Omaha daily bee., 1919-11-10

provement club.
ing from the court an order COM
handing the officers of the miners
union to recall and withdraw the
strike notification and the court
complacently complied and issued
the order.
Mandatory Order.
Never in the history of our coun-
try has any such a mandatory order
been obtained or even applied for
by the government or by any per-
son, company or corporation.
Both the restraining order and
the injunction, insofar as its pro-
hibitory features are concerned, are
predicated upon the Lever act.sa law
enacted by congress for the purpose
Of preventing speculation and profit
eering of food and fuel supplies Of
the country. There never was in
the minds of the congress in enact
ing that law or in the mind of the
president when he signed it, that the
Lever act would be applied to work
ers in cases of strikes or lockuts.
The food controller, Mr.. Hoover,
specifically so stated. Members of
the committee having the bill in
charge have in writing declared that
it was not in the minds of the COM
mittee, and the then attorney gen.
eral, Mr.. Gregory, gave assurance
that the government would not
apply that law to the workers effort
to obtain improved working condi-
tons. Every assurance from the
highest authority of our govern
nent was given that the law would
not be so applied.
Presidents Address.
an the course Of President Will
sons address to the Buffalo con-
vention of the American Federation
of Labor. November, 1917, among
other things he said:
"'While we are fighting for free
dom, we must see among other
things that labor is free, and that
means a number of interesting
things. 1t means not only that we
must do what we have declared our
purpose to do, see that the condi-
tons of labor are not rendered more
onerous by the war, but also that
we shall see to it that the instru-
mentalities by which the conditions
of labor are improved are not
blocked or checked. That we must
do
The autocratic action of our gov
eminent in these proceedings is OF
such nature that it staggers the
human mind. In a free country to
conceive of government applying
for and obtaining a restraining or
der prohibiting the officials of a
labor organization from contributing
their own money for the purpose of
procuring food for women and~chil-
dren that might be starving, is
something that when known will
shock the sensibilities of man and
will cause resentment. Surely the
| thousands of men. who are lying in
France, under the. sol, whose blood
was offered for-tffe Freedom of the
world, never dreamed that SO short
ly afterwards in their own country
100000 workers endeavoring to bet
ter their working conditions, would
have the government decide that
they were not entitled to the assist
ance of their fellow men and that
their wives and children should
starve by order of the government.
Equity Powers of Court.
1T is we'll established principle
that the inherent purpose of the in
junction processes, where there is
no other adequate remedy at law,
was for the purpose of protecting
property and property rights only,
thereby exercising the equity power
OF the courts to prevent immediate
and irreparable injury.
1T was never intended and there
is no warrant of the law in all our
country to use the injunction power
of equity courts to curtail personal
rights or regulate personal relation
ship. 1t was never intended to take
| the place of government by law by
substituting personal and discretion
airy government.
"The Lever act provides its own
| penalties for violators of its provi-
sions. The injunction issued in this
case had for its purpose not trial
by court and jury, but an order OF
the court predicated upon the as
sumption that the law might be vio-
lated and by which the defendants
may be brought before the court for
contempt and without any trial by
jury.
Proceedings Unwarranted.
1--WE declare that the proceedings
in this case are unwarranted as they
are unparalleled in the history Of
our country, and we declare that il
is an injustice which not only the
workers. but all liberty-loving Amer
leans will repudiate and demand re-
dress. The citizenship of our coun-
try cannot afford to permit the es-
Enlistment of maintenance OF a
principle which strikes at the very
foundation of justice and freedom
To restore the confidence in the in
stitutions of our country and the
respect due the courts, this injunc-
ton should be withdrawn and the
records cleaned from so outrageous
a proceeding.
"By all the facts in the case the
miners strike is justified. We en-
dorse it. We are convinced of the
Justice OF the miners cause. We
pledge to the miners the full support
Of the American Federation Of