Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-11-02
HOW TO ARGUE ABAD CASE.

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the 1irst thing for the sagaciOus practi.
toner 10 do, is TO get as fan
away IRON the merits OF the
case as possible. With this idea you must
make your real case Of secondary impOr-
tanee. or further of even than that. il
possible. Plant yourself at once. there
fore. ~pOn some broad principle, and en-
deavor 20 allure the other size into crap
pling with you upon il. Rise above the
me-e case Of your Mr.. Jones, and make
the country at large stand as your impe-
riled client. IN other words, the first
thing % DO, if possible. is. with a look OF
prOfundity. and voice of rOtuLdity. to
raise a constitutional point"
Now there Is nothing Sc pleasing 10 the
ordinary HiSj pFiUS Judge as to have
raised. IN bis court. deep problems Of con-
stitutiOnal law. When YOU rise. with a
copy Of Cooley. Story and other cOnstitu-
tiOEal authorities before you. and, for pur-
poses Of g-eater impression, the fifty
pound volume OF the United States Re
ViSed Statutes containing the Federal
Constitution (fOr the bigger the book the
better, in constitutional arguments. YOU
viii perceive the Judge at once undergo
a marked change. II he has, from demo-
cratic tendencies. or from the heat of
summer, taken of his coat, or drawn his
boots. you will see him carefully put them
right Judge, - sit with a thoughtful air.
conscious that there now hangs upon him
the destiny Of the country and OF the fu-
ture unborn. You may. perhaps, per-
ceive during the argument none Of the
usual signs of WEAKNESS. but rather that
expression of f0rtitUGe and death which
enc might imagine Chief Justice Mar
shalfs cOuntenance to have exhibited dur
lng the argument of the Dartmouth Col
lege case by Daniel Webster.
There Is nothing better in a bad case
than TO announce, with emotional inten-
sity, that the effort OF the opposing cOun-
sci would, if permitted 10 be successful,
result in a decomposition of vested
rights or that they would ruthlessly
impair the solemn obligation Of con-
tracts" or that they are permeated with
'sl post fdctO" malignity.
Magistrates courts, have observed. are
peculiarly susceptible to the seductiyein-
1ueuce Of constitutional law.
Nor, in these fundamental ramIfica-
tions. should you cOnfine yourself alone
10 the constitution Of your particular
State. You s4Ould broaden Yourself
out; and take in the Constitution of the
LniOn; including the recent amend
'-N@ats. which, under a Overwhelmingly
L.. -'~" YoB may contend, with
construc'4o-, ''sd to proceed, -
a fair hope OF Delng az ~sSi-
meal almost anything that your nece~-
ties require. Nay, your genius, II capa-
bic Of still greater daring, may soar back
10 Magma Charter itself, and dlsport
awhile amid "reminiscences of ''Runny-
meGe." liking john" and the Powerful
Barcus.'' who so often serve for padding
in the powerful efforts OF our iocc,l1i,,,-
ggrTea..
When, however, you feel that you can
no longer sustain your flight in the rare
fed atmosphere Of the lofty attitudes Of
constitutional law, be sure, in your down.
ward descent, that you alight upon the
statutes"
Now. in the great body of statutory law,
Il VIII be marvellous indeed if you can
not find something that Will give you hope
and comfort. Remember, in the first
place. that all the statutes of England
prior To the Fourth year of James l." are
good as new here IN kentucky. Remem-
Der, too. that all the statutes of Virginia
''prIOr to 1922 are also legal tender. Re-
member, further, that all the statutes that
I'LL the tremendous volumes of the UNITED
States at Large" are full of potency, and
that the great body Of our own laws, as
amended and improved b the constantly
argumenting wisdom of succeeding legis-
latiYe intelligences, has created a mass OF
profound statutory law, some of which
Will strengthen almost any bad case that
NAV be imagined. There are many Sec
lions of our code that can, by little in
geniOus construction, be converted into
bulWarks behind which a bad case may
rest in apparent safety. l remember, a
few days ago, when an injunction was
sued out to prevent Kentucky corpora
ton the Knights Of Honor from emigrat-
ING from the state OF Kentucky 10 Mis-
souri,, an ingenious friend suggested 10
me. as counsel for the proposed emigTant,
a statutory argument. my failure to use
which possibly led 10 the perpetuatiOn of
the Injunction. He called attention to
sec. 6SS of the code, which ''abolishes the
writ of ne Great " and he said: Chow
can this corporation be prevented from 60
ing out of the State when the writ of
ne Great has been abolished by solemn
statute?"
II, however. you cannot, by ingenious
and subtle TRANSPORTATION Of the stat
utes, manage to anchor your case in the
%apids, the next best thing is 70 fall back
-, rnur reserve learning. and to make
disclosure OF hat nay toF d. C Saoos calls s
l'The Amiable and AUll.-- ''N SV''s-7 u
the Common Law
The current scientific theory Of this day
IS that Of evolution" and one Of the
leading tenents Of evolution Is, that man.
kind. in its progress from Oaroarlsm 10
passes through many degrees
If morals; so that, at one time IN ITS ca
raar a thine Will be considered right
[,bicb At a later time viii be declared
t,--Cro. very much as the clothes 81
child are ridiculed as unnt zen he comes
10 be man.
Whatever case you may have, there
fore. and however bad it may seem now,
il is pretty certain that it would have
fitted the ideas Of right in some one stage
of the progress of the evolution of Eng
land from its barbaric state TO its present
condition. The fact is, that bad case is
somewhat like Lords Palmerston's IA
nous definition Of "dirt.' He said that
dirt was simply "matter out Of place"
So a bad case is simply a case out OF
time. In old times. we know that muir
der was rather approved as fine art in
England; and we know that batteries and
trespasses were by no means as reprehen-
sible as now. Embellishments are still
cherished by the common law as no
crimes. You have, therefore, only to
search back through the various strata of
the English common law TO that one TO
which your case properly belongs; and
YOU VIII generally have little difficulty il
finding presidents sOTpewere in the line
that tit and justify It entirely. For ex-
ample. the case. bad at this time. was
probably a good case IN the time OF Coke:
and. therefore, Coke Is your authority. II
YOUR case be very bad you may have "a
20 as far back as Bracton, or even to the
lear Books. But then the further back
YOU 90 the more learned it sounds.
And IL is 10 be said in favor Of this com.
mon law mode Of presenting a bad case
that nothing is more pleasing to the Judge
than 10 hear arguments, and to rest Opin
ion upon old common law points. al
opinion Of a modern Judge, so full of the
old common law authorities that you car
almost blow the dust of IL, is looked upOI
bv its author with peculiar pride; for b,
knows that it is sure to be complimentet
as cable and exhaustive" by succeeding
LAWYERS who may have occasion to cite i
as authority in their favor.
let rs assume. however. that you have
searched the heights Of the Constitution
and the depths Of the Statutes and thi
VARYING strata of the common Law, anC
found no comfort there. Under such cir
cumstances, it may pay you, like many
persons who have committed dubiOu:
acts in England, 10 take little triI
abroad. In other words, you should stray