The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1919-12-29
JUDGE STAFFORD OPENS
SUNDAY EVENING FORUM
(continued from Fage onel


Continued from Poge onel !
work on railroad If he wishes to go /
elsewhere?p We are not talking |
about one man leaving his work, by |
himself, and leaving 1t for good and |
all. We are talking about his doing
that in combination with all his fell |
lows and do ne it Just long enough to !
force the other party, the public, to |
see ruin staring it in the face and |
come to terms That is not liberty; |
that is conspiracy. | say there must !
be an abandonment of this right to !
strike when men enter upon a service |
with the law shall declare to be a
public service.
Men who enter upon public sc vice I
must enlist; they must be bound by
agreement and by law to remain in
the service until they are properly dis
charged; and the conditions upon
which they can be discharged must
be such as absolutely to prevent eth
er strikes or lockouts. To accomp-
lish this one other thing Is needed.
| There must be devised some
method by which grievances and dis
lputes can be adjusted. Some trIbun-
al, in the last reeort, must have the
power to determine, finally and con.
clusively. the merits of the contro-
versy. You may call it compulsory
arbitration, or what you please, but It
must exist somewhere, to be resorted
to when all other means have failed
/ Can we do that My answer Is, Yes.
or the right and power OF the leg isla-
ture of the people to create such a
tribunal, | entertain no doubt The
/ power is implied in the We fact that
the business is Of public character,
1t is charged with public interest,
a public trust. There is moth ne new
in the principle itself, all that is new
is the application of the principle to
the new conditions that confront us.
Ny fellow citizens, the question is
not one OF wages alone. IL goes deep
er than that. The real question is
whether any industrial class has a !
right to use its power by way of
strikes to dictate The operations of
COVE nment, in matters that concern
ius all.
Any rule by minority is tyranny.
That is what Bolshevism is today. |
That is its very essence. That is
what we have to fear from the growth
and attitude of un onism in this coun.
! try now Think Of IT, say. A
minority, even a small minority, If !
perfectly organized and acting as
unite, may, when it happens to occupy
/ a strategic position, dictate to the
great majority what they shall do.
| and practically control the whole.
| What is the remedy? Our emedy
I Lies in a return to the fundamental
/ principle of our government the rule
of the majority. and to the common
law principle that those who engage
in public business must be first of
( all the servants of the public. Broad
ly stated, the principle is this: that
whenever any business no matter
what it is, has become n fact, and is
declared by the legislature TO be. a
business upon which the public de.
ponds for its continued life then
those who engage in II, whethe as
capitalists or as laborers, must sub.
NIT to regulation and control at the
hands of the law making power. ,
Those two things; the rule Of the ma
jority, and the r ght of the public to
control any business that is in fact
! public, that is the policy and that is
the law upon which we must unite.
! To sum it all up, everybody recog. /
nizes that Ve have thes three mart oa
ITO consider, Capital, Labor ana the
Public 1t is the public mat s mos.
( deeply concerned. 1t Is the public
that finally pays the bills, and it is
the public that stands the loss Of la.
Dor conflicts. 1t is the public that
far outnum0e.s the ether two: and
yet for want OF unity in action it mas
been thus far the scapegoat, and is
liable to be sacrificed in the end. 1t
Is the public that must now take
things into its own hands. That re-
quires clear thinking, thorough dis.
cusslon, disposition to be fair to all. I
and then firm, concerted action upon
wise and well considered Ines. OF
one thing ! am certain, the American
people are not going 10 lie down un.
der any form of tyranny.
Above all things we must keep our
temper The good nature of our PEG.
pie is almost byword It has car.
ried us through many a dark crisis
1t must carry us through this. The
great body of the public are intelli.
gent and fair. Even those who pos.
sess property enough to be called
capitalists are not all criminals, l