The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1856-02-03

Suu Juuk,es arc AlocQ ihAc Ceuulc5, anu ~
about tAe sans skSes, forbids all hope Of sue
cessfrll reformation. If this is SO we should at
once throw away the old English cloak which
covers the profession and perpetuates, to some
extent, the popular belief in its superior know
ledge and wisdom.
The legal mind of the United States lie in no
way elevated above any of the other respect
able classes of our citizens; and yet it uuques-
tionably enjoys kind of monopoly where ser
vices are required which have the remotest
reference to the Laws of the country. This
state of things has arisen from the estimates
formed in the past of the character and ac-
quirements of the profession.
It must have been observed by every old in
babitant Of this city, and, indeed, throughout
the country, how strikingly the legal fraternity
has degenerated in the last thirty years. As
they say of railroad stock, in these speculative
times, it has been watersd- reduced to . mere
mass Of ipsolence, stupidity and ignorance
The requirements of study, the exactions on
admission to the bar; professional comfy, In
tegrity and standing, have been exchanged for
unseemly presumption and bold assertion; the
trive to pass off this species of legal fungus for
the genuine scholarship, requirements and cha.
racter of high toned professional ability. The
evil has grown into a national disgrace, inso-
much that to be lawyer nov is to occupy an
equiv0cal position in society; to be apromoter
OF litigation, an originator of disputes, kind
Of blower to all the fires Of human passion and
avarice.
Like every evil example, the boisterous and
contentious spirit Of the bar has inoculated
the ministry, until these professions have en-
tered the political arena at the same door, and
go through our election controversies with
something like pandemoniau fury. When the
officers Of the law descend to low abuse, and
assume the manners Of the rowdy, what hope
is there that justice will be administered by
the jury thus brought under such influences?
When the fountain is poisoned, does the stream
promise purity and health? Does it lead to
that caImness of mind, that patience of inves-
LEGATION, that frmness of decision, which are so
necessary in the judicia, tribunals to ensure the
ends of impartial justice? There may be too
many forms and too much mere court ceremony
in England; but il there is en- institution Of
government which. more than any other, will
justify excessive formulas, it is that of the
judiciary. 1t lie in it's very nature the most
rigid and anti-repuhlicar feature of the public
administration; and yet il is unquestionably
in this country, the least courteous and gen.
tlemanly in its management and routine of all
our institutions. That such fact, in itself, is
an impeachment Of the profession for igno-
rance, il requires no argument to prove. The
decline of public morals in such condition
of things may be counted On as certain con-
sequence. If the iuaiciary-the very strongest
arm of the governments unable to maintain
its own dignity and enforce in it's administra
ton the comities Of life, what hope is there
that justice will not be dethroned by the in
vading spirit of faction, which even now holds
the balance Of power at the bar
The DIP Goods Jobhins Business In Kow York.
The dry goods jobbing business Of New York
is, as the Indian said Of the white man,
mighty unsartain." Houses Of the best repu-
tation, in tight times may be the first to fall,
to the surprise of gaping and astonished credit
ors, who find when too late that not their goods,
but themselves, sold. Failures of this charac-
ter have created no little excitement in the mer-
camille community, and have given rise to the
Oft repeated question What is the cause OF
the failure of our first firms? How, indeed,
is business carried on at all? How is the
machinery managed that carries firm, on
a mere representative capital, into the first
circles of business, emitting it to the con-
finally, when this machinery becomes rusty and
will work no longer, the house fails and en-
ables the broken firm to fill it's own pockets at
the the expense Of the duped and defrauied
creditors.
We look around us and see men ap-
parently successful in business; they
are living in princely style-pay exor-
bitant rents for capacious stores and dashing
houses upon the avenue, give large salaries to
the numerous clerks necessarily required to
conduct business involving the purchase AM
sale of from halt a million to one million and
half of dollars annually, jobbed out in small
parcels all over the Union, and seem safe
against every turn of the wheel of fortune
Yet when we reflect that from eight to ten per
cent is the average gross profits made upon
the above amount Of goods sold under the ex
listing competition of trade, and consider the
daily depreciation in value OF the stock OF
goods that must be kept constantly on hand,
and often carried over from year to year, and
the risks incurred in the way Of bad debts at
tending sales made at six and eight months
credit to men Of small means in other States.
and above all, upon inquiry, find that the &C.
tual capital invested in the concern is but
mere fraction in proportion to the business
done, we are not surprised that the house at
length falls under the weight of its engage
ments.
No firm can bear up under this load I'm.
less IL has the real backbone in the way
nf canital To sustain Ii Inunstixnt;ar, :asa