The Searchlight (Guthrie, Okla.), No. 446, Ed. 1 Friday, December 7, 1906 Page: 3 of 8
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who U&cs it wantoniy or oppressively.
Of course, a judge atrong enough tu be
tit for liis office will enjoin sftiy resort
to violence or intimidation, especially by
conspiracy, no matter what his opinion
may be of the rights of the original Quar-
rel There must be no hesitation In.
dealing with disorder. But there must
likewise be no such abuse ol' the in-
junctive power as Is implied In forbidding
laboring men to strive for their own bet-
terment in peaceful and lawful ways;
nor must the injunction be used merely
to aid some big corporation in currying
out schemes for its own aggrandizement.
It must tie remembered that a prelim-
inary Injunction in a labor case. If
granted without adequate proof (even
when authority can be found to support
the conclusions of law on which it is
founded), may often settle the dispute
between the parties; and therefore if
Improperly granted may do irreparable
wrong Xet there are many judges who
assume a matter-of-fact course granting
of a preliminary injunction be tiia
u.>"l Kroner Judicial -uli»ne.*IUr.u
at Burn V n nr n, .»
edly been flagrant wrongs committed
by Judges In connection with labor dis-
putes even within the last few years,
altho I think much less often than in
former years. Such Judges by their un-
wise action immensely strength, n the
hands of those who are strlvmg__entiFely
to do away with the power of Injunction;
and therefore such careless use of tha
Injunctive process tends to threaten its
very existence, for if the American P®°"
pie ever become convinced that tma
process 13 habitually abused, whether Ui
matters affecting labor or in matters ar-
fectlng corporations, it will be well-nlgtt
impossible to prevent its abolition.'
The Negro Problem.
The negro problem is given considera-
ble attention, after calling attention to
the fact that no section of the country
Is free from faults, and that no section
has occasion to jeer at the shortcomings
of any other section, he turns to the sub-
ject of lynching®, and especially as ap-
plied to the negro of the south. lie says
the greatest existing cause for mob law
is the perpetration by the blacks of the
crime of rape, a crime which he terms
even worse than murder. He quotes the
admonitions to the white people spoken
by Gov. Candler, of Georgia, some years
ago, and by (iov. Jelks, of Alabama, re
cently, and then says-.
"Every colored man should realize
that the worst enemy of his race is the
negro criminal, and above all the ne-
gro criminal who commits the dread-
ful crime of rape; and it should be felt
as in the highest degree an offense
against the whole country, and against
the colored race in particular, for a
colored man to fail to help the officers
of the law in hunting jlown with all
possible earnestness and zeal every
such infamous offender. Moreover, in
my judgment, the crime of rape should
always bo punished with death, as is
the case with murder; assault with. In-
tent to commit rape should be made a
capital crime, at least in the discretion
of the court; and provision should be
made by which the punishment may
follow Immediately upon the heels of
—the offense; while the trial should be
so conducted that the victim need not
be wantonly shamed while giving tes-
timony. and that the least possible
publicity shall be given to the details.
The members of the white race on
the other hand should understand that
every lynching represents by just so
much a loosening of the bands of civ-
ilization; that the spirit of lynching
inevitably throws into prominence in
the community all the foul and evil
creatures who dwell therein. No man
can take part in the torture of a hu-
man being without having his own
moral nature permanently lowered.
Every lynching means just so much
moral deterioration in all the children
who have any knowledge of it. and
therefore just bo much additional
trouble for the next generation of
Americans.
"Let justice be both sure and swift;
but let it be justice under the law.
"and not the wild apd crooked savagery
of a mob.
urnnertv. tor ins man Who
puu mo,^y°Pby yout of^il. wrtngn.
like the . mail.J*Jlfl -ac0Uir __
crimTnafi*ty. "of course' the best type
of education for the colored man, ta-
ken as a whole, is such education as
is conferred in schools like Hampton
and Tuskegee; where the boys and
girls, the young men and young wo-
men. are trained InduatfiaUv
ub m k.4« ICIlOUl
branches. The graduates of these
schools turn out well in the great ma-
jority of cases, and hardly any of them
become criminals, while what little
criminality there Is never takes the
form of that brutal violence which In-
vites lynch law. Every graduate of
these schools—and for the matter of
thut every oher colored man or wo-
man—who leads a life so useful and
honorable as to win the good will and
respect of those whites whose neigh-
bor he or she Is, thereby helps the
whole colored ra«e as It can be helped
in no other way; for next to the negro
himself, tho man who can do most to
help the negro is his white neighbor
who lives near him; and our steady
effort should be to better the relations
between the two. Great tho the jene-
lit of these schools has been to their
colored pupils and to the colored peo-
ple it mav well be questioned whether
the benefit has not been at least as
great to the white people among whom
these colored pupils live after they
graduate."
the nation and,' fate to face, state the
reasons for their contention, in jnost
Instances the dispute would doubtless be
rant cAiieimow onow
lng hands against us
Instance, that If logical
mj lu^iunn* vi
Both assert, for
we should go
of railroads
Instances the dispute would aououess oe government ownership of rallroaas
found to be due to a misunderstanding like' tho reactionaries, because
by each of the other's rights, aggravates and the trhey thlnk the people
hv an nnYviiiinfrnpss of either party to ac- ..., _. i n,uu thum while the ex-
Need for Negro Education.
"There is another matter which has
a direct bearing upon tills matter of
lynching and of the brutal crime which
sometimes calls it forth and at other
times merely furnishes the excuse for
its existence. It is out of the question
for our people as a whole permanently
to rise by treading down any of their
own nunibt r. Even those who them-
selves for the moment profit by such
maltreatment uf their follows will in
the long run al -o suffer. No more
shortsighted policy can be imagined
than, in the fanci •! interest of one
elass, to prevent the education of an-
other class. The free j -Mic school, the
chance for each boy or "irl to get a
good elementary education lies at tho
foundation of our whole p tieal situ-
ation. In every community ihe poor-
est citizens, those who need t. schools
most, would be deprived of t'.iem if
they only received school faciii*' >
proportionately to the taxes they . I.
This is as true of one portion _ol mr
country as of nnother. It is as true
for the negro as for the white man.
The white man. if he is wise, will de-
cline to allow the negroes in a mass to
grow to manhood and womanhood
without education. Unquestionably ed-
ucation such as is obtained In our pub-
lic schools does not do everything to-
wards making a man a good citizen;
but it does much. The lowest and most
brutal criminals, those for instance
who commit the crime of rare, are in
the great majority men -who have had
either no education or very litle; Just
as thav ara a.l*j>nst (svo.j-lr.Mv nun *"v--
Capital and Labor.
On the subject of capital and labor
the president takes the agitators of class
hatred to task and says "to preach
hatred to the rich man, as such, . . .
to seek to mislead and Inflame to mad-
ness honest men whose lives are hard
and who have not the kind of mental
training which will permit them to ap-
preciate the danger In the doctrines
preached is to commit a crime against
the bodv politic and to be false to every
worthy 'principle and tradition of Amer-
ican national life." Continuing on this
subject he says: . . ..
"The plain people who tlnnk—the
mechanics, farmers, merchants, work-
ers with head or hand, the men to
whom American traditions are dear,
who love their country and try to act
decently by their neighbors, owe it to
themselves to remember that the most
damaging blow that can be given pop-
ular government is to elect an un-
worthy and sinister agitator on a
platform of violence and hypocrisy.
Whenever such an Issue is raised In
this country nothing can be gained by
flinching from it, for in such case dem-
ocracy is itself on trial, popular self-
government under republican forms is
itself on trial. The triumph of the
mob Is just as evil a thing as the trl
umph of the plutocracy, and to have
escaped one danger avails nothing
whatever If we sucuumb to the other.
In the end the honest man.whether rich
or poor who earns his own living and
tries to' deal justly by his fellows, has
as much to fear from the ins4ncere
and unworthy demagog, promising
much and performing nothing, or else
performing nothing but evil, who
would set on the mob to plunder the
ricli as from the crafty corruptionist
who. for his own ends, would permit
the common people to be exploited by
the very wealthy. If we ever let this
government fall Into the hands of men
of either of these two classes, we shall
show ourselves false to America's past
Moreover, the demagog and corrup-
tionist often work hand in hand. There
are at this moment wealthy reaction
urics of such obtuse morality th,it they
reeard the public servant who prose-
cutes ti.sni when they violate the law.
or who s«eks to make them bear their
proper share of the public burdens, as
being even more objectionable than
the violent agitator who hounds on
the mob t« plunder the rich. There is
nothing to choose between such a re-
•letionary and such an agitator, funda-
mentally thev are alike In their selfish
disregard of the rights of others; and
it is natural that they should join in
opposition to any movement of which
the aim is fearlessly to do exact and
even justice to all."
Railroad Employees* Hours.
He asks lor the passing of the bill lim-
iting the number of hours of
one He says the aim of all should be
to steadily reduce the number u£ hour*
or labor, with as a goal the general In-
troduction of an ei;Tht-hour day, but In-
sists that on the Isthmus of Panama the
conditions are so different from what
they are here that the Introduction of an
eight-hour day on the canal would be
absurd, and continues, "just about as ab-
surd as it is, so far as the isthmus is
concerned, where white labor cannot be
employed, to bother as to whether the
work is done by alien black men or aaen
by an unwillingness of either party
cept as true the statements of the other
as to the justice or Injustice of the "tat-
ters in dispute. _The exercise of a ju-
dicial spirit by a disinterested body
representing the federal government,
such as would be Provkledby acommls
slon on conciliation and
would tend to create an al
friendliness and conciliation between con-
tending parties: and the giving each side
an equal opportunity to present fully Its
case in the presence of the other would
prevent many disputes from developing
nto serious strikes or lockouts, and In
other cases, would enable the commts
slon to persuade the opposing partleB to
come to terms. . .
"In this age of great corporate and la-
bor combinations, neither employers nor
employees should be left completely at
the mercy of tho stronger party to a dis-
pute, regardless of the rlghteousness of
their respective claims. The P™P°"®u
measure would be In the line of
recognition of the fact that In mansf
strikes the public has itself an Interest
which cannot wisely be dlsregarded.an
interest* not merely of general conven-
ience, Tor the question of a Just and
proper public policy must also be con-
sidered. In all legislation of thla k nd
It Is well to advance cautiously, testing
each step by the actual results, the step
proposed can surely be safely taken. fo
the decisions of the commission w ou d
not bind the parties In legal fashion, and
yet would give a chance for public °Pln,,
ton to exert its full force for the right.
Control of Corporationa.
A considerable portion of the message
is devoted to the subject of federal con-
trol of corporations In what he refera to
the passage at the last session of the
rate, meat Inspection and fo°^ K^s, an<l
says that all of these have already Justi-
fied their enactment, but recommends
the amendment of the rneat
law so as to put dates on the labels of
meat products, and also to place the
cost of Inspection on the Packers rathe
than on tho government. Continuing on
this subject of the control of corporations
by the federal government he8ay«
"It cannot too often be repeated that ex
perience has conclusively shown the 1im-
possibility .of _ securing Jy^the^actions^of
would" atend With them, while the. •*
trcmlsts care rather to P^ach
and agitation than to achieve solid re
suits As a matter of fact, our position
reactionary'a 8 * from * that °of t*-
d" arbitration ■ li^^^^^^rnient'l^ri^not^ond^ l
{ho buslnlss of the nation but that
should exercise such svaperviaion as will
injure its being conducted in the inter
1st Of the nation. Our aim is, so far as
. ,„v Ua to secure, for all decent, hard-
working* men, equality of opportunity and
equality of burden.
Combinations Are Necessary.
"The actual working of our laws has
shown that the effort to prohibit all com-
bination good or bad, is noxious where
It Is pot ineffective. Combination of
capital like combination of labor Is a
necessary element of our present ''"jus-
trial svstem. It Is not possible completely
to prevent it; and if it were possible,
such complete prevention would do dam-
age to the body politic. AVhat we need
is not vainly to prevent all combination,
but to secure such rigorous and adequate
control and supervision of the combina-
tions as to prevent their injuring tho
public, or existing in such form as inev-
itably to threaten injury-for tho mere
fact that a combination has secured
practically complete control of a neces-
sary of life would under any circum-
stances show that such combination was
to be presumed to be adverse to the pub-
lic interest. It is unfortunate that our
present laws should forbid all combina-
tions, Instead of sharply discriminating
between those combinations which do
evil. Rebates, for instance, are as often
due to the pressure of big shippers (as
was shown In the investigation of the
Standard Oil company and as has been
shown since by the Investigation of the
tobacco and sugar trusts) as to the In 1 ti -
Rttve of bit? railroads. Often laiiroaa
would like to combine for the purpose (jjr
preventing a big shipper '"p'ne^a
Inc improper advantages at the
of sniall shippers and of the general p^-
Hc. Such a combination, Instead of belBg
forbidden by law, should be favored. In
other words, It should be permitted to
nearly half a hundred different
legislatures anything but ineffective
chaos in the way of ?e8lln* tw'^arate
great corporations which do not "Per^®
exclusively within the limits ot any one
state. In some method, whether by a
national license law or in o^er'ashlon,
we must exercise, and that at an early
date, a far more complete control than
at present over these great corpora-
tlons-a control that will among
thincrfl Drevent the evils of excessi\e
overcapitalization, and that will con}P®J
the disclosures by each ^ff^^ope^tles
of its stockholders and of its P^Pe^tles
and business, whether owned directly or
thru subsidiary or affiliated c'°rP^ation .
This will tend to put a stop tothesecur
ing of inordinate profits by favored
Individuals at the expense .whether of
the general public, the stockholders,
the wageworkers. Our effort should
not so much to prevent consolidation as
such but so to supervise and control it
as to see that It results In no harm to
the people. The reactionary or ultracon-
servatlve apologists for tho misuse of
wealth assail the effort to secure such
,,„n(rnl as a step toward socialism, as a
matter of fact'"it is these reactionary
and ultraconservatlves who are them
selves most potent in I""8"1"8 efficient
tic feeling One of the most etncieni
methods of averting the consequences of
a dangerous agitation, whlch U P
cent wrong, Is to remedy the 20 per cent,
of eXas to which the «lta£ion la well
founded. The best way to avert the very
undesirable move for the B-'^rnmental
ownership of railways is to secure
Investigation of Disputes.*
He urges the enactment of a drastic
child labor law for the District of Co-
lumbia and the territories, and a federal
investigation of the subject of child and
female labor throughout the country,
lie reviews the work ok the commission
appointed to investigate labor conditions
in tho coal fields of Pennsylvania in 1902,
and refers to the wish of the commission
"t at the state and federal governments
should provide the machinery for what
may be called the compulsory investiga-
tion of controversies between employers
and employes when they arise." After
referring to the fact that a bill has al-
ready been introduced to this end he
says:
"Many of these strikes and lockouts
would not have occurred had_ the parties
to ti?a jUanuia
>*= - -- b,i
the government on behalf of the people
Ls a whole suelt adequate control and
regulation of tbe great Interstate com-
carrret. a- agitation
mon - . .
against the men of wealth ™ch £ £
?ievCeUrLt^nPtrrabofmo"UOof t'he "JSve
abuses which actually do obtain in (»
under"our1 present "system—o^ rather no
individual. Hut as a matter of fact the
deadening and degrading effect
«nrialism. and especially of its extreme
form communism, and the destruction
individual character which they ^ou a
bring about, are ^npar^chleved b^the
corpor
these agreements were sanctioned by *he
Interstate commerce commission and
published. With these two condi-
tions compiled with It Is Impossible to
see what harm such a combination could
do to the public at large It Is a public
evil to have on the statute books a law
incapable of^full enforcement because
both Judges and Juries realize t!hat its
full enforcement would destroy the busi-
ness of the country; for the result Is to
make decent railroad men violators of
tho low against their will, and_ to put. a
premium on the behavior of the wilful'
wrongdoers. Such a result In turn tends
to throw the decent man and the wltful
wrnnedoer into close association, and in
he end to drag down the former to the
laUer s level; for the man who becomes
a lawbreaker in ono way unhappily tends
fn til respect for law t>nd to be
wininf? ro v»i c£.rw »*. -t, -j -
more scathing condemnation could be
visited upon a law than Is contained In
the words of the Interstate commerce
commission when, In commenting upon
(he fact that the numerous joint traffic
associations do technically violate he
law they say: ' Ihe decision of the
United States supreme court ln
Transmlssissippi case and the Joint
Traffic association case has produced no
practical effect upon the railway opera-
tions of the country. Such associations,
In fact, exist now as they did before
these decisions, and with the same gen-
eral effect. In Justice to all parties, we
ought probably to add that it is difficult
to see how our Interstate railways could
be operated with due regard to the Intel-
est of the shipper and the railway
without concerted action of the^ kind at
forded thru these associations.
This means that the law as construed
by the supreme court Is such that tne
business of tho country cannot be con-
ducted without breaking it. I recommend
that vou give careful and early consider-
ation to this subject, and if you llnd the
opinion of the interstate -commerce com-
mission Justified, that you amend the
law so as to obviate the evil disclosed.
Inheritance and Income Tax.
It was expected that the president
would refer in some way to his belier
In the necessity for the curbing of enor-
mous fortunes, and he has done so Dy
reebmmending legislation for both in-
come and an Inheritance tax. He be-
lieves the government should Impose a
graduated inheritance tax. and, if possi-
ble, a graduated income tax. He says.
"I am well aware that such a subject
as this needs long and careful study in
order that the people may become famil-
iar with what is proposed to be done,
may clearly see the necessity of proceed-
ing with wisdom and self-restraint, and
may make up their minds just how far
willing to go' in the matter.
eli t a-*-"1*- * —
enm petit ion and reduces former compel!- ^legislators should enact a law provld-
tors'to a position of utter inferiority and ^ • P^ua^nhentance Ux y
S"Hn enacting and enforcing such legla- shouid be put upon all moneys or pther
. .. .. S tills congress already has to It3 valuables coming by gift, bequest or
lation as this ,^rking on a coherent <jevis0 to any Individual or corporation.
CV 2 «Hth ?ho steady endeavor to secure Jt may be weil to make the tax heavy
fhenfi(^ded reform by the joint action of |n nronortion as the individual benefited
the moderate men, the plain men
do not wish anything
who
hysterical or
do Intend to deal
ttT'resoiuto oommor.sense fashion with
ih. real and great evils of the present
4 ayitem. Tha Reactionaries and the vio-
dangerous, but who
in proportion as —
Is remote of kin. In any event, in my
Judgment tha PJf^rata thejax^should
[Continued on Page 6.]
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The Searchlight (Guthrie, Okla.), No. 446, Ed. 1 Friday, December 7, 1906, newspaper, December 7, 1906; Guthrie, Oklahoma. (https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc285786/m1/3/?q=War+of+the+Rebellion.: accessed August 15, 2024), The Gateway to Oklahoma History, https://gateway.okhistory.org; crediting Oklahoma Historical Society.