The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1888-01-14
EDITORIAL BRIEFS.
BY REV, I. NJ. ATWOOD, D. D,
Canton. N. Y.

OF one OF the other parties and thus fre-
quently elect an avowed liquor man
against practical temperance man. At
the same time it is said no prohibition
candidate is elected or is likely to be.
What is complained of is quite true; but it
does not weigh with the party Prohibi
ZIONIST. He knows that the immediate
effect of his action will often be to give
the victory to those with whom he least
sympathizes; but he knows, also, that in
starting and establishing a party this is
inevitable. There is no way in which it
can be avoided except by abandoning the
idea of instituting a party. That pro-
hibitory party is a necessity is with
him settled conviction. Hence, argu-
ments against his policy, drawn from in
cidentsl and inevitable effects, count for
nothing with him. If you would inhu-
ence him you must convince him that
new party is unnecessary.
"A man may mean well and yet be
such an incorrigible fool that he does not
do we'll. 1t is bad for the man himself,
worse for his family, worst for any in
terest he may have the power to harm.
In the case of public man, and in par
ticular Of minister, the opportunity of
mischief is vast. One reason, we suppose.
why the arbitrary rule Of the Roman
hierarchy has, on the whole, worked so
well, is, that so considerable portion of
/ mankind mud of e.
The effect of the folly of minister in the
| Catholic church is reduced to a mini
mum by the power of his superior to de-
scend upon him and arrest his revelry.
The church is thus preserved from the
worst effects of a minister's errors; and,
what is of no small advantage, he is often
saved from personal catastrophe.
1t is reported that the Reading Rail
road has paid $4,000 for attorneys fees
since it went into the hands of receiver,
three years ago. A similar report was
made in regard to the Erie Road, the B.
n. Y. & p, Road, the Northern Pacific
and other roads in misfortune 1t
also appears that the larger part OF this
money goes into the pockets of two or three
lawyers, who are retained by the corpo-
ration. Furthermore, it does not appear
that these lawyers perform any onerous,
nor, so far as the stockholders and the
public can perceive, any extremely inn
portant service. They get no particular
professional fame from what they do.
/ HpnU erat on6 in fbnea Houg low
yers who get money are apt to consider
themselves, and to be considered by the
public, as having attained the end of their
profession.
But we are interested in the moral
aspects and effects of these exorbitant
fees. They are privileged form of rob
berry Of the stockholders. They injure
the attorney morally and professionally.
He gets an enormous fee from railroad
this year; he begins to say, my practice
is worth so much year," he begins to
lay out his expenses on the scale of such
annual earnings; all the young barristers
of his acquaintance, all the law students
who hear of him, are inhamed with am
bition-not to be useful, honest, able
lawyers, but to get suddenly rich. In
most instances he fails to keep up this
average of ncome, he gets involved; be-
comes traficker, selling himself as we'll
as his service, and ends by being a dis
grace to the bar. 1t were better SO; if he
kept up and on he would be the means of
| ruininQ a hundred imitators
Our esteemed contemporary, the Bos-
ton Herald, begins the new year, appro-
priately, with summary of "What the
Religious Papers Say" of the present out
look for religion. Six excerpts of con-
siderable length are given in the two
columns donated to the " Different Views
of the Religious World" Two of these
are from one paper and three from
another, and the remaining paragraph
is from ZiOn's Herald. Considering
that there are over two hundred re-
hgious papers in the country, and that
forty of them are in New England and
eight in Boston, the HeraEdS new Year
effort to echo "What the Religious Pa
pers Say" can scarcely be regarded as a
masterpiece Of journalism.
We notice in the same number of the
same paper slashing article aimed at
certain Boston Humbugs," in which
"outrages upon the grammar" among
other sins of Boston people, are exposed
in strain of lofty severity. That the
writer knows whereof he speaks is appa-
rent from a number of neatly turned
sentences, of which this is one: 4" But the
wisest among US, who are frank and can
did as well, wear a sadly pensive smile
when the censers swing before our
shrines, and feel the vulture gnawing at
our vitals." The Herald rarely requires
to have the proverb about glass houses
quoted for it's reproof; but in some Of its
experiments in getting fresh" contribu-
tors it literally covers itself with eonfu-
sion.