Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1881-01-28

nary meaning of the word has this extent,
at least, will appear from an examination Of
any English dictionary, while the very ob-
ject of its use in the text of the law and
the entire reason Of the case, require that
its ordinary meaning be extended rather
than curtailed. An illustration may
throw some light upon this point in the
argument. Suppose half dozen members
of the bar have misbehaved in their Office.
have embezzled their clients money.
bribed arbitrators, or tampered with
jurors the court is ignorant of the fact,
the bar are aware of it; clients who have
been robbed are bribed or intimidated to
silence; the public are in possession Of the
facts; they withdraw their confidence and
respect from court Of justice which suf-
fers embezzlers and bribers to minister in
its temple and the entire administration
of justice is brought into disrepute and
degration, while the judges are calum-
mated, held up to scorn and reprobation,
believed to be corrupt, venal and depraved.
because their own officers, sworn to call
good fidelity to them," have knowingly
withheld the information which would
have enabled them to discharge their duty,
retain the respect of the public, and keep
pure the fountain of justice. For tine bar
TO allow the bench thus to suffer by their
omission of tho duty Of information and
CO operation is as grave i violation of their
oath Of fidelity as if they were to conspire
to destroy public confidence in the court
or to refuse to support the constitution OF
the state. This argument is drawn from
consequences to be sure, but that does
not invalidate it. Extreme cases test
principles; and while no case of the mag
nitude of the one supposed is likely to oc-
CUR, yet it may possibly occur the illus
trat;on is wanting in nothing to demon
strate the absolute correctness of our
proposition that fidelity to the court i'm.
poses the duty Of communicating any
facts known to the bar which seriously
affect the administration of justice.
This standard Of fidelity is not higher
thanthat which the bench and bar of this
county have uniformly recognized; and
whenever an exigency has arisen which
gave rise to al expression Of sentiment
upon the subject, they have sustained this
elevated view of the obligations imposed
by the lawyers oath of Office. The Lancas.
ter bar not long since declared it's sense OF
this obligation, when, believing that the
administration of justice was being imped.
cd BY the extortiOnate charges of officers
Of the court, not attorneys, they inau-
gurated proceedings to remove the hind.
rance by preventing the overcharses. If
it the duty Of the bar to marshal tho
force Of organization against trivial ex-
cesses in the charges Of underpaid clerks,
how much more urgent the duty, if prac,
ticing attorneys were misbehaving to the
detriment of justice and the rcproach of
the profession, to institute proceedings fol
the protection Of themselves and the court
In the Derringer case, in Philadelphia,
reported in 4 W. n; c., 900, the court
held that for an attorney to move for the
admission to the bar of a man whom he
knew had been rejected by the examining
board, without communicating the fact to
the court, though the applicant for admis-
sion held certificate of admission to the
supreme court, was violation Of his oath
of fidelity, which justified his suspension
from the bar.
In the Davies case in Philadelphia, re-
ported in s W. N. c., 451, the bar pro-
ceeded on their own motion to defend
their own honor and vindicate their own
integrity by dealing with one who had
forfeited his right to DO a lawyer. In the
Dickens case in Pittsburgh, reported in II
P. F. s., 1G9, petition of number of
the members OF the bar was presented to
the court of common pleas of Allegheny
county, setting forth that ga member of
the Pittsburgh bar has been accused by
the public Journals and common report of
being guilty of Illegal practices and un-
professional conduct, unbecoming me.u-
Der of the bar,'' &C., and praying the
court to appoint commissioner to in sesti-
gate and report upon the truth Of the ac-
cusations. The commissioner Was appoint
ed. the accusations found to be true, and
the attorney was disbarred.
We refer to these cases to show the
sense of the profession of the obligation
imposed by their oath Of Office, and how
promptly the bar elsewhere move in the
fulfillment of that obligation. Judge Glib
son in Rush vs.. Cavenaugh, 2 Bar, 1S9,
speaking Of attorneys, says, She violates
his oath when lie consciously presses for
Al unjust Judgment This, doubtless,
would be held by Member Of the Bar y
to be giving an ideal scope to the meaning
Of the lawyers oath of fidelity, but it is
necessary to the administration of justice,
and that oath must in its very nature hold
the lawyer to tho utmost good faith to the
court, in every matter great or small
within the range Of his professional rela-
tions, which affects the administration of
Justice.
It is important tojustice as we'll as to
the honor and dignity Of the court that il
give its endorsement to no man unworthy
Of pnblic confidence and trust !; therefore,
it is breach of fidelity in the attorney to
obtain endorsement by the suppression of
facts knowledge Of which would have
caused it to be withheld. But it is equally
to justice and the honor of the
court, that when an attorney becomes un-
worthy of that endorsement it be with
lrawn therefore, it is u breach of fidelity