William Howard Taft

“ But even if this court should hold that an employer has a constitutional right to be free from interference by such a boycott, or that the picketing practiced was not in fact peaceful, it does not follow that Arizona would lack the power to refuse to protect that right by injunction. For it is clear that the refusal of an equitable remedy for a tort is not necessarily a denial of due process of law. ”

“ Nor will such changes in the law governing contests between employer and employee be held to be violative of the equal protection clause merely because the liberty or property of individuals in other relations to each other (for instance, as competitors in trade or as vendor and purchaser) would not, under similar circumstances, be subject to like abridgment. Few laws are of universal application. It is of the nature of our law that it has dealt, not with man in general, but with him in relationships. ”

“ The divergence of opinion in this difficult field of governmental action should admonish us not to declare a rule arbitrary and unreasonable merely because we are convinced that it is fraught with danger to the public weal, and thus to close the door to experiment within the law. ”

“ After the constitutionality and the propriety of the use of the injunction in labor disputes was established judicially, those who opposed the practice sought the aid of Congress and of state Legislatures. The bills introduced varied in character and in scope. Many dealt merely with rights; and, of these, some declared, in effect, that no act done in furtherance of a labor dispute by a combination of workingmen should be held illegal, unless it would have been so, if done by a single individual, while others purported to legalize specific practices, like boycotting or picketing. ”

“ Hence, in passing upon the validity of a law charged as being unreasonable, aid may be derived from the experience of other countries and of the several states of our Union in which the common law and its conceptions of liberty and of property prevail. The history of the rules governing contests between employer and employed in the several English-speaking countries illustrates both the susceptibility of such rules to change and the variety of contemporary opinion as to what rules will best serve the public interest. ”

“ Nor is a state obliged to protect all property rights by injunction merely because it protects some, even if the attending circumstances are in some respects similar. The restraining power of equity might conceivably be applied to every intended violation of a legal right. On grounds of expediency its application is commonly denied in cases where there is a remedy at law which is deemed legally adequate. But an injunction has been denied on grounds of expediency, in many cases where the remedy at law is confessedly not adequate. ”

“ A state, which despite the Fourteenth Amendment possesses the power to impose on employers without fault unlimited liability for injuries suffered by employees, [47] and to limit the freedom of contract of some employers and not of others, [48] surely does not lack the power to select for its citizens that one of conflicting views on boycott by peaceful picketing which its legislature and highest court consider will best meet its conditions and secure the public welfare. ”

“ Courts were required, in the absence of legislation, to determine what the public welfare demanded, whether it would not be best subserved by leaving the contestants free to resort to any means not involving a breach of the peace or injury to tangible property, whether it was consistent with the public interest that the contestants should be permitted to invoke the aid of others not directly interested in the matter in controversy, and to what extent incidental injury to persons not parties to the controversy should be held justifiable. ”

“ VII, c. 47, § 3: 'An act done by a person in contemplation or furtherance of a trade dispute shall not be actionable on the ground only that it induces some other person to break a contract of employment or that it is an interference with the trade, business or employment of some other person, or with the right of some other person to dispose of his capital or his labor as he wills.' But the employee who breaks his contract remains personally liable in damages.↑ Australia: Commonwealth Conciliation and Arbitration Act, 1904-1915, §§ 6-9 ”

“ Canada limited the compulsion to a postponement of the right to strike until the dispute should have been officially investigated and reported upon. [21] In these dominions the uninterrupted pursuit of industry and the prevention of the arbitrary use of power appear to be deemed the paramount public needs.
In the United States the rules of the common law governing the struggle between employer and employee have likewise been subjected to been made mainly through judicial decisions. ”

“ Since government is not an exact science, prevailing public opinion concerning the evils and the remedy is among the important facts deserving consideration, particularly when the public conviction is both deep-seated and widespread and has been reached after deliberation. ”

“ But for cause the right may be interfered with and even be destroyed. Such cause exists when, in the pursuit of an equal right to further their several interests, his competitors make inroads upon his trade, or when suppliers of merchandise or of labor make inroads upon his profits. What methods and means are permissible in this struggle of contending forces is determined in part by decisions of the courts, in part by acts of the Legislatures. ”

“ The legal right of workingmen to combine and to strike in order to securer for themselves higher wages, shorter hours and better working conditions received early generaly recognition. [22] But there developed great diversity of opinion as to the means by which, [23] and also as to the persons through whom, [24] and upon whom [25] pressure might permissibly be exerted in order to induce the employer to yield to the demands of the workingmen. ”

“ Its main purpose was doubtless to prohibit the courts from enjoining peaceful picketing and the boycott. With the wisdom of the statute we have no concern. Whether Arizona in enacting this statute transgressed limitations imposed upon the power of the states by the Fourteenth Amendment is the question presented for decision. ”

“ Charges of violating an injunction were often heard on affidavits merely, without the opportunity of confronting or cross-examining witnesses. [35] Men found guilty of contempt were committed in the judge's discretion, without either a statutory limit upon the length of the imprisonment, or the opportunity of effective review on appeal, or the right to release on bail pending possible revisory proceedings. [36] The effect of the proceeding upon the individual was substantially the same as if he had been successfully prosecuted for a crime ”

“ In other jurisdictions it is considered that any one having business relations with either party which bear on the matter in controversy has violated his neutrality and is subject to reprisal from the union which is carrying on the struggle. ”

“ Crosby, 132 Iowa, 155, 163, 164, 109 N. W. 483, 6 L. R. A. (N. S.) 1115. In the desire to preserve the separation of governmental powers they have declined to protect by injunction mere political rights, Giles v. Harris, 189 U.S. 475, 23 Sup. Ct. 639, 47 L. Ed. 909; and have refused to interfere with the operations of the police department, Davis v. American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, 75 N. Y. 362 ”