The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1867-01-22

character and attainment prescribed by
said l, p. 699 of the Code, and unable
to practice, till they shall have taken the
oath or oaths prescribed, and in force at
thetime oftheir application. Theystand,
not as attorneys, but as candidates for
original admission as attorneys, and
their admission 1EiU be complete only,
upon taxing the several oGthS noU IN
force, and therefore, that of the act in
question, as EeH.
ConcedinG that a license granted by
this State, or its authority, vests right
tlce under a foreign license is eQuiva-
lent to a license obtained within the
State, and that, if they had severally
received such licenses, or obtained ad-
mission upon foreign ones before
the passage of this act, and that
the act would be invalid, as
tending 10 disturb them, still,
the applicants have no such
licenses; therefore, no vested rights 10
be disturbed.
1Aey stand as candidates tch0m The
State i1lU admit 10 her pro ojsSSiOns, upon
their complying lCith the conditions OF
membership e.rlSIiRg at The time Of their
dPPtteGttoH-Oise Of IChieh conditions Is,
the acceptance Of this oath.
To present this case most strongly
for the applicant under this head, that
Is, the assumption that each has pro-
duced foreign license, an important
element has been thus far laid aside.
The I'd section of the Code (page 6g9)
permitting the candidate to be admitted
upon the proof of a foreign license, re-
quires that this proof be ACCOMPANIED
with proof that he is-using the pres
ent tensel-a Practiciag attorney under
that license. The section cannot apply
unless 1t applies as it is-each provis-
ION being allowed its appropriate effect.
There IS no proof, in either of the pres
ent cases, that the applicant is u prde-
tlc'Hg attorney in Virginia under his
license. Hence, he is not in a condition
has not gone tar enough to apply for
the oath requisite to be taken, so as TO
give to him admission to this bar,
whatever. that oath may be. Therefore
no fact yet appears, under either ap-
plicatiou, calling for construction of
the statute of February, IA, 1866, ex-
Gept, possibly, the application of Mr..
BOggess.
Let it, however, be conceded, for the
sake OF the argument, that section 2d of
the Code, page G99, permitting admis-
sion upon foreign license, under which
the licensee is ''practiciDg" in the for
Sign State, has been fully complied
with in the proof, and that each appli-
cant stands as if before the passage of
the act OF Feb II, 1865, he were n regu-
larry licensed attorney within this
State, how does the case then stand?
This Is putting the case most strongly
IN favor of the applicant, and raises
directly and fully the question as to the
constitutional validity of the act.
The principle of the act is involved in
the power, and flows from the duty OF
the state to protect itself, that is, the
welfare OF the people. II proceeds upon
the distinction between laws passed to
punish for offences, in order TO prevent
their repetition, and laws passed to pro-
tect public offices, franchises, and priv
lleges from abuse by falling into corrupt
hands. The legislature may not pass
laws in the form, or with the effect, of
Bills of Attalnder-eL post IIctO laws
or laws impairing the obligation of
contracts; ii may, and is bound, to pass
laws restrictive, and exclusive, for the
preservation or promotion OF common
interests, as political or social emergen-
cies may from time to time require:
though such laws indirectly involve, in
certain cases, disabilities.
The State is organized for the public
as well as for individual good. While
1t may not violate the constitutional
guards that are thrown around the
latter, it may not neglect the demands
of the former. All public grants are to
be construed strictly. In the absence
of words to the contrary, the State is
AAStN IL hAlA EAdhAp " bt presumed
part with any of the power inherent in
1t, for the protection of the common
welfare.
In respect to grants in the form OF
public office, of privileges in the ma
ture of offices, or of any privileges, the
exercise of which directly and neces-
sarily bear upon the moral interests of
the public, the Legislature cannot part
with this power, inherent and supreme
in it, to preserve the general good, even
If il would.
In this sense it may be said, that the
power of the State, as to the last nam
ed grant, is inexhaustibIe. The case Of
the proprietors of the Charles RiUer
Bridge, ~. Warren Bridge, and others,
IL Pet. 42O, illustrates in part, but with
great force, this distinctions:
In the same view the other cases ci-
ted in the syllabus of this one may be
referred to.
Let US now apply this distinction to
the present motions, bearing in mind
that in each case cited upon the argu-
ment, the contract, the obligation of
which the statute was held to impair,
was contract with individuals, or a
grant as of terry, toll, or right of way
for specific purpose or time, and
where the effect of the statute was a
clear Interference, interrupting, or pre-
venting the enjoyment of the contract
cA 6uIY OElOAt Aut 1hLLtE nhu expired
as 10 time, or It's purpose had been ac-
and no case of different
character has been brought to the at
tention of the court.
Whatever may be the status of an at
torney, whether official or semi-official,
or IN some sense official, i'-as was
held by Judge ROane, in Muuroe 49,,
Leigh's casei and by Judge Brown, in
Ct pnrtS, Faulkner, West Va. reports;
or by the court in - California report;
MS license Is in the nature of a commis-
sion. 1t comes from public authority,
and conters upon him powers and priv
iieges, and subjects him to duties
which do not attach to him as a citizen,
OF as private proprietary interests or
obligations. They are exclusive, spe-
cial, and large. They render him an
arm or branch of the administration of
justice, essential to, and inseparable
IRON it.
The profession, organized as it is in
the civil, English, and American Sys-
tens of law, became of this necessity a
recognized institution. The attorneysI
participation in the administration of
Justice Is constant,-his influence sub
tie and potent The necessity under
which the profession is organized and
maintained, involves the further neces-
sity Of q continuous and unlimited
control over il By the State:-otherwise
a power or element in the administra-
ton OF justice, always great, would be
come, at once, irresponsible. It would
be singular, then, if the State has not
retained, over its legal profession, this
continuous control, especially in case
of practitioners under foreign licenses.
Chap. l6i OF the Code, page 699,j con-
tains, aside from the act of Feb. I4th,
1866, all the provisions for the admis-
sion of attorneys 10 its courts.
The attorney is purely a creature of
the statutei and The Code contains no
hint Of any tenure Of dttoTHeyshiP be-