The Cordova daily times., 1918-05-30

judge in this case so that mistakes
 made in the drafting of this measure may be avoided in the future.
 If there is the slightest doubt as 1 to the correctness of the recent de- | cision lingering in the minds of | AIaskans, it should be removed by the action of Mir. Gregory, who would un- l doubtedly have ordered the appeal l perfected had there been the least 1 question as to the soundness of the 1 opinion. It is but natural that there | should be some disappointment con nected with the failure of the act to l accomplish it's purpose, but this does not originate in the action of the
 court, but from the defective manner | in which the measure was written
 and passed, in utter disregard of the ! Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.
 The court in this case has ren- dered efficient service to the entire territory and made the error so plain
 that it will hardly bo committed a second time. It was the duty of
 court to do this, and it was we'll per formed. In our courts are safeguarl-
 cd all our liberties. They are the foundation of our political and econ
 eric liberties.
 To say that our courts are perlcCt that they guarantee exact mathem qtic justice to all, would be an untrue boast No law or rule con be devised that will fit every case. Neither can
 any court be constituted from which
 Liability to err has been removed No judge can be elected or appoint.
 ed who has not some weakness ot
 judgment that makes him human. But
 the overwhelming majority of our
 courts give substantial justice, and
 by so doing constitute themselves
 the bulwark of our nation.
 The general eighthour law enacted
 at the last term of the territorial leg
 islature is dead. Substitutes will in
 evitably take it's place and should do so at the earliest possible moment.
 We agree with Stroller White in his comment upon the late law, in which he said:
 ''If better eight-hour law than the one passed by the late territorial leg islature can not be framed and passed then it will be we'll to leave it as itI is. That eight hours should consti- ute a days work is conceded by all fair-minded men, we believe, in Alas ka. Those who do not cOncede it are lieve the present law is good enough | for the laboTing classes of Alaska. | True, it does not require them to | work more than eight hours a day, i but if, after working and receiving pay for that number of hours, they prefer to make six bits or a dollar more by putting in an hour over time, we think that the law fOrbiddin% such exercise of personal liberty to the extent of putting the offender in jail and lining him, is a hardship that should be remedied, Eight hours work should constitute day and be remunerated with days pay, but ,O presume to dictate to a man what he shall do during the remaining six teen hours of the twenty-fOur is in he same class as were the COnnecti- ut Blue Laws which made it an of Tense for a man to whistle Satur- lay night because it was only few hours from Sunday. This is just the way the editor of this paper feels the eight-hour proposition, md he is a candidate for the terri ,orial legislature at that. It is hu- nan slavery to force man to toll long hours for short pay and it is the same class of slavery that die tates to a man what he shall do with his own time. The working man of Alaska is entitled to a square deal md the eight-hour law as it stands now denies him that inalienable right"
 MT. White has been nominated for election as territorial representative. He will almost certainly be elected With the mistakes of the old measure as warnings how not to do, and the ucid opinion of the court in this di- vision to guide it, the next legisla- ,ure should be able to enact workable eight-hour laws which will stand the acid test of every tribunal and give