The Boycott Illegal

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Mountain View, California · Nov 30, 1904

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 30, No. 47.

The Boycott Illegal.

In his recent decision that the California Anti-injunction Law is unconstitutional, Superior Judge Hunt, of San Francisco, says: “The courts generally hold that the boycott is illegal. It has been thus held in Virginia, New Jersey, Kansas, Michigan, Massachusetts, Illinois, and Minnesota.” This statement is made in connection with a perpetual injunction to restrain the Stablemen’s Union from carrying on any of the usual boycott operations against a certain livery-stable. His decision is based on the rights of property. He holds that it is the duty of the courts, under the laws, to protect the property of an employer, and also the non-union workman’s right to labor. He holds that “the right to labor is a right of property, and the duty to protect it is the highest office of our laws. No syndicate of employers or union of employees can bar one of the right to labor, for the right to labor is the right to live. But how can it be said that a right is inviolate if, when violated, the law affords no redress?”