Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1884-02-14
THE MARKED DECLINE
oFLAw BUSINESS AT rnE LOYAL BAR.
Falling I'll 10 tho Number OF suit, Entered
aud Executions tssueo--A Lawyers
Wow OF the iluatiOn,

RuN fNcCutionh tssueO-A Lawyers
View OF the situation.
L has been au open secret for some time
past that tho business Mt the Lancaster bar
is steadily decreasing. Vague rumors
havo bcon floating around that fewer suits |
are being entered and that marked fall |
ing oil Is observable in tho number of OK
ecutions issued. With intent To penetrate |
tho true inwarduCss of the situation, u |
scribe attached to the lNrEIIiGENCER otlico |
in quest of information sauntcrod |
along Barbary coast aud dropped into |
tho office of prominent lawyer, who had
tired, hungry look OF his face, suggcs-
tive of extreme disgust. Tho lawyers
face lit up with hcro's.a client smile,
that quickly turned to frown On behold
ing only his old rcpUTtorial friend. Tho
frown deepenod as tho knight of tho pen
inquired " ilow's business ?"
business ." he repeated interr ogatively,
well there's just 80 little that 1t hardly
deserves tho name. The fact of the matter
is can't understand how in tho present
situation of affairs half of the % lawyers at
tho bar make ends meet Are you aware
| of the fact that up to tho present ttmc
| only l3 suits have been entered during tho
month of February
The scribe looked his incrodulity and
his informant proceeded.
| Contrast with Former bays.
" Yes, sir, there's no Disgusting the fact
that law business Is not what 1t was in tho
palmy days when Buchanan, Frazer,
stevens and Hester adorned the local bar.
| Then young lawyer found IL Just as
hard as he finds it now to gather n prac
! tice, but once fairly established, his path
way was clear The same canuot be said
at the present day for tho reason that tho
solid rock of business on which tho promi.
nent legal lights of that timo depended is
crumbling."
Here the lawyer stopped to take breath
and putl away at cigar that WAS on the
verge OF going out when the reporter ven.
turcd to inquire tho causes responsible for
this change in the color Of tho legal dream.
Causes OF the Declino
Causes? Well first aud foremost
would put the increasing dstaste for liti-
CATION. Time was when q few plucky
clients might almost be depended on for an
income, and a suit would go up and down
! the courts for months and sometimes
years, until the patience of one of the
parties was exhausted, which plucky
,, , exhibition on the part of their clients
rolled ducats into the pockets of the
! counsel. But now the era Of compromise
i has set in. Scores upon scores OF suits
p that are good as old wheat are settled ut a
= large discount because of the dislike OF
those having valid claims to becoming a
, plaintiff in an action at law"
= Recourse TO tho cigar seemed 70 give
the speaker new vigor as ho proceeded
y Then, too, the country 'squires are
rapidly breaking down the fences tha
/, used to separate them from their lawyer
q brethren. Iu times gone by they wer,
wont to bring in their business to the city
| -, Inf Ga xph tho,
:. now attend to il in large part themselves
> The big percentage of the scriVening OF tn,
. county IS done by these men, as anyone
: who goes To the prothonOtary's or record
er's office about April lst, can easily ascer
a tain. The latter usurpation however
a gives the lawyer little worry, rs the fault
= scrivening OF incompetent 'squires ofte
proves u bonanza to him in the seriou
q legal complications that result"
; "Do you attribute any of the decrcas
of business, to which you alluec, to a.
P undue Increase in the number OF pract
Ia tiOners?" inquired the reporter.
." No." was the answer. " "LlncastC
Il county is one-sxth as large iu population
Ia as Philadelphia and yet the latter has nor
4 than twelve times tho number of lawyers
\, The bed rock reason for the decline, rs
a take it, is tho growing distaste for lttiga
"a ton"
~ Give me few Instances OF wha. 20
: mean
IN where the Difference IL Most Noticeable.
q. Well, take as a starter the prothonC
# tary'5 office. II is true that the euteriu
le docket Iot the year 1888 shows total {
~ 1888 suits entered an increase of 3OS oyC
in the iecOrd OF the .'""yiOus year. But not
nd withstanGing this I.crCaso there is
lv decrease in the number Of executions {
|
- the previous year, showing cOuclusiyeI
that the large percentage of these suit
came to naught.
/" How about The sheriff's Office ~
There the decline is more noticeab
~ than perhaps anywhere else. Compare IL
SCI executions issued during the first mir
Vi months Of Sheriff Brenemau's term
40 1876 with the 44S during the first nir
oi months of Strine's term in 1879. AL
,k then compare these with the 1877 execl
as tions for the same period under the presel
u sheriff in 1899. OF course, tho amour
., paid the sheriff directly by tho county
oi the ordinary conduct of his Office h;
Iu varied little, by reason of the fact that Il
81 number and length of terms remain Il
u same, aud tho fees for attendance at cou
!, A. and the transfer of prisoners TO and fro
no Jail arc unchanged. These revenues, hoy
u ever, are inconsiderable, in comparisC
re with the execution fees. COncernir
p- these latter no definite figures can
70 given, but as they arc governed by u
'n number of executions, tho fact is patel
or that tho office is not worth by great do
DO what it was half dozen years ago"
lu "Is the same condition of affairs no.c
g able in the other Offices"
's' mot to the same extent. In tho distri
% attorneys Office it is curious fact, tn
o. though criminal business might not
~ supposed to vary much, the wide
u. difference in fees paid by the county
lg noticeable in comparing administration
The total fees for 1882, under Distri
a Attorney Davis, were s2, 492, while und
o Tohnson's term, in 1877, they ran up
o. 5000. Multiplication Of indictment
IT. which had their palmiest days under Il
latter's term, probably explains in pa
u, this difference, but nevertheless 1t must
al admitted that the general decline allud'
e. to Is even here noticeable"
!, wnere the Decline /, Least Felt.
as The cigar stump had resisted all eifor
'rt to keep It alive when the reporter with 81
,lf magnifcenco that is part Of the profe
Oh sion, rendered fresh weed which, whe
he lit, kindled anew the legal train
he thought.
d. "In the registers and recorders offices
rk slight increase of business is kept up, whi,
It, is tracoable simply to the swelling of Il
et county population, In fact, the who