LABOUR-SOCIALISTS AND THE JUDGES.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1741, 5 May 1913, Page 4

LABOUR-SOCIALISTS AND THE JUDGES.

Our. Labour-Socialist friends, through their journal the Unity Bulletin, were indisercct enough recently to drop a hint of what, would happen to the Supreme Court Bench if they managed to get control of the reins of government. What was actually said was as follows:—"If arbitration has gained much for Labour with the employers and land monopolists in control, what will it do for Labour when Labour writes the law and names the judges." Mcst people who road this remark would have no hesitation in interpreting it as meaning that when Labour got into office—should that ever happen—it would pass laws which would give Labour much more than is given under the existing laws; and would appoint to the Supreme Court Bench judges favourable to Labour. That is the plain meaning of tho thing, and it can bo taken as a frank, if somewhat reckless, avowal of LabourSocialist policy. Unfortunately for the gentlemen who control the destinies of organised labour, tho remark attracted attention, and was commented on with a good deal of vigour by certain newspapers who are not in sympathy with class laws and the packing of the Supreme Court Bench. The result is to bo seen in the current issue of the Unity Bulletin, which shows marked anxiety to get to "cover." It devotes over three columns of its space to an endeavour to explain away its unfortunate disclosure of the workings of the minds of the Labour-Socialist leaders, dragging in quite a large collection of old familiar phrases relating to "outgrown legislation," "new environment," "class-made judges," and all the rest of it. Incidentally judges are condemned on the following grounds:—

No kindly consideration* for tho personnel of the Court can blind one to tho fact tlint it was the judges who took the life of Socrates and ordered the crucifixion of Jesus. Nor can it bo forgotteji _ that Jesus was ordered to crucifixion by a judge who yielded to Die demands of the religions mob, in which were the very best people in the city, who had been specially Rotten together by tho disgruntled moneychiyigers who had been driven from tho temple. It haw been tho judges who have declared unlawful every proposal leading to progress throughout human history. It was tho judges who were the agents of British tyranny until the British common life made constitutioual government a possibility. One would almost imagine from this outburst that the agitated LabourSocialist mouthpieco desired to abolish judges altogether, but apparently this is not the case. Labour-appoint-ed judges seemingly will bo differently constituted to anything the world has deen since the days of' Socrates. Presumably they will be good unionists or Socialists, and will frame their judgments on union lines as dictated by the Caucus. But behind all tho wordiness and empty rubbish with which the Unity Bulletin seek 3 to cover up its indiscreet referenda to the Supremo Court Bench, the lino of thought it indicates remains, and is not likely to bo forgotten by those fwho realise the grave menace to society which lies behind partisan judges appointed to further the ends of a class tyranny,