Bisbee daily review., 1917-12-23

In any aspect of the matter. it can 2-t be said that defendants were pur-
 ssing their object by lawful means.
 e question Oi their intentions Sf l eir bona fideS-CannCt be Ignored. 2; enters into the question Of malice Ai Bowen, L. l.. justly said. in the NOcul Steamship case. 23 Q. B. 6IS.
 Intentionally to do that which is cal cUlated in the ordinary course Of events to damage. and which does. in act. damage another in that other persons property or trade. is action able if done without just cause or ex- cuse." And the intentional infliction of such damage upon another. without justification or excuse, is malicious in law. Bitterman V. Louisville & Nash vile R. R.. 207 [. :. 2O5. 223; Bren- nan V. United Hatters. 7S V. !. L. 729. z-4, ct eseQ.. and cases cited. Of course. in a court of equity. when pas sing upon the right Of injunCtiOn dam age threatened. irremediable by action al law. is equivalent 10 damage done. And we cannot deem the prOffered ey- cuse to be a just cause or excuse, where it is based. as in this case, upon an assertion of conflicting rights that are sought to be attained by unfair methods, and for the very purpose of interfering with plaintiffs rights. of which defendants have full notice.
 Another fundamenIal error in de- fendanTs position consists in the as sumption that all measures that may be resorted to are lawful if they are .peacea6 6le'-that is. il they stop short Ol physical violence, or coercion through fear of it. In our opinion, any violation Of plaintiffs legal rights con trived by defendants for the purpose O. inflicting damage, or having that a. its necessary effect, is as plainly inhibited by the law as If il involved a breach of the peace \ combination to procure concerted breaches of con tract by plaintiffs employees con sjitutes such a violation. Flaccus V. Smith. 1S9 Pa 12S; 5i L. K. A. $40; South Wales Miners Federation Y. GlamOrgan Coal Co. 1905l A. C. 2S9. 2l4, 25O. 25S: Jonas Glass co. V. Glass Bottle Blowers Association. - N. J. Eq. 2I9. 223.
 The present is not d case ol merely withholding from an employer an economic need-as a supply of labor until he assents 10 be governed by union regulations. Defendants have ID supply of labor of which plaintiff stands in need. By the statement of defendant q Lewis himself. made in his formal report to the Indianapolis con VentiOn Of 1907. out of mere than S7G. 0o0 coal miners in the States of Penn sylvania, Maryland. Virginia and West Virginia. less than SO,000 (abOut = per cent) were members of the Union. Considering the Panhandle separated +, doubtless the pI9pOrti0n was even smaller. and the supply of nOn-uniOn labor ample. There k no reason 10 doubt that il defendants had been ac- tuated by a genuine desire to increase tSe membership Of the Union without unnecessary injury to the known rights of plaintiff. they would have permitted their proselytes to withdraw from plaintiffs employ when and as they become affiliated with the Union as their contract of employment re Quired them to dO-and that in this event plaintiff would have been able To secure an adequate supply oG. non union men 70 take their places. It was with knowledge of this. and be cause Of it. that defendants. through Hughes as their agent. caused the new members Co remain at work m plain tifTs mine until a sufficient number Cf men should be persuaded tO join s0 as to bring about strike and rend- CT it difnCul; if not practically impOS- sihle for plaintiff to continue to eN- ercise is undOubted legal anl consti- tutiOnal right to run it's mine non union"
 It was one thing for plaintiff ro find. from time Co time. comparatively small numbers of men to take vacant places in a going mine. another and a much more difficult ihiRg to find a compietc sang of new men to start mp a mine shut down hv strike. when there might he a reasonable apprebcu- sion of violence at inc hands of the strikers and thrir symuathircrs. The discrdercd ,1nlitiOn of nlinins town m time of strike is matter of common krowied-e It vas his kind of in- -ll.-a-4ul as well as that Ees,il- .cg