who
dream greatly and strive to make their
dreams come true; who can kindle the
people with the fire from their own
burning souls. The lender for the time
being, whoever he may be, Is but an
instrument to be used until broken
and then TO be cast aside, and If he
Is worth his salt he will care no more
when he is broken than soldier cares
when he Is sent where his life is for
felt in order that the victory may be
won. In the long fight for righteous
ness the watchword for all OF us is
spend and he spent. ii Is of little mat
ter whether any one man fails or sue
ceeds, but the cause shall not fail for
1t Is the cause of mankind. We, here
In America, hold in our hands the hope
Of the world the fate OF the coming
years, and shame aud disgrace Will be
ours If in our eyes the light Of high
resolve Is dlmmed. IL we trail in the
dust the golden hopes of men. II on
this new continent we merely build
another country Of great but unjustly
divided material prosperity we shall
have done nothing. and we shall do as
little If we merely set the greed of
envy against the greed of arrogance
and thereby destroy the material well
being of all Of us. TO turn this govern
ment either into government by plu
tocracy or government by a mob would
be to repe"l on n larger scale the
lamentable failures Of the world that
IL dead. We stand against all tyranny,
by the few or by the many. We stand
for the rule of the many in the interest
Of all of us. for the rule Of the many in
a spirit of courage, of common sense.
Of high purpose, above all In spirit Of
kindly justice toward every man and
every woman.