The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1889-09-02
Law I'M LAWYERS.

Law AND LAWYERS.
Hon. David Dudley Fields address
before the American Bar Association, of
which he is president, bore the impress
of deep thought and ripe experience.
Mr.. Field, now in his .eighty-sixth year,
is still hale, hearty and vigorous in body,
and certainly his mind shows no evidence
of failing or of relaxing its grip on the
treatment of great questions. Discuss
ing the relative merits of annual sessions
of legislatures, as compared with bien-
NAL, Mr.. Field expressed a preference
for the former, and thought the change
made by some States to biennial sessions
not an encouraging sign for republican
government. He thought it a bad omen
when there is fOmented a general disre-
spect for legislatures. Continuing, he
said:
Annual parliaments have been the de-
mand of the people under monarchical gov
ernments from time immemorial. Is there
less reason for frequent meetings of the
representatives of the people under those
governments which we say are of the peo-
pie, by the people, and for the peoplei BIZ
ennial sessions of the legislatures will not
lessen the evil of too many special priv.
lleges granted, but will intensity it. The
remedy lies in limiting the scope, rather
than the frequency of legislation. To
allow legislators to deal with all the sub
jects with which they now deal, but
to give them less time for the
smaller space the elemental fires which,
when too much compressed, will sooner or
later explode the whole fabric. We want
annual legislatures to watch and check the
ofInn ~ oE &h4 &C
well as to make the laws. If it had really
come to pass that we were able no longer
to elect honest representatives, then in
deed we should have had to confess that we
But the inability does not in fact exist.
The upright citizens, they who desits
honest government, are an immense ma
jority of the American people; the poli-
t1clanS are q timOrOus set, who will cover
and run the moment they hear the growl of
the people,. 1t Is our own supineness that
has begotten the wish for biennial rather
than annual sessions of the representatives
of the people. The biennial session is,
therefore, in my judgment, a movement
backward In the march of free government.
This is well said, and, coming from so
distinguished a source, is worthy of all
consideration. We cannot be too often
reminded that in our government the
people are the source of all power, and
the way to correct the mistakes of pop
ular suffrage is through popular suffrage
itself. Touching the disrespect for
legislatures, the responsibility for that
must be divided between t~hepeople who
elect unfit men and the bodies them
selves, which are too apt to place polit-
ical policies and party advantage above
public interests. Half the men elected
to u legislatures, nowadays, are unfit
for the position, and most of
the other half abuse it. The
people are not careful enough in
making their selection of legislators,
and do not hold those they elect to a
sufficiently rigid account. What with
the vicious results of caucus rule, the
frequent making and unmaking of laws,
the meddling with private and public
interests, the enacting of hasty, crude
and unconstitutional measures. and the
constant attempts to legislate on sub
jects outside of the proper sphere of leg
islatiOn, it is little wonder that the p{o-
pie lose patience with their legislatures.
But, after all is said, the fault and the
remedy are largely with the people
themselves. There is no evil of popu-
lar government that cannot be cured
through popular suffrage, if the people
choose to cure it.
Addressing himself directlyto lawyers,
Mr.. Field said some things ofspecial inter-
est to the profession. He admitted at the
outset that the administration of law,
both civil and criminal, is more defect
i've in the United States than in any
other civilized country. $50 far as 1 am
aware" said Mr.. Field, "there is no
other country calling itself civilized
where it takes so long to punish a GRIM
inal, and SO many years to get a final de-
cision between man and man, This
state of things is evidently not due to
any lack of lawyers, for it appears there
are nearly 10000 in the country, a much
larger number than are found in other
countries of nearly equal population. On
this point Mr.. Field said:
1t is difficult to make an exact computa-
tion. but we know that there are about H.
600 in the State of New York, which has q
population of 5000, 0OO. Taking the popula-
proportion of lawyers the same as in New
York. we should find an army of more than
10000 strong. Reducing the proportion,
however, to half that of New York, we
should still have 5000 from the rest of the
country, making $4,000 in all. A more &C.
curate estimate may. perhaps, be gathered
by referring to the appendix of the report
presented to this association four years ago,
and mentioned hereafter. Twenty-seven
States outside of New York, containing a
population of 1900, 900. are there said to
have about 5 CO lawyers. There. remain,
after these States and New York, fourteen
other States. fourTerritories and the District
and these should. in the same proportion as
the twenty-seven States, have over 20. OOC
lawyers. making q total of $4,000. Now,
compare this proportion with that of other
forty millions. has 5000 lawyers and 2.4OC
other officials, who do the work of attor-
news with us. and Germany. with a nouula.