| Show FOR THE COURTS today the courts in the west have grave and delicate duties to perform duties in which it Is ie essential for the count rys welfare th thattie atthe that the judges take special care to lay jay aside bias of a any ny nature and to proceed as p patriotic representatives of the national nation 1 Cons titu tion and the laws enacted these duties are pressed upon then them by the great railway strike now in progress and in the adjudication of r affairs connected therewith a vacillating policy or an exhibition of partisanship or prejudice against one or other of the parties immediately concerned cannot but result in serious mischief to the commonwealth the two views of the legal situation may be briefly stated as 1 shat hat set forth by judge riner biner in his order to the re cheivers of the union pacific and in ina 2 the stand taken in judge halletts court in denver today in proceedings by the strikers against the receivers of the cantale San santa tale fe road judge order regards as discharged from the union pacifica pacific s service all of the men in hla bla judicial circuit who at 7 this morning remained with the strikers in the santa fe proceedings proceed ines it is in claimed by the receivers that those em aloyes who by striking caused the stoppage of traffic are interfering with united states mails and that the arm of the government antho in thu use of the troops it if necessary should the be directed against them on the other band the attorneys of the strikers who are conducting the prosecution agal against fist the santa L fe re cel celvery ce iverc verP insist that the latter are guilty of interfering with the malls mails because they refuse to send out trains with the latter unless they have pullman oara oam attached while the employed emp loyes have made a formal offer to run all trains except the be objectionable oars cars just juat what position the courts will take on these issues remains to be seen if the discharged employed emp loyes and stalk ers are held to be the responsible parties for interfering with the malls mails the government will have to proceed against them it the receivers who do not let the mail trains go without pullmans are legally wrong so far as their road roads Is contract with th government is concerned then they must obey the orders of the courts and the strikers would win thus far the contest has resolved itself into a matter of legal tion on one of the main points involved fur for if the railways in the interest inte reet of the government mall mail cor contract can be required under the pros pres vure ure of a strike to fulfil fulfill its conditions while they fall fail in keeping an ordinary business agreement like that which exists with the pullman company then ahen those concerned in the latter cannot take advantage of the public contract to secure in connection therewith the enforcement of the private arrangements arrangement and it must stand alone but if the he government cannot enforce its if contract alone and spark apart from the other then in the ones case of railways railway the national power to use force of arms Is to be enlisted in every agreement with which railway managers choose to connect mail tr trains airis it if the conditions eions are not complied with under a lighter pressure already there have been decisions indirectly bearing to one or the other side ide of the controversy but the occa ion has not been so urgent heretofore as to call for a direct and uniform ruling on the part of the courts as it ia at present now however the time seems to have come to make such ruling moc necessary essary to prevent a great deal of trouble rouble it may be that the courts will not be sufficiently Ik harmonious armonious or explicit upon those these points to have bave them definitely settled and if so then the trouble arising from the he difference of opinion as to the legal status of the parties has but just begun the integrity promptness prompt nese I 1 justness aness and patriotism of the judicial vioers officers can go a long way now towards a settlement of affairs or a deficiency in those virtues can make matters much worse |
