The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1920-05-28
THE TOPEKA DAILY STATE JoURNALFRIDAY EVENING MAY 1872

she law that he who had the right and
| the might to take, might keep
| Then came civil law, establishing civil
courts and the robber baron method went
out OF existence, and surely nobody would
want to go back today to the rule of
might.
We have. come to the same point in the
society reached in her evolution
that required the ESTABLISHMENT of
knew w5as was sad this ao b p0t
| it has been charged that this Kansas court
is made up of three corporation lawyers
labor. There isn't a corporation lawyer
on the court. The court is made up of
one lawyer who used to practice in the
| country knew him and knew him
abroad when he was commanding officer
of a machine gun battalion and came home
decorated for his courage and service. He
does not belong to anv corporation he be-
longs to government, and did more to
Prove s It than COED many Of our dear
| he went forward and offered to lay his life
down to his government. That is one of
! Another is a newspaper publisher. 1
can utter no higher words of commendation
| than that.
The other is keen, honest-minded, able
lawyer who for a year has served me
4 as the chairman of the state public utilities
cisions. All of them have been in favor
| of organized labor, not because it was or
ganized labor but because organized labor
in those cases was entitled to the decision
out of justice.
That is what we have done Surely,
surely, If moral principles do not exist in
American Institutions for the purpose of
extending these institutions to meet crises
such as we have had in the last few years.
| then American institutions are doomed to
failure, for the issue here is government
and nothing short of government. Unless
you men wish to subscribe to the principle
| hQf ole f1anr lf~o nh fHa Iorz FL
you have got to realize that the RESPONSE
bility for settling Industrial controversies
| tribunal.
| Justice Aim of Court
l. The best definition of government 1 ever
1 heard was from John Adams. People are
| always telling us what government is for !;
that it exists for equality and for this,
| that and the other. purpose. But John
is justice" If that is true, that is 81 the
| chief aim in every industrial controversy
and there is only one place in which i'm
| one source in which it may be standard
| ized only one bit of machinery for its i'm
partial administration, and that is govern
ment.
That is all the Kansas law has done.
No state, no parliament has ever created a
court like this before 1t might be called
| the court of the penniless man. 1t does not
| cost anybody anything TO get into this
| court. laborer may come who has a
sent that grievance to This court and this
court is commanded by the law to provide
that person with lawyer or commits
sioner or an engineer or an. electrician or
| whatever expert is necessary for the full
Development of his or her side of the case
a lawyer to present the situation to the court,
| court having made its decision, If the ag-
| grieved person is not satisfied he may take
| the grievance up to the supreme court
directly. and the supreme court of Kansas
is one Of the squarest courts in the world
and there again, without expense for trans
tco- trs% Of ox-fd Will Inrr Wit IN
| whatever is needed and without a cent of
cost, the supreme court hears the aggrieved
party and makes its decision; ...,o.
/ They say, "You have taken away the only
weapon we had, the weapon Of the strike
It is adequate to say that in every honor
| able controversy we have given them the
much more effective weapon Of the state
In the little while in which the court has
been operating. we have done more than an
hry Uear tEF ns b obsr
| that If miner got out Of money before
| pay day came around and went to the OPP
orator and drew in advance of pay day a
part of the money he had already earned,
the operator had charged him 10 per cent;
| he discounted it 10 per cent. If the poor
an interest charge of five hundred and TWEEN
| ty per cent. 1t had been going on for
twenty years and no labor Leader ss had had
have done
| Now, going thru that district, engaging
the attention of the miners and their fam
| flies, there is welfare commission, an ex-
pert commission under the direction of this
court, becoming acquainted with living
conditions. working conditions and all of
those things which have been neglected by
the leaders Of organized labor in order
4 that this court may function as the friend
Of every man that needs it.
A Check on Operators.
Then we have got this provision in the
| law. that no operator shall close down his
mines, operator in any essential in
i dustry shall close down his institution
without the consent of the court for~any
/ purpose to affect wages or to lock out or
| to shorten production. Down in the Kan
sas mining district for years the miners
have run about one day week in the sum-
make any reserve of coal. They preferred
to sell upon a market that was short
don't know why, but that is what they pre-
ferred.
/ Under this law there is no shut down.
Listen to these figures: we have produced
Il in the last three months in the mining
1 district Of Kansas more coal than was ever
i of the districts operation. That means the
miners have been more steadily employed
and that means moreover1that next winter
Kansas will begin the winter. with coal
| reserve instead of a coal famine.
The court is absolutely impartial 1t does
II not have upon It representative of organ
lied labor or a representative OF employing
i capital. The court is like the other courts
I of the state, standing there with the dignf-
Il Men say, 'sOh, well, it is a new thing, II
1 Is oxDprip1anf IL ia this hat and fhe