The commercial. (Union City, Tenn.) 190?-193?, 1922-09-01
A Higher Court.

One minister in st. Louis pulpit
discusses the strike situation and re-
, fers to the relation of the strikers in
, their attitude towards the govern
ment. He uses plain language, but
in his methods of treatment he fol-
lows the same general lines that are
marked out by the other men both in
public and private .ife First he pro-
poses a tribunal to settle a living
wage and the power to fix a suitable
compensation. Next he suggests q
court of equity to curb the free hand
of employing capital and make its in
lvestment and operation amenable to
law In the end he says that men
must be prompted by reverence and
respect for Gods laws. The sermon
is couched in strong, striking Eng
lish But the minister has only pro-
posed what others are proposing ev-
cry day.
wish l knew how to say SO, blu,
men are not far above animals. They
are moved by instinct more than rea-
son. Really our form OF government
is on trial more than it ever has been
before. English statesmen have been
watching us and waiting to see the
results. Some of us think the gov
eminent has stood the test, but
| dn11't thin1y IL hoc Whu0
we have endless government ma
chinery and yet we are calling for
more. On the other hand eminent
political thinkers like Bryan are
moving a substitute like government
Ownership. He was only few days
ago at the Capital urging Senator
Cummins to propose railroad owner
ship.
And so it is.
One wants strong courts and tribu
nails and another wants experiments
in socialistic methods. The instinct
for leadership and protection moves
us to ignore democracy. We recall
strong men like Lincoln, Cleveland
and Roosevelt with the same feeling
that we instinctively look to strong |
centralized leadership. We are look
ing over the heads of democrats to |
those of power and authority. We
do this unconsciously.
We have a notion that Henry Ford |
is more of an independent thinker
than the majority of men. He doesn't
seem to follow the crowd when they
all rush to the pie counter; but he
creates his own system. He has sense
enough to know that you cannot dis
the interests of one class in
favor of another He doesn't do this
out of a great love of mankind so
much as he understands human ma
ture and makes his plans take care
of labor as well as capital.
After all, as the minister says,
men must be moved by motives of
justice. And that is what President
Hadley, of Yale, told newspaper ;
friend who was seeking courts of :
justice between capital and :
labor. 1t must be a matter of edu-
cation, says President Hadley--a code p
rather than count of economic JUS
ice.
The minister above referred 20
wants to treat the strikers as law
breakers and to organize these extra
courts and tribunals to function prop
10 understand that these courts and
tribunals are to be organized with
men, the same in mind and character
rs those who are now organized into
courts and tribunals.
We have feeling like President
Hadley that little patience and
foresight will have to be exercised
and that education is a potent fac
or in the struggle. We nave also
1 feeling, like Henry Ford, that the
solution lies largely in industrial
strategy. We must develop local
and industry; we
must develop the public highways;
We must not only educate the mind.
Dut the hand of the artisan; We
must make useful men and women OF
he boys and girls And after all, as
he minister says, our motives mus;
,e inspired by the justine of a higher
ourt.
The idea of developing local trans
'ortation is to provide a substitute
or the condition of utter helplessness
When the railroads are in trouble
But like animals, some of us can't see
he future of local motor-driven
u blic highway transportation
Why more courts when we can
OF invoke the aid of the ones
,e have? Why socialism which is
alculated to increase our burdens
nd destroy our faith in the supreme
uler of the universe
Card of Thanks.