New-York tribune., 1912-02-13

! q iuster rule the contract Of employment
between the interstate commerce ran
roads and their employees, and there ls
| about to report now CongressioIls'
| committee which will recommend So
called workman's compensation act,
| which offers legal compensation 10 every
workman injured in the business IN
which he is employed, as II ne were III
sured against accident. .o,,
We have provided a mining bureau
law looking to the devising OF remedies
for the saving of miners lives through
| government research, out or the eN-
6ense of the federal Treasury; we nave
passed a statute providing for medla-
| ton and arbitration between rallroaua
| and their employees which mas worhe9
with marvellous success ana reouceu
strikes to minimum.
II has come TO be the fashion to at
tack courts on the ground that they are
not sufficiently progressive in their sym
pathies and are too much bound by tne
letter of the law, and do not yleId III
| their construction of statutes to the pop
ular view of what the law ought 10 pe
rather than what 1t actually Is IN WITT
ten or customary form. ~,
The suggestion is made by Whlcii
judges are to be subject to the disCi-
| pine OI popular tltCllOIlo
conclusions they reach do not SUIT the
people, or their decisions are to be suo-
mitted for confirmation or rejection py
vote of the people. Such proposluohs
undermine existing governments, anu
are directed toward depriVing the Ju.
dietary of the independence without I
which they must be an instrument Vi
either one man or majority tyrahhy'
| The Republican party, l am very GER
| toi a national Marty rpgDCCtlnE as l.
does the Constitution Of the Unlteo
States, the care with which the Judlclal
clauses of that fundamental instrument
were drawn to secure the independence
of the judiciary, will never consent 10
an abatement of that independence IN
the slightest degree, and Will stand WIN
| its face like flint against any constltu-
tional change in 1t to take away from
the high priests upon whom we depend
TO administer Justice the independence
that they must enjoy OF influence OF
powerful individuals or Of powerful ma
jorites,
Reforms in Proceedings Planned.
The Republican party is not blind to
lthe defects of the administration II
justice in this country. 1t Is not pima
to the necessity for changes in its pro-
cedure in the expedition with which It's
! J
ness with which justice may be obtained
and in the certainty of punishment Tor
crime. 1t is conscious that the delays
and expense of litigation tend 70 de-
prive the poor litigant of an equality OF
opportunity with the wealthy plalntln
or defendant, as the case may be- ana
that there Is great room for improve
ment in the manner of administering
! Justice but this is far, very far. from
change in the structure or our courts
] by which the ratio deCdendi of Judg-
| ments is TO be changed from that or law
and eternal and uniform justice 20 that
of the voice of the majority in indlVlu-
ual instances.
The Republican party is as progress
sive as amy party in It's desire 10 periect
the judicial procedure Of the country.
steps are now being taken looking tow
ard progress in that direction.
! So. too, with respect TO the tariff. The
! Republican party is not a hidebound
tariff party 1t has changed its position
from that Chinese wall and the imposl-
tion of customs duty sufficient to make
| the tariff as high as possible on every
! thing that needs TO be protected. II has
come to q much more reasonable view,
to wit, that the tariff rates on merchan-
disc imported ought not to exceed those
which will furnish living protection 10
the industries of this country with which
! such imported merchandise will come
| into competition. The Republican party
| has come to recognize that high tarln
duties encourage combinations Of capital
! by suppressing competition TO take ad-
vantage in the domestic prices charged
of the excessive rates Of duty, and that
| that is a much safer system which limits
| the duties to the measure OF the diner
| ence between the cost of production here
and the cost Of production abroad than
to the wholesale system OF imposing hlgh
rates in order TO secure protection NJ the
! expense Of everything else.
So far as is consistent with the main
| tenance Of the industries in this country
under living conditions of reasonable
| profit the Republican party Is in favor
| Of q revision and reduction OF rates on
imported merchandise. The only propo-
sition it insists on is that the facts in re-
speCt to the amount OF protection needed
| by established industries in this country
! shall be ascertained after a full and
complete report by an impartial tribunal
upon the facts governing the produc-
| tion Of such merchandise abroad and in
! this country. In other words, gentlemen,
| the Republican party has taken It's po-
| sitiUn and must maintain its position in
! favor of as little disturbance Of the bust
ness Of the country as possible in respect
to tariff changes by requiring that those
|
by schedule, and then only after full
ascertainment Of the facts by non-par-
| tisan tariff board or commission which
| shall enable Congress and the public at
! large TO know what must be the neces-
sa1y effect of the proposed legislation.
Revision Without Disturbance
This / consider a progressive policy
of the utmost Importance TO the coun-
| try's business. Heretofore we have had
protective tariffs, revenue tariffs. and
all put upon the statute book with 1T
! tie or no reliable evidence as 10 what
effect the tariff was going. TO have.
With the system Of separate schedules
and a tariff commission business dis
turbance can be reduced TO a minimum.
| While the tariff will not be taken out OF
politics, a discussion of 1t will be brought
to an intelligent knowledge Of the facts
and with the issues clearly drawn,
rather than to a general denunciation
on the one side and a general afflrma-
| ton on the other
In matters Of conservation and in re-
| speCt to all those activities Of govern
ment, like those Of the Agricultural De-
partment and such other branches OF
! the government as are directed to the
| assistance and comfort of the people,
the Republican party is necessarily the
more progressive Of the two. Under
the construction which the Republican
party has always given TO the Consti-
tuition while the institutions of civil
liberty and private property were
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