Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1876-12-21
Lessons for the Boys.
For the GaAsr cousrr HsaAID.

Boys, we want to give you lit
lie advice, and we feel confident that
you will take it kind y from your old
Uncle. We suppose you g. TO
school and no doubt you are treas
uring up knowledge that will
be useful to you through life, but
much that is valuable may be learn
ed out of school by the exercise of
your reasoning powers. Now suppose
you look over the county expenses,
as published in the papers, md test
some of the charges by your reason.
We will take this one as q kind of
test:
A R. Bushnell, defending criminal'-S60.
Now, boys, if your reasoning pow
ers are in good working order. you
will be apt to enquire first, why it is
that a criminal should be defended
at all ? Had it been for defending
prisoner, you would no doubt have
been able to understand il; but, boys,
wouldn't it puzzle you to find any
good reason why the State should
employ one attorney to try to con-
vict man of crime and another
to try to clear him. If these
two are nearly equal in their ability
to make the worse appear the better,
they just balance each other; and
the pleading of one is neutralized by
the spouting of the other. But, boys,
there is another view OF this case /:
Don't it give encouragement to the
roughs and Williams to come and op-
crate in Grant County, where the
people are paying as high as $50 to
try to get one clear, that has been so
unluckly as to get caught. Try
your reasoning powers on this ques-
ton, boys, and see what you can
make of it. But, boys, don't neglect
your mental arithmetic, just tell me,
how many bushels of oats, at 25
cents per bushel it will take for de-
Tending that criminal ? Two hum
dred and forty. That's right Now,
boys, which do you suppose would
be the most wearing upon man; to
raise those oats and get them in the
market or to defend that criminal ?
Raising the oats would be the hard
est on the body and defending the
criminal, the hardest on the con-
science, if he took $50 for it. Right
again ; glad to see you doing so well
in your mental arithmetic.
Now, boys, l want you to be res
pectful to your parents. Many
years ago,a boy 10 one of the Eastern
States wandered off West and finally
located in Sangamon County, Him
OILS, where. after getting pretty ex'
tensively acquainted with the boys,
and [ think likely with the girls, too,
be was DESTROYS that his father
should come out and share with him
the profits and the honers that were
there so easily obtained. So he
wrote him glowing description of
tho country and wound up as follows:
"Come right out father, almighty
mean men get office here" Now,
boys, we have introduced this
eastern boy to you that you may
study his character, Now suppose
you discuss this question among
yourselves. Was that boy good
boy? Form yourselves into debat-
ing society /; put forward your
smartest boys as speakers, and see
how soon one will prove that he was
good boy from the fact that be was
DESTROYS that his father should come
out and share with him in his good
fortune, while the other will argue
that boy who would desire his fa-
Their to run for Office whore mean
ness was essential to success, could
scarcely have any claim to being hu-
man. So you see, boys, that there
are generally two sides to question.
If ever question comes up with but
one side, smart lawyer can gener-
ally fx up false side, just for the
occasion. And there, boys, is where
your reasoning powers can always
find plenty to do, in sitting and ex'
posing false pretences.
LUTHER Brown.
Patch Grove, Dec. IS, 1876.
'There should be an added to this word,
though the error is not Mr.. Browns. The $50
was for defending three or four criminals. But
this does not take the pith out of Mr. Browns
question, whe Their it is right for the State to
pay both its own attorney and the attorney
against i..-EDIToR.