The Leavenworth weekly times. [volume] (Leavenworth, Kan.) 1870-1880, 1873-12-25
Lawyers As OFFICE HOLDERS.

The Paola Spirit contains an editorial. arti-
Gle reviewing the political situation. and at
tribnting most Of the official corruption Of
the period to lawyers. After submitting
many reasons to show that the appointment
of U. S. Judge to the Delahay vacancy
should not be influenced by the demands Of
the legal profession, the Spirit says:
In our opinion, the great trouble with the
country now is and always has been be-
cause public affairs have been too exclusively
managed by the lawyers. We are lawyered
10 death. Almost every thief and corrrup-
ZIONIST, marked down as such, connected
with the government, is lawyer. Who
we're the salary grabbers and Credit Mobil-
Ter swindlera? All lawyers! Who are the
Buffers, Carpenters, Eldridges, Casserleys,
and SO on? Ali lawyers! In every branch
Of the government, high or low, you find
lawyers are the ruling spirit. Ii place is
made vacant, lawyer springs TO the front TO
fill it. The lawyers rule the country, and
they are responsible for its corruptions.
The SPIRIT We think censures the lawyers
rather too harsbly, and can hardly maintain
It's assertion that the lawyers are responsible
for all the corruptions of the country. II is
an undisguised fact however, that lawyers
have been in the ''leading strings" for the
past decade, and the people in promoting SO
many of them TO high official positions,
have committed grave errors. Yet the re
sponsibiliy for the misdoing rests with the
voters. 1t is the duty of electors to scan the
record of every man who seeks place Of
profit and honor in the public service, and
when they fail to make inquiry concerning a
candidates fitness, they fail to fulfill the pri-
mary obligation. 1t does seem to us that a
man who accepts a profession which holds
that it is Just as honorable to defend
the yeriest scoundrel as to serve the purest
client, is not, by reason of his calling,
better or more eminently qualified than
other men to perform the highest political
duties of the country. 1t sometimes occurs to
US also that as lawyer grows in fame, and
legal usefulness, he inclines to the service Of
the more depraved class of clients, where the
money consideration for serving the good
and the bad is equal. Perhaps it may
be offered to Offset this argument that legal
skill is put to its severest test when 1t engages
to prove innocent, men who are known to be
guilty, and therefore lawyers of ambition and
skill accept the more difficult side of the
case so as to give the public an exhibition Of
legal talent. This argument would have
been accepted, twenty years ago, but when
We call to mind the multitude of rascals who
are running at large, We begin to suspect
that "proving a rogue innocent" is no great
legal achievement.
The Spirit goes its whole length in its OPP
position to attorneys, and presents new and
unexpected phase Of the farmers movement
in this style:-
and unexpected phase Of The farmers move
ment in this style -
And tearing the mack from the face OF the
present farmers movement, it reveals itself
AZ much a war on lawyers a. on mOnopolists
and corruptionists. The lawyers are the
monopolists as we'll as the corruptionists.
The best point made by our Paola con-
temporary is the one which calls attention
to the fact that the entire Congressional dele
CATION is at present composed Of LAWYERS, and
urges the necessity of selecting the next Sen
a,or from some other profession or cccupa-
ton.