, 1880-07-11

| has DecH flOluu1ss IL CotAse1AtAou 4CNCAA45 l.
Cleveland to consider matters pertaining t
that profession. The outcome of the Con
yention was the organization OF the "Ohi
State Bar Association A constitution wa
adopted, and the object OF the Society wa
thus set forth In the preamble:
The Association is formed to advance tn
scleuce Of jurisprudence, TO promote reform Il
justice to uphold integrity. honor, and courtcs,
/! III the legal profession. to encourage thorough
liberal legal education, and to cntivatG I cordi'!
! intercourse among the members OF the LIT
The objects OF the Association were NOR
generally stated by the President OF the Con
vention, Judge Ranney, and some OF the re
forms intended were outlined, but no spe
| cific reform was proposed. There was ;
! general glofifcatfon Of the 'science of the
| law" and the profession was held up to thu
admiration Of the world as gentlemen devot
| ing their labors to master and promote that
| science, and using it to benefit mankind. We
do not dispute this high estimate Of the law
but it is nevertheless true that mankind
generally, seeing the law only in its practical
operations, have adopted much less com
plimentary Judgment.
The American people are VIGOROUSLY a
litigious people, and the Constitutions and
statutes of the United States and Of the sey-
eral States seem framed so as to afford those
disposed to litigate the amplest field aud op-
portunity. The provision for courts OF all
kinds exceeds anything known outside OF
this country. There are in Illinois alone not
less than $50 courts, the most Of them in
daily operation during the whole year. There
III irt,f C+otu a11 aip1f nrtrgNi2pn
Territories. There are in these States aud
Territories somewhere between 5000 and
$500 courts, all in operation, the most of them
unable to keep up with their ever-increasing
dockets. This does not include the courts
Ut Justices Of the Peace, nor the courts
for the exclusive hearing Of cases of
petty crime. This is a. vast array Of
legal machinery for the preservation
and protection Of the rights and liberties Of
the American people. This country lubors
under the disadvantage Of having it, legal
administration scattered through so many
independent political organizations, each
having an exclusive judicial organization. On
purely political questions those affecting
the political freedom and equality Of the citi-
zens-tliere Is, however, but little VARIANCE in
these Constitutions. Except with regard to
the rights of the enfranchised blacks, it can
be said that there is no material political
right which is either doubted or perilcd to
the extent of owing its preservation to
the sleep1ess vigilance aud untiring labors
of the legal profession. Popular liberty and
political equality Except in the case Of the
Southern negroeS) find their surest guar
antee and safety III the ballot-box- In the
case Of the Africans, endowed by National
aud State Constitutions with every civil and
political right which other citizens may
claim, and who are denied the enjoyment or
exercise Of any Of these rights, and are by
force, by violence, and by cruel intimida-
ton as practically excluded from political
freedom as if they were still slayes, we
have never heard that there was even one of
the thousand courts OF our States open to
dicial arm ever was extended to protect them
or their property in the exercise Of their po-
litical freedom: or that the legal profession,
rs body, or even sing!y, ever volunteered
in the name of humanity, civilization, law.
Constitution, or liberty to protect these ulill-
ions Of American citizens rrthlcsly, cruelty,
barbarollsly denied the common rights Of
citizenship.
Judge Ranney, after speaking Of the great
Importance Of the profession, thus described
the controlling power Of law over society.
He said:
What is It that the members OF the Bur and
the gentlemen upon the Bench are called upon
constantly to dcai with and administer? Que Of
the grandest sciences known In the whole list
tfraS1 rrIn fhx,f&c
day to the concerns OF men In society. Taking
man tn socitty ty,-socloty being necessity in,-
posed upon his very existc,lcc,-you take hiln On
the outset md sou follow him through nll the
various manifestations and relations that he
slstnls In life with other men, and the law goes
right along with you, regulating and controlling
this intellectual being u all that he does that may
hnro any effect whatever, furious or otherwise,
upon his fellowmen. Thur is the inv. 1t is not
an art; il is not eontrvance BY whIGh GER
snn'e people are disposed to think. 1t is not
that it Is administering the laws Of Nature-the
voice OF God-throu9h the constituted tribunals
Of tie country and through the intervention Of
these chosen and trusted agents. Beginning
with tho very first step in society, that Of nus.
than there arise out of it duties and obligations
which the law recognizes mud fixes. The next
step, no child Is born into the world that is not
the moment he draws breath under the pro-
lection Of this great science.
The 'grcat science" does not, we sup
pose, take cognizancc Of black men.
We fear that mankind has moved away
and a good distance-fronl the idea that
human liberty, or even the protection OF life
and property, is dependent upon the sacri-
flcing and yigilant interference Of the legal
profession. The time has gone BY, If 1t ever
existed, when mankind regarded the legal
profession, or even the Bench, as certain
protection against the expressions of power,
the expressions Of wealth, OF the extortions
of avarice. The world has adopted {.
less sentimental and perhaps wiser judS-
ment Of the profession: and that is, the rcll-
dering Of services III the matter Of litigation
to those who can pay for them. There are
no knights Of the law now going the rounds
their lances in the cause OF love
and liberty, except those who are paid for
their services, or who take the case for diyi-
sion Of the plunder recovered.
Judge Ranney, in his address, referred to
great outrage upon Justice practiced in
Ohio, and as lis remarks have al application
to things in this and other States as well as
III Ohio. we give what he says:
In one respect it must be evident to every
member of the Bar tand i'state fact which is
equally well known to every 'nemborof the Bnr),
the administration of civil Justice in Ohio has
come to be very unsatisfactory especially in tho
Appellate Courts. l know Of no Stute in which