The Ocala banner., 1922-05-12

nothing but prayer from the ~
of the two branches OF congress- To
second week 1 would OF course nase s
house omen with prayer. followed Ia eacH
-. .h,S Sreading of the constitution OF the
T,;tad states because / do not peie'e
"a no. cent of the membership have ever
ra.d II Then I would adjourn ior tEe
dav I would follow that Tor q "eeA, ;
Then. on the third Monday OF the enl.u
week. | would have some cafsAui' piOpe
nrenared appropriation bill, so as 10 tan
cara of the necessities OF THIS goverhineii.
for the next twenty years introduced, anu
af,ar II was passed / would nave some
gentleman rise and say: In the name U
the Lord and of conlmonseHse, move tHa'
that congress do now adjourn ioF t"en's
wears. And l said. oeheve II 'Nd.
was done this country would blossom a
the rose.
Too Much Politics
The trouble with this country ls noe
with business it Is with politics.
Believing in the principles OF the Demo-
cratic marty. the real Democratic party. as
/ do. l have never voted any otner TICKET
except the Democratic ticket; but was
so sick and so tired of the federal ADMIN
istration of affairs from 1912 to 19ZV
that in my inmost soul | hoped that Hard
ing would be elected And he was electefs
II was q glorious victory not for Repuo-
Iieanism-do not think that-but Tor
Americanism and constitutionaiism as
against socialism and radicalism. That
prince that Napoleon of American citizen
ship President Harding, got the message
but the congress of the United States has
not got il yet
am reminded of a story l told in At
lantic City last May to the joint conven-
ton of the Southern Hardware Jobbers
Association and the manufacturers. about
an incident in n Georgia town. There was
a goat there and a negro that smelled
very badly. The question was which
smelled the worse. Some said the goat
did: some said the negro did. 1t was the
subject of acrimonious debate in the
community. Finally they decided they
would let the sustiee Of the peace in the
community decide the question. So at the
appointed time, at 10 O'Clock in the morn-
ing. when the justice of the peace sat at
the bench. they showed the goat in. And
when they did. the justice of the peace
tainted. Then they showed the negro in.
and when they did, the goat tainted. SO
the question never was decided. And so
ii was with me. As much as / wanted
to zee the Republicans win. / know the
Democrats could not have done any worse
in congress than the present congress we
now have had the Democrats remained in
power. Yoa know il is funny. but we
seem to hare lost sight o. the principles
upon which this wonderful republic was
founded As an illustration of that tou
find in the press today the query: What
Is the government going to do about the
coal striker" That Is an illustration. The
people in this country do not derive their
rights from the government The federal
government has only such rights as
given to IL by the people. Yet: What is
the government going to do about the coal
striker! What has our government TO do
with the coal strike? Every miner in this
country has the right to discontinue work
ing if he cares to do that Every operator
in this country has the right to close his
mine permanently if he cares to do that
Those are God-given rights that in free
land cannot be taken away The only
function that the United States govern
ment has in the controversy is to protect
the constitutional rights of the respective
parties to that controversy. the rights of
person and the rights of property: and if
the government viii do that and see that
those men who want to work may work
and. if the coal operators have that sort
of courage and nerve that real Ameri-
can ought to have this strike will be
settled: and when II is settled. il will. be
settled right and for all time to come.
TIL "Crime" of 1898
In 1898 the congress of the United
States passed an act making it a crime
making it a crime think of such a fool
ness in interstate commerce to discharge
man belonging to 9 labor union l want
the pleasure OF reading to you the decision
OF the supreme court of the United States
rendered by Justice Harlan. one Of the
most magnificent men that this country
has ever produced. declaring unconstitu-
tionaI that act after Mr.. Adair the repre-
sentative of the L. & N DISCHARGED a
man by the name of Coppage because, it
was alleged Coppage belonged to a labor
union. This is what the supreme court
of the United States said:
While, as already suggested the right
OF liberty and property guaranteed By the
constitution against deprivation without
due process OF law is subject to such rea-
sonable restraints as the commond good or
the general welfare may require it is not
within the functions of governmental
least in the absence of contract between
the pariles-to compel any person in the
course of his business and against his will.
TO accept or retain the personal services
OF another. or to compel any person
against his viii. to perform personal SER
vices for another. The right of person
TO sell his labor upon such terms as he
deems proper is. in its essence the same
as the right OF the purchaser of labor to
prescribe the conditions upon which he
VIII accept such labor from the person
offering to sell it, So the right of the
employe to quit the service of the en-
ployer. for whatever reason is the same
as the right Of the employer for what
ever reason. TO dispense with the services
OF such euploye. It was the legal rivh,
OF the defendant, Adair-however unurise
such course might have been-to dis
charge Coppage because of his being a
member of labor organization. as it was
the legal right of Coppage if he saw tit
TO do so-however unwise such a coursa
on his part might have been-to Quit the
service IN which he was engaged because
the defendant employed some persons who
were not members of labor organizat;oD
In all such particulars the emplover and
the employe have equality of right and
any legislation that disturbs that equality
Is an arbitrary interference with the Iib-
erty OF contract which no governroent cs-
legally justify in a free land
We seem to have forgotten thar rro
nouhcement OF the supreme court of the
United States. ~
So as I said at the outset. having the
views tnat 1 have with reference to the
principles upon which this republic was
iounoed and believing 1 do that the
perpesuisy Oh TINS republic the preserya-
uon 2. our rights. and the security of our
propeIts. depend upon an absolute adher
ence 70 tne principles established in our
cons'l.ution as originally founded. If is
strange that could be optimistic. but I
We have a wonderful nation 80
hundred and ten million of neanla ,..s.s
three hundred billion dollars ~ -
and half the gold supply of the xor,S :.
"a h.