The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1889-12-14

| <4R8JI6HYNrlYwE as VdleulcUOTlan u
fsh s .:. & s:.: ::,.; 4: $, g? 8;
| " majority he wa
admitted to the bar, and has practiced con
tinuously ever since, of late years having
been associated with his brother.
The firm Of Coudert Bros. has an i'm
mense corporation practice as well as large
general practice, and has as clients many OF
the European governments. Mr.. Coudert
has delivered many famous orations, has
turned out several charming pen productions
has refused a sure election to the bench OF
the court OF appeals, and was prominently
mentioned for the chief justiceship of the
United States supreme court on the death OF
Chief Justice Waite In 1877 and 1882 he
represented American interests at the inter
national congresses on the law of nations, at
Antwerp and Liverpool, respectively.
Views of Mr.. Coudert: There is no doubt of
the overcrowding of the profession of law in
this country. New York is especially crowd
ed, and the country at large less so.
There are several causes for this over
crowding, some of which are the low order
of attainments required for admission to the
bar the great facilities of the law for politi-
cal life by training young men to public
speaking, the glamor Of a profession that is
an occupation, not trade; and, finally, a
notion, not altogether unfounded, that there
is no true relation between the labor per-
formed and the compensation paid in many
instances The general cause, perhaps, that
underlies them all is to be found in an uni
versal diffusion Of elementary education, the
result of which is that, while thousands OF
young men are unable and ashamed to dig,
they are quite confident that they are fitted
by native genius to attain. the highest rewards
in the legal profession.
As the rule of the survival Of the fittest ap-
plies here, as elsewhere, che result must be
that the great majority OF lawyers are unable
to make decent living. They die of want
or they give up in despair, or they resort to
Questionable practices, or, in few cases,
where they are particularly wise, they dis
cover their mistake in time and look for some
more certain, if more humble, method of
making their daily bread.
would not advise young man to adopt
the practice OF the law unless he has some one
or more Of the following conditions on his
side: First, real ability fluency, readiness and
the faculty of developing under fire; second,
a thorough education, to enable him to stand
on par with the other members Of the pro-
fession who are gifted lawyers; third, father
who is president Of bank or an uncle who is
president of a trust, insurance company, or
the like. Even then | should advise the am
bilious youth to hesitate if he has any other
honorable and reasonably certain avenue Of
success open before him.
In magazine article on this very subject,
which wrote some time ago, l said: "There
are too many lawyers, and there will be so
long as the present state Of society exists. No
other business requires smaller capital; none
offers such glittering temptations; in none
are there so many precedents to show that
merit will rise to high distinction notwith-
standing the humblest beginnings Thou
sands of young men with very imperfect edu-
cations, scorning the honest manual labor Of
their fathers, rush into professions for which
they are untitled by their qualities Of mind
and by their early training. A foolish notion
that their education" units them for manual
work, and that such work would bring with
it some sort of degradation has ruined and
will ruin thousands of them every year; this
will continue until the bulk of our people
have learned that nothing can be more hon
orable than honest and intelligent manual
labor. Such labor, to be successful, requires
brains, industry, courage, self denial and
other qualities which nowhere meet with
greater or reader recognition than in this
country of ours.
81 am asked what the remedy may be for
this state of things; in other words, how the
large number of our professional men may
be reduced TO something like normal figure.
To effect this, one of two plans should be
adopted: either no qualification should be re-
auired, and the profession of the law thrown
open like any other pursuit TO those who
choose to embark in it, or rigid requirements
for admission should be exacted. In the for
mer case, there would not be protected or
privileged class, who, with the glamor of a
diploma, could present themselves to the pub
lie and claim its confidence, sometimes upon
very slight grounds. In the other alternative
there would be a real and serious guaranty
for the non-professional man who seeks an
adviser i'm his emergencies. The present sys-
tenn does not offer this guaranty, while it
holds out, under the sanction of the state,
certain men as pre-eminently and alone en-
titled to do that which, in many cases, 1T is
notorious that they are not able to perform. "
ROGER A. PRYOR.
Roger A. Pryor is, perhaps, the best known
southerner now engaged in the practice of
law in New York city. He has resided in
this city since the close Of the war, but was
- born near Peters
] !. !; !: ]; !.
&[fNN burg, Va, that
event occurring
July 49, 1925 His
IA .A@ graduation from
~S mn Hampden Sidney
AxAN ~ college took place
kInlEM ~ in lS45, and three
AM - years later he com.