The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1922-10-17

For example: The wolf PACKING
company of Topeka, is appealing to-
the supreme court of the United
States on the ground that the
wages which the Kansas Industrial
court ordered it to pay are too
great and do not permit of fair
return on capital invested and this,
it is alleged, constitutes a conflsca-
ton Of property without due pro-
cess of law.
Trial Is Near.
The controversy between Will
liam Allen White, editor OF the En-
'poria (Kan) Gazette, and Governor
Allen, or rather the state Of Kan
sas-for Mr.. White is under arrest
for alleged violation of the anti
picketing provisions of the LAWS
likely to come to trial in few
weeks.
Investigation of the circum-
stances surrounding this extraor-
binary incident brings out the fact
that the defenders of the law be-
lieve the country generally>receiv-
ed a wrong impression of the case
at the outset. 1t is argued, for in
stance, that if Mr.. White had
placed a placard in the window OF
his newspaper office declaring SYM
pathy with the strikers and if this
had been the only placard in town,
nobody would have paid any atten-
ton to it but that the poster was
one of a great number placed in
stores to intimidate strikebreakers
and make them believe the trades
men would not sell them necessi-
ties Of life.
Mr.. White denies that this YVES
done in Emporia. though he admits
many posters had such purpose
in Newton. Kan, and that he took
pains in his newspaper to denounce
the thing.
Violated Law.
The states line of argument is
that there are plenty of wartime
decisions in the supreme court OF
the United States unfolding the
courts against those who preached
law breaking. The theory is that
| while bill is in the making, it can
be debated thoroughly but when
once it is on the statute books. it
must be obeyed and nobody can
lawfully preach disobedience OF
such a statute. The Kansas Indus
trial court act is as much law as
anything else on the books and the
offense charged against Editor
! White is that he preached disobeii
ence of the law by encouraging
strikers.
! Curiously enough, Mr.. White
printed facsimile of the same pia-
card in his newspaper but was not
hauled in court for that. There
are some lawyers who believe tina;
he might be held as in violation OF
| the Kansas law even for publishing
anything that can be construed as
directly encouraging the breaking
of a law.
This is the realm, however, OF
delicate justice. Courts have held
variously on this phase of the
matter and Attorney General
Daugherty had the same notion as
did Governor Allen when the first
injunction was applied for against
the shopmen. Meetings and strike
instructions were in themselves in
nocent acts so long as they did moi
encourage interruption of inter
state commerce. In Kansas, the
posting of placards is in itself law.
full when the object is to express
sympathy for a worthy cause such
as starving Armenians but it is I'M
lawful to express sympathy with
striking Kansans.
High Court TO Decide.
7 If the principle involved were
not greater than the personalities
involved it would be easy to dis.
miss the case on some of the nu-
merous technicalities. in which
courts seem to take refuge wher
they want to evade an issue but the
question is clear cut and will BIZ
carried all the way to the supremf
court of the United States before i
iS finally depidod