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4
c. A D D R E S S
BY
THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE
UNITED STATES
HON HARRY M. DAUGHERTY
(At Canton, Ohio, October 21, 1922)
ZTT – -TN
“THE FREEDOM OF SPEECH GUARANTEED UNDER
THE CONSTITUTION IS NOT THAT FREEDOM OF
SPEECH which INCITES MOB violeNCE,
DESTRUCTION OF LIFE AND PROPERTY
AND ATTACKS ON GOVERNMENT.”
* L E T U S A L L S U P P O R T T H E G O V E R N M E N T *
Gift
Prof. H. L. Wilgus
, -2°-3 ſ
THE TRUTH ABOUT THE
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
HON. HARRY M. DAUGHERTY
Those charged with responsibility
in the conduct of government, even
though temporarily in office, should
periodically be called upon and be
willing to give an account of their
stewardship. No politics can be prac-
ticed in the discharge of the duties of
the Attorney General of the United
States without interfering with the
proper business of the Government
and without discriminating between
citizens and classes. This should
never be, and it is not done in the
present administration.
The people of the whole country
are entitled to know accurately and
honestly just what is being done in
the interest of orderly government and
better society. It is impossible, of
course, for public officials to disclose
all the intricate moves required in the
proper management of a department.
As in the case of the Department of
Justice, for instance, it would be dis-
astrous to make public indiscrimi-
nately what is being done in specific
instances and cases, or what is in con-
templation.
Important Matters Involved.
I do desire to present in a limited
way—limited only because of limited
time—several of the most important
matters which are now engaging the
attention of the Tepartment of Justice
and of your Government. All of us
understand that a great Government,
such as ours, can have no malice; it
must be just, and it must be honest to
all alike.
Steps to Investigate.
I Want you to keep in mind that the
War ended on November 11, 1918, and
from that day until the 4th of March,
1921, responsibility of conducting the
vitally important legal business of the
Government rested upon the previous
administration. The war being over,
those in positions of responsibility
should immediately have begun the
Work of settling the affairs of the Gov-
ernment in order that we might forget
the horrors of the conflict, ascertain
Who had been helpful and who had
been hurtful, square the accounts, and
close the books. Nothing of this char-
acter was undertaken. No suits were
brought to correct mistakes and en-
force adjustments.
Until this administration was in-
stalled, no attempt was made to dig
out the acts of dishonesty that on
every hand were charged, not by those
in politics, but by well-meaning per-
sons, regardless of politics, who were
compelled to foot the bills. Stagnation
prevailed, and multitudinous claims
and unadjusted accounts of every
caliber and description were piled high
in one conglomerate mass when the
present administration came in.
Barbed-wire entanglements of modern
warfare were simple as compared with
the artfully contrived barricades
thrown up in concrete form about the
countless cases of national and inter-
national importance. But no word of
criticism is heard of inactivity in this
respect, because such conduct suited
those who have been the most critical
of the Department of Justice since
much has been started and much has
been done.
Duty of the Department,
A great majority of the individuals
and a great majority of the industrial
concerns transacting business with
the Government during the war period
were honest in their representations
and activities. Others, unfortunately,
were not, and it was the duty of the
Department of Justice as quickly as it
could be done, as quietly and in as
dignified a manner as it could be ac-
complished without sensationalism, to
ascertain what transactions were hon-
est and what dishonest; what persons
grafted, if any, and who were to be
placed on the golden roll of honor and
beyond suspicion.
The Department of Justice, there-
fore, immediately began and is con-
tinuing to exercise in the interest of
the Government and its people all of
its great powers to see that justice
may be kept alive. The war fraud
cases, under investigation by a corps
of experts, representing the best legal
minds obtainable within the limita-
tions, and even far beyond the limita-
tipns because of their personal saeri-
fice, fixed in the appropriation for the
payment of compensation, will be
cleared up as rapidly as human energy
can accomplish the stupendous task
made so difficult through the compli-
cated and inexcusable confusion at-
tending all such war-time transactions.
Voice of Calumny Raised.
Some disloyal and incompetent em-
ployees had to be ferreted out and
kicked out. The records of the war
transactions had to be built up from
scraps of paper and the faulty memory
of witnesses in many cases scattered
Over the world. Those whe were un-
der suspicion and with guilty con-
science had been at work for months
and years to prevent the day of reck-
oning.
Every known method of interfer.
ence and intrigue had been adopted.
There was no limit to their resources.
Money improperly and criminally se-
cured in war transactions was more
in amount for defense than the Gov.
ernment had for investigation and
prosecution by civil and criminal pro-
ceedings. The scoundrels struck from
behind. They hid behind willing or
innocent tools, who were induced to
make attacks on faithful agents and
Officers of the Government for the
promised consideration of notoriety
and spectacular and sensational tem-
porary prominence. They had no re-
gard for the Government; they had
no regard for conscience; they had no
regard for the character of any man
in position, high or low, who in a pains-
taking way was trying to get at the
truth, to protect the good name of the
innocent on the one hand, and on the
other, trying to get dependable testi-
mony to prove the fraud, if any, and
to find who were actually the crimi-
nals. No name was sacred, and in
fact, no life was safe if it stood in the
Way of their escape.
Congress Aid Invoked.
As soon as We could become ac-
quainted with the persons with whom
we were to be associated, the Work
was begun by the regular force.
Others were added as the funds at the
command of the department permitted.
Without sensational announcement,
published notice, or vainglorious prom-
ise, the work was thus started. Up to
this moment, as the directing head of
the Department of Justice, I have
never, in public speech or in public
print, mentioned the name of a man
or a concern under investigation until
court proceeding was properly insti-
tuted and the records of the proceed-
ing had served as an announcement
to the entire world. It is the duty of
the Department of Justice to protect
as well as prosecute. The department
continued to do this important work
quietly as long as it was permitted
to do so.
As soon as it became known how
effectively the work was going on, the
storm broke. When all available funds
of the department had been exhausted,
Congress was asked for financial as-
sistance. It was necessary to pass
laws to make it possible to bring cer-
tain suits; extra grand juries had to be
provided for so that the investigations
might proceed; extra judges had to
be authorized in order that the courts
might get at the cases expeditiously.
Legislation for this purpose was
compelled to take its course, but was
hurried as rapidly as possible, and the
last bill necessary for the prosecution
of the department’s fraud work has
only recently become a law. The re-
quest for the appropriation of half a
million dollars for use in this particu-
lar work was made of Congress at the
very time When accusation and
calumny, like poison gas, were being
used to prejudice, to interfere with,
and to defeat the purpose of the work.
Yet at the time the Storm broke and
reached its greatest fury, sufficient
facts had been quietly presented to
the committees of Congress to justify
the appropriation asked for, and Con-
gress made the appropriation without
a single dissenting vote in either
branch, thus giving the full initial
amount requested for the purpose of
paying the expenses of conducting the
Work.
Enemies Behind Smoke Screen.
The opposition of the crooks was
conducted behind a smoke screen -f
calumny created for their own escape,
and the real reason for the attack was,
in every instance, withheld. The very
men against whom both civil and crim-
inal proceedings have been brought
were using the ignorant and the no-
toriety seeker to make charges in the
open that nothing was being done by
the Department of Justice. The real
reason for their activity Was the fact
that things were being done. What
did any man’s reputation, his char-
acter, his life even, amount to if it
stood in the way of their corrupt de-
fense? But we have gone through it
all, and still We are not afraid, and we
Will go On.
A congressional investigation was
demanded. Why? Because they could
then, as they thought, disorganize us
and compel us to produce the evidence
prematurely and thus dissipate the
Government’s efforts to bring and try
the cases in a dignified, orderly way
before the courts of justice of the
country. They have tried for months
to force an investigation and trial of
these cases before congressional com-
mittees that have no judicial authority,
and in the daily press. This We have
not done. This we will never do, no
matter what the temptation, and no
matter what the provocation, uniess
under the direction of Congress, as ex-
pressed by duly authorized legislation,
We are compelled to scatter to the
four winds the facts and evidence of
the Government which would enable
the guilty to escape civil and criminal
liability.
No Turning Backward.
We are going back to the day, thank
God, when there is some hope and
expectation that the world and the
country will be in order, and precedent
well and long established, will be fol-
lowed for the adjudication of differ-
ences between citizen and Govern-
ment. It will take time and it will
take patience. The work will be done,
and it will be done as thoroughly as
human agency can do it.
The Government will never answer
any attack made upon the responsible
heads of its departments except in the
orderly process of our dependable
courts. The Government will not play
into the hands of those who hope to be
the undeserved beneficiaries of a pre-
mature showing of the hand of the
Government in transaetions which it
is the Government's business to in-
vestigate and rectify.
More than four hundred separate
and distinct cases of tremendous mag-
nitude, representing billions of dollars,
now are undergoing a process of what
might be termed liquidation. Recov-
eries will be made; many settlements
will be made and have been made; and
many transactions will be terminated
successfully. I will not make prom-
ises that I do not think can be kept,
and I want to say to the American peo-
ple that the great unjustifiable finan-
cial loss, even considering the ravages
of war, which the Government was
compelled to sustain, can never be re-
covered, because, when the story of
these contracts and transactions are
truthfully written in the records of the
Government, as they will be, it will be
found that the greatest loss resulted
from improperly made contracts
wherein the interests of the Govern-
ment were not properly protected, and
improvident settlements too speedily
made, and made without judgment,
and made carelessly, recklessly, and
possibly preferentially, but where ao-
tionable fraud, dishonesty and conspir-
acy can not be specifically proven—all
of which is necessary for conviction,
and in most civil cases necessary for
recovery.
Millions Squandered.
We are not picking at small things.
We will only complain where com-
plaint is justified. Many facts and
disclosures attending this investiga-
tion indicate that hundreds of impor-
tant contracts were entered into by
the Government with great corpora-
tions and manufacturers without
proper examination of conditions or
requirements; without exercise of
sound judgment; with carelessness
and laxity that reflect no credit upon
those agents of government entrusted
with authority to negotiate such con-
tracts. Billions of dollars were squan-
dered through this class of contracts—
billions which never can be recovered.
United States attorneys throughout
the country now have before them ap-
proximately one hundred and fifty
cases dealing With fraud in war-time
transactions, and they are progressing
With court action as rapidly as condi-
tions permit. In Washington, indict-
Iments already have been returned
against thirteen men who have been
charged with complicity in attempts
to defraud the Government at a time
When all of our resources were so
urgently needed for the prosecution of
a war in which our sons by the mil-
lions were braving death in all its hor-
ror on the battlefields of Europe.
Other indictments will follow in due
course. It takes work and time, and
several cases require more than a year
and a half for preparation and investi-
gation.
Caution. In All Details.
I should like for the Ameriean peo-
ple to know how painstakingly careful
this investigation is being conducted.
Attorneys who neither know, nor have
now, nor ever have had, any connec-
tion with those involved in the cases
under investigation, are endeavoring
With all their skill to reach just, im-
partial, and scrupulously honest de-
cisions in each individual case. When
these separate cases are completed
they are referred to what might be
termed an advisory council, or court,
which is composed of three of the
most eminent legal scholars in Amer-
ica, who, after they have passed judg-
ment, present their findings to the At-
torney General.
Despite the infinitely careful re-
Search and analysis, the balancing of
every element entering into the trans-
actions, the sifting and sorting of facts
and allegations and superficialities, by
trained and competent agents of Gov-
ernment who have spent months on
their task—despite all this, the At-
torney General and his advisory board
again go over in detail the merits of
the cases before final decision is
reached as to how they shall be dis-
posed of and to see that justice is done
the Government and no injustice done
anybody.
In the shortest space of time in
Which it can be accomplished, every
case Will be closed. Reports will be
Written covering every detail, omitting
nothing which in the name of justice
should be contained therein, and then,
When the Government has done its
duty, whether by court proceeding or
by civil settlement processes, these
books and records will be sealed, this
horror and scar upon our national life
Will be erased for all time, and it is
my ambition to see terminated this
tremendous task in such manner that
there may be inscribed upon the back
of each volume of the record and upon
the title page of each volume the
words, “Truth and Justice.”
Origin of Criticism.
There has been criticism, naturally,
of the Department of Justice, and
those who faithfully have sought to
serve the Government with all the
honesty of their being. I refer not
only to the Attorney General himself,
but to those loyal and devoted officers
of Government Who have in Silence
suffered bitter and infamous charges,
but whose armor, when all has been
said and done, will have stood the test
of faith and confidence of the people
of this country.
How futile it would be for public
officers to respond to every demand of
the curious, to reply to subtle innu-
endos and criticism, to attempt to ap-
pease the curiosity of those who would
seek to learn if they or those with
whom they are allied are under in-
vestigation or likely to be investigated.
It is this class which indulges in criti-
cism and attempts to throw up about
every department of Government and
rº-
every official in responsible position
a cloud of distrust and suspicion.
We would have heard little criti-
cism of the Department of Justice had
it not been discovered that a case like
the Chemical Foundation, for instance
(in which valuable patents were as-
signed by public officials to companies
which they themselves had organized),
was under investigation, and the part
played by those involved also was be-
ing scrutinized carefully by Govern-
ment agents.
Insidious Propaganda.
And let me here, without giving any
intimation as to Who the men Were,
let me suggest that I have had the
unique experience of sitting in the De-
partment of Justice and listening to
the story of a man formerly connected
with the Government and hearing pa-
tiently his pleas for certain fairly legiti-
mate concessions, When, at the same
time, in the city of New York, another
former official, one of his associates,
was busily engaged in getting contri-
butions and making connections in
order that the attacks upon the De-
partment of Justice and the Govern-
ment might be increased, reinforced,
and successfully continued.
I can give the names of these par-
ties if ever they lift their voices to
dispute this statement, but unless I
am authorized by them so to do, I
should like to go through this entire
investigation Without prematurely
mentioning names except in the or-
derly process of court proceedings.
Their names, however, Will be found
in connection With certain litigation
wherein some of the most important
questions and some of the most ques-
tionable transactions and some of the
most valuable properties in the World
are in dispute, and the right and Wrong
of the transactions connected With the
transfer of certain property, must be
determined in a court of justice.
Accomplishments of Department.
Now, that you know the obstacles
ever in the path of those officers of
Government who would do their duty
nonestly and faithfully, is it surprising
to you that public servants so often
are villified with the most bitter and
contumelious language? But as long
as Government lives, as long as chosen
leaders of peoples perform the tasks
set out for them, fearlessly and With
all the honesty of their being, there
Still Will be some few who would at-
tempt to breathe scandal where no
scaridal lurks, to find fault where no
fault exists. To attempt to combat
this sort of thing would be as futile as
the heroic exploits of Cyrus who em-
ployed a whole army to revenge him-
self of the river Gyndas for the fright
it had put him to in passing over it.
I could not in volumes give a full
account of the accomplishments of the
Department of Justice during this ad-
ministration, but if I may, I want to
give a glimpse of a few of the prob- .
lems disposed of or under considera-
tion at the present time.
During the past year, civil suits to
which the United States was a party
were instituted to the number of 9,646;
more than 8,000 were terminated.
There are now pending in the courts
something like 12,000 cases.
More than 60,000 criminal prosecu-
tions were begun. During the year
53,000 were terminated. There are
now pending more than 64,000 cases.
From these prosecutions and adjudi-
cation of cases brought under the pres-
ent administration, nearly FOUR AND
A. HALF MILLION DOLLARS Were.
realized by the Government from the
civil suits alone, while fines and pen-
alties to the amount of THREE ANI,
A HALF MILLION DOLLARS Were
realized, making a total of nearly
EIGHT MILLION DOLLARS,
Costs of Administration.
The total appropriation allotted for
the conduct of the Department of Jus-
tice for 1922 was $19,000,000.00. How
trival this sum would seem when it is
remembered that in 1913, for instance,
the enormous sum of $11,000,000.00
Was appropriated for the Department
when the problems were infinitesimal
as compared with the issues of tower-
ing magnitude to-day. It must be un-
derstood that the Department of Jus-
tice is now cleaning up the War debris
and the department has at least ten
times as much Work and business as it
ever had before.
Another administration accomplish-
ment, one which is most gratifying,
was the enactment of legislation which
made possible additional judgeships.
Our courts are clogged, but now, with
twenty-four additional trial judges, the
Nation may look forward to the ex-
pediting of cases Which long since
should have been disposed of. On
June 30th of this year there were in
excess of 172,000 civil and criminal
Cases pending in the Federal courts of
the United States.
The American people must be pro-
tected by its courts. One particular
issue which it shall be my privilege
to force will be the disposal of approxi-
mately 480 cases developed through
postal frauds, and which are now pend-
ing. These cases, now in the hands
of United States attorneys for institu-
tion of criminal proceedings, repre-
sent the filching from the public, wid-
oWs, old men, and even children, of the
enormous sum of $140,000,000. These
scheming and vulturous users of the
United States mails shall be brought
to trial, and the humble citizens victi-
mized shall have the satisfaction of
knowing that the Government is as de-
termined to see that their cases get
as much attention as the cases in
which the great and mighty are in-
volved. Equity and justice must be
denied no citizen of this country, now,
or hereafter, if our courts and our
public officers are to enjoy the con-
tinued confidence of the people.
No Apologies to Offer.
From the birth of this Republic to
the present day the American Govern-
ment has never shirked its duty to,
nor felt constrained to apologize for
any action or step taken in the inter-
est of its nationals and its industries.
Nor shall the Attorney General of the
United States now, or hereafter, apolo-
gize for any act of his which provides
protection and establishes more firmly
those bulwarks of human liberty and
justice to which the American people
are so bountifully entitled.
No more sacred trust is placed upon
Government or man than that which
looks to the preservation of the tradi-
tions and ideals of enlightened civiliza-
tion. And when basic fundamentals
of our national welfare are threatened,
When conniving and vicious elements
seek through menacing doctrines and
destructive acts to undermine the
faith of the people in their Govern-
ment and those officials who have
been chosen by mandate to guide and
guard with all the honesty and fear-
lessness of human courage, the laws of
God and man, then I say that the time
has come when eternal vigilance not
only becomes a precaution, but a duty
on the part of mankind.
If American institutions are to en-
dure, they must be surrounded and
buttressed by all the protective forces
known to ingenuity of man.
Labor and the Government.
I am not now, nor have I ever been,
an Opponent of honestly conceived
labor organizations and trade union-
ism. If I were a skilled worker, in
mill, factory, or mine, I would join a
union, but I would never affiliate with
a union that sets its laws and its con-
Stitution above the laws and Constitu-
tion of my country. In a great indus-
trial Nation such as ours, labor organi-
Zations are necessary, but they must
be the right kind of unions under the
right kind of leadership.
Labor must be constructive and not
destructive. There must be loyalty
to employer, to the Nation. The radi-
cal and unscrupulous leader and those
elements which make up the agitator
type must be eliminated from our na-
tional life. They menace the whole
System of trade unionism, and for its
OWn protection organized labor must
banish them from its ranks. The ad-
Vocate of violence in our national and
industrial life must go. And the word
of labor everywhere must be as good
as its bond.
If those who come to this country
and become naturalized citizens, that
they may enjoy the benefits the coun-
try affords to all alike, are not satis-
fied with our laws and our form of
government, then they should as rap-
ily as possible denaturalize themselves
and return to the country under whose
laws they did not care to live, but
whose theories they would attempt to
exploit upon us.
The Chicago Injunction.
I am not altogether sure but that
We have reached the point where, for
the safety of the country, every for-
eigner coming to our shores should be
met at the dock and impressed with
the fact that he must, before natural-
ization, in Some effective manner
prove his worthiness to citizenship in
this great Republic. As it is, too many
of those entering our gates are met at
the port by the professional parasite
and advised that the only prerequisite
to American citizenship is membership
in this or that organization—organiza-
tions which are dedicated to the de-
º
struction of the very freedom which
the immigrant hopes to enjoy.
One of the most important steps
taken by the Department of Justice
in the interest of the American people
was that in connection with the in-
junction proceedings at Chicago that
reestablished justice and individual
rights in America. The railroads of
the country are compelled by law to
furnish interstate commerce for the
country. It is the duty of Government
to see that this obligation is performed
according to the letter of the law. The
roads were attempting to keep inter-
state commerce alive, but conditions
had reached a point Where this was
made impossible through lack of
skilled Workers, deterioration. Of equip-
ment, and other conditions brought
about by the Strike of 400,000 members
of the Federated Shop Crafts Unions.
The Government acted. It was a
duty, not to labor, not to the railroads,
but to the American people and to the
Government itself. More than 17,000
affidavits from every section of the
United States concerning anarchy
bordering on civil war furnished con-
vincing proof that the people needed
the protection of their Government as
never before.
Bear in mind, that I did not under-
take this proceeding as a partisan Or
as the advocate of the railroads. As
between the railroads and those With
whom they were in conflict, consider-
ing the matters in dispute, I Was neu-
tral, and I took no action on behalf of
the government until it became ap-
parent to the entire country that inter-
state commerce and the carrying of
the mails were being interfered with
to the extent that our people and Our
industries were being materially af-
fected. In fact, more than 1,000 mail
trains had been withdrawn from
service.
Economy in Expenditures.
Was the Government interested?
The Department of Justice alone spent
probably a million and a half dollars
in. Seven weeks, as economically as it
could be used, to keep down strife and
preserve order in its neutral capacity
between the contesting parties.
In the last half of August it was
evident to all that the situation Was
growing worse, and it was solely in
the interest of the entire people, the
maintenance of commerce, and the
carrying of the mails, furnishing food
and fuel, that the Government per-
formed its duty when it brought action
to restrain those who were interfering
With transportation and threatening
the life of the Government. It may
truly be said that the transportation
crisis through which we passed came
dangerously near imposing a veto upon
the economic readjustment of our na-
tional life.
When the heads of the Federated
Shopcrafts Unions called their strike,
the men who walked out were in re-
volt against a twelve per cent reduc-
tion in wages authorized by the Rail-
road Labor Board, the quasi judicial
body charged by Federal law with the
duty of fixing railway Wages. This
move was a complete renunciation of
the Esch-Cummins law, which afforded
them special protection as to wage
status by providing that all disputes
concerning basic Wage conditions and
Working rules should be referred to a
Federal tribunal representing the
roads, Workers, and the public.
Fair Wage for Labor.
Thus, With One bold challege to con-
Stitutional government, the Strike lead-
ers, to all apparent purposes, re-
nounced the protection of govern-
mental authority when they mutinied
against a decision Which they con-
strued to be unfavorable to their
CallS62.
In practically every other industry
in this country and throughout the
world War-Wage scales had been aban-
doned, but union leaders demanded
continuation of Wage inflation at the
War peak.
The Government and those chosen
to safeguard its integrity and constitu-
tional rights, believe that labor de-
serves and should enjoy an equitable
wage scale. On this issue there is no
quarrel between labor and Govern-
ment.
More than forty million Wage earn-
ers in this country depend upon Or-
ganized government for livelihood,
and protection of their interest ever
constitutes a source of deep concern
to Government. In the industries
alone some thirty million toil in mill,
factory, on public carriers, and in the
mines. Of this number organized la-
bor claims a representation of five or
six million.
10
When certain rail workers were in-
structed by their leaders to lay down
their tools, four hundred thousand of
the one million six hundred thousand
men employed by the carriers, Walked
out in defiance of the law. A certain
conspicuous union leader immediately
suggested that a sympathetic or pro-
gressive strike was being considered,
which would involve other crafts
which had remained loyal to the car-
riers, themselves, and to their coun-
try. Attempts were made by strike
leaders at this juncture to justify their
stand by subtle intimation to Workers
that further wage reductions Were Con-
templated by the Railroad Labor
Board. But fundamentally the revolt
was against the twelve per cent Wage
reduction.
Neither Punic cunning nor the Vocif-
erous canting of those who had deter-
mined to crush any conciliatory Spirit
that might exist among the army of
wage earners thus arbitrarily ordered
into idleness could disguise the facts
behind this revolt against government.
Rulings of the Labor Board.
Not a year back this same govern-
mental board whose ruling now Was
branded as an “infamous injustice to
American workmen” had, in its Deci-
Sion No. 2, directed a substantial in-
crease in the wages of rail employees.
The carriers submitted, though they
complained that labor costs had in-
creased 115 per cent in comparison
with 54 per cent increase in revenues
made possible through higher rates
granted by the Interstate Commerce
Commission.
From a period of distressing infla-
tion and soaring prices the country had
passed into a period of severe liquida-
tion, and the labor board, in effect,
through its ruling No. 1036, of June 5,
this year, had decreed that, in view of
reduced wages in other industries, rail-
way wages must of necessity be made
to approximate them, if readjustment
of our economic and industrial life was
to be accomplished.
But the die was cast and labor’s le-
gions marched in solid phalanx from
beneath the protecting bulwarks of
constitutional law at the command of
their leaders.
Industrial paralysis, human suffer-
ing, and irretrievable losses confronted
the nation as train after train was laid
off. Cessation of traffic was destroy-
ing the arteries of trade and com-
merce. Government, industry, society,
and labor itself realized that the help-
less millions jammed into the great
centers of population were dependent
upon transportation for food—for life
itself. But the upheaval Went On.
Sporadically tales came out of the
west, the southwest, and the south and
from our northern border states ofs
derailments, maiming, Sabotage, and
even murder.
Faced By An Economic Crisis.
Just a year back more than five mil-
lion men and women were walking the
Streets of our cities, jobless, hungry,
and despondent; but now they were at
work, through the sound operation of
constructive government. The coal
Strike, which had spread over five
months, was nearing final settlement,
and 600,000 miners and their families
were about to return to Work, Con-
tented. But anew there blazed upon
the horizon of a prosperous govern-
ment and a happy people a crisis which
stunned the nation—a crisis which
threatened not only economic and in-
dustrial depression, not Only a recur-
rence of idleness among Our Wage
earners, but the country’s transporta-
tion systems, upon which all elements
alike must depend for orderly govern-
ment and those things which must hold
together the human fabric.
Out of Philadelphia came the man-
date of one of the heads of the shop
crafts in that district, and which ap-
peared to reflect the attitude of other
leaders, that—
“We will tie up every train, both
freight and passenger; every ferry
boat and every railway shop, and
not a wheel will turn anywhere.”
Government was being mocked and
pilloried in scorn. Appeals were be-
ing made to Washington by countless
thousands of American citizens.
Scarcely a community in any part of
this broad, free land was being spared
the iron heel of terrorism, Depreda-
tion of property was in full swing, and
human life was anything but sacred.
All the great transcontinental systems
were jeopardized, and the Interstate
Commerce Commission, after infinitely
painstaking Surveys, had found that
the rolling stock and equipment of the
afflicted roads were so seriously im-
paired that FIFTY PER CENT of the
locomotives in use were unfit for Serv-
ice and many were out of commission
entirely.
The nation was in the grip of civil
war. "We had reached a point where
loyal, intelligent Americans wondered
if organized government actually ex-
isted in this free land of ours—or a
land presumed to be free and conse-
crated to observance of law. Crimi-
mals of the Vilest types, apostles of the
ultra-red variety, and crafty power-
lusting missionaries of discord mingled
in the attack upon life, property, law,
and government.
Firm Step Necessary.
Then, when all conciliatory efforts
On the part of trusted government em-
issaries had failed, when court proceed-
ings in practically every district in
the United States had been instituted
by the railroads to safeguard their
property and prevent willful and mali-
cious interference with the orderly Op-
eration of their lines, when men were
Willing and anxious to work if permit-
ted to do so, when the heads of the
strikers had called upon the men who
had deserted their tools and shops
at their dictation to do “THEIR
DAMNEDEST AND THEN SOME”;
When human Suffering and hardships
were beginning to leave their impress
upon the innocent and helpless public,
when transportation was impaired
FIFTY PER CENT OR MORE, and
the country Was Stung to a fury, the
time had arrived when national se-
curity no longer made it possible for
government to stay its hand. A de-
cisive and firm step was essential to
the preservation of American institu-
tions, its people, and the basic princi-
ples of government itself.
Moral Suasion Ineffective.
Moral suasion up to this point had
fallen upon deaf ears. Finally both
railroad executives and shopcraft
heads appealed to President Harding
to use his good offices in an effort to
adjudicate the differences between the
two elements. In the most patient and
painstaking way the President’s great
genius as a human harmonizer was put
forth, but by the latter part of August
his efforts had failed to receive the
consideration to which they so right-
fully were entitled. The President ap-
pealed to the striking workers, with-
out denying their right to strike,
though I may say on my own behalf,
considering the fact they had sub-
mitted their dispute to the Railroad
Labor Board, they had no moral right,
at least, to repudiate that arm of the
ll
Government by refusing to abide by
its decision. Appeal to the railroad
executives received no remedial re-
Sponse. Reconciliation appeared to be
impossible between the conflicting
hosts, though the Government and its
highest officers had expended every
Ounce of energy and brain force to
persuade opposing leaders to compose
their differences.
Railroad tracks and terminal shops
Of the country were in control of men
Who were undertaking to prevent other
Workers performing duties necessary
to the free flow of interstate com-
merce. Demagogic and violently bitter
disciples of force and anarchy worked
in open sympathy with those who
Would paralyze transportation and
Stultify government. For no industrial
dispute of mammoth scale in this coun-
try can survive without the contribu-
tion of this criminal class which revels
in vandalism and thrives off the bounty
of Strike managers, who, perhaps often-
times innocently, are inveigled into
accepting their support.
Immediate Action Demanded.
Could Government therefore be ex-
pected to remain supinely indifferent
When its authority was challenged and
threatened by chaos as deadly as
armed strife itself. I say NO, and
every thinking man with love for his
country and his fellow men, will say
NO as vehemently as I do.
When Government falters, when its
chosen leaders neither know nor re-
Spect their duty, when law and order
no longer remain as the guiding prin-
ciples of all peoples and all institu-
tions, then civilization is doomed to
atavistic revolt. Thus fell Rome and
Athens, and thus passed the Middle
Ages and the Renaissance, but Amer-
ica Was neither to succumb nor sur-
render to those elements which sought
to destroy the traditions and ideals
upon which her forefathers had
builded a Nation of justice to all man-
kind.
What was the Government to do?
The only logical answer and the only
effective measure possible was an ap-
peal to the courts for a restraining
Grder, restraining those responsible
for this condition of affairs from
further interference with interstate
COIn IſlerCe.
Before discussing the features of,
and the intent of an injunction, let me
say that the injunction proceedings at
12
Chicago Were instituted under the pro-
visions of the Sherman law, the same
law which twenty-eight years ago was
invoked by President Cleveland in the
so-called Debs strike, when Federal
troops were marched into Chicago by
the thousands, and the same law em-
ployed by my predecessor during
President Wilson’s administration in a
controversy wherein coal miners and
Operators were involved at Indianapo-
lis. Cleveland, it will be remembered,
Was denounced as a despot and tyrant
by sniping demagogues who scorned
Our Constitution and laws. But this
WaS Cleveland’s greatest public
Service.
The Sherman Act.
Section 1 of the Sherman Act de-
clares that—
Every contract, combination in
the form of trust or otherwise,
or conspiracy, in restraint of
trade or commerce among the
several States, Or with foreign
nations, is hereby declared to be
illegal. Every person who shall
make any such contract or en-
gage in any such combination or
conspiracy shall be deemed guilty
Of a misdemeanor, and, On con-
viction thereof, shall be punished
by a fine not exceeding five thou-
sand dollars, or by imprisonment
not exceeding One year, or by
both said punishments, in the
discretion of the court.
Section 4 declares—
The Several circuit courts of
the United States are hereby in-
vested with jurisdiction to pre-
vent and restrain violations of
this act; and it shall be the duty
of the several district attorneys
of the United States in their re-
spective districts, under the di-
rection of the Attorney General,
to institute proceedings in equity
to prevent and restrain such Vio-
lations. Such proceedings may
be by Way of petition setting
forth the case and praying that
such violations shall be enjoined
or otherwise prohibited. When
the parties complained of shall
have been duly notified of such
petition, the court shall proceed,
as soon as may be, to the hearing
and determination of the case;
and pending such petition and
before final decree, the court may
at any time make such tempo-
rary restraining order or prohibi-
tion as shall be deemed just in
the premises.
Compared With Clayton Act.
The Clayton Act contains a similar
provision, but the Clayton Act does
not modify the Sherman Act in a situ-
ation of this character where the Gov-
ernment itself is a complainant and
Where interstate commerce is involved.
A temporary restraining order or in-
junction Such as was properly and
legally granted in the recent case prob-
ably Would not be authorized in a simi-
lar contest between employer and em-
ployee, or in strikes in industrial en-
terprises upon which the Government
does not depend to aid it in maintain-
ing interstate commerce and the trans-
portation of the mails.
What is an injunction? Radicals
and other obsequious sycophants, sup-
ported by that infinitely small portion
of the press which depends for its
circulation upon sensation and social-
ism, Would have us believe that it is
a modern device, a recent discovery.
The injunction is the most humane,
the most charitable, and the most
prompt and effective civil proceeding
known to law. Violation of an in-
junction may be punished by the court
issuing the injunction, but the violator
has a right to stand before the court,
assert his right, defend his act, and
be judged guilty or guiltless, as the
court may determine. When a set of
men are unwilling to abide by the de-
cision of the court, they should be
forced to do so, and When they no
longer can be forced to stand before
the bar of justice, then Government
Ceases to exist.
Injunction. As a Remedy.
Further, an injunction is the laying
of the hand of the Government in an
admonishing and restraining way upon
the shoulder of the man who is about
to commit a crime, warning him and
Ordering him to stay his hand and
hold his wrath and desist from com-
mitting a crime and becoming a crimi-
nal. If he stops, no crime is commit-
ted. If there is a dispute as to his
right, he is given a speedy hearing be-
fore the court, which answers finally
the question of right and Wrong, jus-
tice and injustice.
The injunction is a remedy that has
in one form or another existed
throughout the entire period of civili-
zation. It is as old as the common
law itself, and held an important place
in the protection of legal rights under
the Roman law. Self-help, or the im-
pulse to take the law into one’s own
hands, which the history of civiliza-
tion shows to degenerate into mob
violence, if left unrestrained, is the
alternate course of conduct which all
through history has run parallel to the
efforts of organized society to protect
rights and redress Wrongs by a Gov-
ernment of law and order.
Even under Governments firmly
established, the primal impulse asserts
itself at times to take the law into
one’s own hands. Hence, the func-
tions of courts have been not only to
redress Wrongs already committed,
but to protect rights, and by writs of
injunction forbid a threatened course
of conduct in advance of the actual
invasion of the right. The injunction
is fundamental in every system of
jurisprudence worthy of the name that
has been devised for the protection of
human rights. A fundamental princi-
ple of English law is that “Where
there is a right, there is a remedy.”
Running along With the legal maxim is
another old adage, “An ounce of pre-
vention is worth a pound of cure,” and
the common law system found the
writ of injunction effective for accom-
plishing its purpose.
Protection. From Crime.
The injunction further saves a man
from becoming a criminal. It protects
the rights, not only of government it-
self, but of all the people, pending
final judicial adjudication. It was the
mildest form of procedure that could
have been adopted in this case.
If the injunction Were not resorted
to, what was the next thing the Gov-
ernment could do after all efforts at
voluntary and peaceful persuasion had
failed? Step aside and let violence
continue; let the mob grow in fury
and in numbers; let the leaders with
torch, and bomb and dagger continue
destruction of life and property?
Could the Government permit itself
to be weakened to a point where, after
commission of hideous crimes by un-
restrained hordes of violators of all
we hold sacred, it would find itself im-
potent to adopt the policy it did?
13
Is it not better to prevent a man
from committing a crime than to en-
Courage him to become a criminal? Is
it not better to restrain him by the
gentle hand of the law in a kindly but
impressive way than to let him go
along to his own destruction? Is it not
better to have men again at work, as
they now are, than confined in jails,
as many of them would be had this in-
junction not been issued?
Another step the Government could
have taken was to have called
out Federal troops. That Would
have been a sorry day, but it would
have been done had necessity com-
pelled. Appeal after appeal had
come to Washington for troops, but
armed troops were withheld. Who
will say that it is not better to lay
the hand of government, with its re-
straint, its admonition, and protection,
On the shoulder of the citizen, than to
call cut, troops to shoot him down, and,
as is always the case, mingle his blood
with the blood of innocent bystanders
and bruise the hearts of his loved
ones?
Rights of the Minority.
In Such a situation, if none of the
steps referred to were taken, then
Government Would cease to exist in
name as well as in fact; the people
would become the prey of human vul-
tures, anarchy would permeate the
land, and mob rule would become the
law.
We hear quite a little about the
rights of the minority. A minority in
this country has greater rights and is
protected to a greater extent than in
any other country in the world. But
a minority has no right to deny to the
majority the right it claims for it-
self. The minority has no right to
promote civil war, impoverish a na-
tion, deprive a people of those things
to which they are entitled under the
law, or to ignore and seek to withhold
from the majority rights as equal as
those enjoyed by the minority.
I hear no great cry on the part of
the Nation’s “mentors” as to the rights
of the majority. It would seem from
observation that there is a broad im-
pression on the part of the doctrinaire
and their ill-advised and sycophantic
followers that the majority is subserv-
ient to the will of the minority, and
the minority is subservient to the Will
of the radical, and that the radical
may be led by any person who comes
to our shores and undertakes to lead
the American people into a pathway
of fire and flame and chaos, intimida-
tion, coercion, and disloyalty.
No Voice Against Crimes.
When the Chicago injunction was
granted there was a hue and cry on
the part of this radical element that
the freedom of speech was being inter-
fered with. It has been my privilege
to read and hear, since the granting
of the restraining order, great volumes
of criticism, unfounded, of course,
Which in itself would seem to indicate
sufficient proof that the freedom of
speech neither has been interfered
with nor abridged in any respect.
It must be remembered that the
freedom of speech guaranteed under
the Constitution is NOT that freedom
of speech which incites mob violence,
destruction of life and property, and
attacks on Government. That is NOT
what our forefathers intended by
vouchsafing freedom of speech and
liberty of press.
May I call the attention of the law
respecting citizens of this country to
the fact that no frenzied voice was
lifted by these same pedagogic pawns
of profligacy When law-abiding Ameri-
can citizens by the hundreds, all over
the land, were dragged into the mire
of the Woods, stripped of their cloth-
ing, and there left; when almost as
many, according to prearranged sched-
ule, Well carried out, it seems, by
somebody, Were tarred and feathered,
When others were thrown into streams
and their clothing destroyed.
Where, it might be asked, were
those frenzied voices now crying out
for freedom of speech and liberty of
press, When the loyal engineer and his
Crew, in the dead of night, faithful to
their service and their country, pulled
twelve Pullman cars across the con-
tinent only to be suddenly switched
into eternity without a moment’s
notice by the vandal and murderer
who pulled the spikes and threw the
switches that murder might contribute
to the cause of anarchy, and anarchy
might destroy government?
Faced Critieal Period.
Where were these frenzied voices
when train after train, loaded with
men, Women, and children, were ruth-
lessly and criminally abandoned by
14 º
those in charge as a part of a con-
spiracy, and left in the hot sands of
the Santa Fe, with food and water
scarce, comforts few, fright surround-
ing, even birth taking place—left to
the tender mercies of Providence, and
the Government of the United States,
if those responsible for the conspiracy
were not successful in destroying it?
Where were these frenzied voices
when one hundred million dollars
worth of produce raised in the State
of California alone was left to rot be-
cause the railroads were not permitted
to transport it to the consumer be-
cause of a quarrel between a small
percentage of the citizenship of the
United States?
Where were these frenzied voices
when that horrible thing occurred at
Herron, Illinois, that will forever be a
blot upon the community and the
Nation ?
We had reached the time when, if
necessary, people of this country, in
order to protect their homes, perpetu-
ate their liberty, and be guaranteed
the right to work and earn and Save,
were about to be called upon to Write
in human blood a new Declaration of
Independence and a new declaration of
human rights and liberty.
The Right to Strike.
Men have the right to strike; surely
this proceeding does not destroy that.
Men have the right to work; surely
this proceeding insures that. There is
no involuntary Servitude in this coun-
try, but slavery consists as much in
depriving a man of the right to work
as in compelling him to work against
his Will.
The fact of the matter is, that under
the circumstances and evidence exist-
ing and proved in the case at Chicago,
had the Attorney General not complied
with the provisions of the law by tak-
ing the action he did, he could have
been impeached, and any Attorney
General failing or refusing under simi-
lar circumstances to do precisely what
was done, should be impeached.
There will be no backward step in
the policy of the Government as at
present organized. I know that unless
legislation prevents, if established poli-
Cies prevail, if the courts are not de-
stroyed, if duty is performed by those
in positions of authority, all will be
treated fairly in this country, labor and
capital alike. I think we have reached
the day when it may truthfully be said
that we have seen in the United States
the last extensive strike involving the
tying up of transportation.
In conclusion, I want to say another
Word here to labor. As truthful a
Statement as any I have made in this
address, I now make: I am your sin-
cere friend and will not deceive you,
but you make a mistake when you set
up rules in conflict with the rules, laws
and constitution of our common coun-
try, which rules and laws and consti-
tution are applicable to every other
man in every other employment, and
must, for your own security and safety,
be applicable to you.
Security in the Constitution.
Your principal trouble lies, and your
greatest danger is, in the radicalism
and character of some of your most
prominent leaders. Your security lies
in the Constitution of the United States
and in the laws of the United States,
and in the good opinion, by you de-
Served, of all the American people.
There should be no quarrel between
labor and the Government.
A few irreconcilable railroad execu-
tives, who insist upon calling them-
Selves “hard-boiled,” might also, with
considerable benefit to the country, be
dispensed with. The fault is not all
On one side, but at a time when strife
that was almost civil war raged in this
Country, the Government, having the
right to do so, insisted upon the rail-
roads performing their necessary func-
15
tions to serve the people. Those in
conflict with the railroads interfered
with the performance of this service,
and it was to protect the rights of all
the people, strikers and employers, and
every man, woman, and child in the
country, that the Government in its
rightful capacity took a hand.
Full Responsibility Accepted.
I accept my full responsibility for the
step taken, and though it temporarily
shocked because of the sudden halt of
civil war, I would, under the same cir-
cumstances, do the same thing again
or feel incapable to speak for an im-
portant branch of the Government and
unworthy of the confidence and trust
imposed in me by the President of the
TJnited States.
Let us all love and support the GOV-
ernment that is alike to all of us. The
picture is not all dark. The Country
is secure, the Government is depend-
able, the rights of the people are safe.
The best proof of that fact was when
a dignified court, exercising jurisdic-
tion with courage and fairness, issued
a restraining order to prevent the de-
struction of government, the taking of
life, and the sacrifice of property. All
turned to the Warning, and peace and
quiet, and thought and judgment, again
reigned, and when I saw that, and
when you saw that, well might we say,
in the words of another great Ohio
President, “God reigns and the Gov-
ernment at Washington still lives.”
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