The Birmingham age-herald., 1922-06-07
oday
Deadly Blow for Labor. Some Little Things. Expensive Childbirth. Not a Subtle Evil.
 By ARTHUR BRISBANE

 
 An important decision from the su preme court says that heads of labor organizations can be held responsible for strike damages. If Mir Gompers should call strike. and in the strike mines or buildings were wrecked, Mir Gompers could be made to pay-if he had the money.
 This most severe blow at union labor makes every union official re- sponsibie for anything that may be done by workmen. in the course of a strike called by that official. It must tend to drive unions underground into secret organizations. something \, hardly to be desired.
 No man questions the sincerity of the supreme court judges. No man questions. either, that the courts sIn- cerity is now In the direction of con eisions have prevented interference with child labor. prevented interfer- snce with gambling in foodstuffs, pre- vented and declarfed unconstitutional effort of a city to regulate the price of gas. When a supreme court be- comes too conservative. however sim cere 1t may be, something else hap pens-at the ballot box. of course and then you get different decisions History shows that absolutely sincere convictions ha r,I taI. ,<1,a over night after the right kind of a vote has been cast.
 By the way, the New York Consoll- dated Gas company, recently protect ed against confiseation" by the su. preme court, is wondering what to do With it's surplus funds. It will pay off and call in its securities and then is- sue two shares of stock for one, pay ing dividends on both shares, accord ing to present plans Thus, in the future, the supreme court will have. chance to protect it again from "confiscation.''
 Small things. far apart. interest hu- man beings. For instance. in Ken lucky. Robert Baker, S4 years old becomes the father of his thirty-third child. The mother, who has eight children, is MT. Bakers seventh wife. lis views on women's rights would be interesting.
 A dispatch says that Lenin has had stroke and is recovering, aft CT dangerous illness. The marvel is that he Is still alive. Excepting ,a such a load.
 International News Service tells of IF Russian children dying of glan- ders. and shot by official order to end their horrible sufferings. Clan ders, a disease of horses. is never cured in human beings. The children probably contracted the disease eat Ing decayed horseflesh. A pretty picture of modern civilization. Those, including our own government that helped with blockade to keep food from these Russian children shov'd feel proud of themselves. G
 The British House of Comng $ will regulate trained animal ex dbitions ito protect the animals from cruel ty Wild animals are made ridicu- lous by exhibitions that have no value. It is interesting to observe that the new law would forbid any exhibitions of trained chlmpanzees or other man-shaped apes. This looks suspiciously like recognition of family relationship, and Mir. Bry- an must do something about it.
 It costs something when little i'm dustrial babies are born in the rich human family-the accoucheur charg- es about thousand dollars. In high finance. it costa more.
 The new steel trust will pay about ''one million dollars to the lawyer who acts as legal midwife. It will give a profit of about $2,o00, 900 to the banking firm that acts as finan- cial midwife. There will be other expenses. including-which should interest poor lambs-'promotion that will enable insiders to get out and outsiders to get in" After that, when the "outsiders' are safely in,. the stock will go down. Later pric- es will go up on the ground that 1t isn't just not to let the company pay reasonable dividends.
 The Rev. Dr. Massee of Fremont Temple, Boston, says only lost souls send spirit messages. Flammarioa, French astronomer, nearly 90 years
 
 after giving it up. He says only bad people, unhappy after death, hang in midair, as it were, and talk to us. The Rev. Dr. Massee thinks the devil subtly draws people into spirit ualism by letting the lost soul talk. Sc far as this writer has observed, no lost soul ever says anything very subtitle. The limit of subtlety seems to be, Mamma Is happy" Papa is feeling we'll" The devil should do better than that.
 X French scientist tells women they are not safe from various troubles. especially tumors of dif- ferent kinds, unless they have from four to six children. Maternity Is necessary to perfect health for a woman; when womans natural work is repressed. tumors and so on arc apt to develop.
 This may be half science and half French propaganda to produce big ger French families. There is little doubt that maternity is a healthful occupation although insurance charges on women while they are young show that il isn't too healthy. The main thing is to do work worth while of some kind. whether Of brain, body or both. Susan E. Anthony, who worked and fought to the day of her death at SC. proved that mental work is also "healthy" occupation.