The morning call., 1893-06-11

tonsClouS Or intentional fraud or corrup-
uon, and where the vicious element is the
weakness. sometimes miscalled strength,
OF human nature in confounding the meth
ods OF Intense general competition with
the purposes which all competition in legal
tribunals ought to subserye. This is by
no means the worst or most dangerous evil
which has To be faced. The com mbinatiOns
which exist between capital and lawyers,
VINO would, perhaps justly. resent imputa-
tlons ON their personal integrity, which
Involve witnesses. juries, ministerial Off
GERS, TO some extent the press, occasionally
courts themselves, and which, when these
more Hagrant features are absent, never
theless concentrate illegitimate influence
in directions hostile to the public interests,
are the most deeply rooted, the most astute-
~ concealed, and the least compreheDded of
the many diSguises which perverted justice
has assumed. These combinations are
Illustrated by trusts, by monopolies.
by the wTeckng of esta,es, by
huge lawsuits in which the larties are
equally opposed TO each other ana to the
community, by the constant subversion OF
the policy of our land and patent laws. by
schemes to escape from taxation and to
take the earnings of the people without
considera tlon, and in hundred other ways
which will readily occur TO any intelligent
and observing man. The reaction against
these destructive and revolutionary move
ments OF our legal machinery produces
demagOgical and anarchical tendencies,
which, in their turn, when the pressure Is
sufficiently powerful. lead TO Injustice.
Equality before the law" is an ancient
apHOrism winch is supposed tG convey the
motive and the effect of ali legal proceedings,
but when, as in these days. that equality
is often not only ignored but almost de-
rided, II Will be found ultimately that 1t Is
as indispenSa bic TO the rich as TO the poor,
and that whenever 1t is sci aside to meet
supposed emergencies or to benefit Dartlcu-
lar interests, there Will be no rest or peace,
no orderly and progressive movements In
organized society, until 1t is hnally and
permanently restored.
Ihird-If all other distractions TO i'm
partial justice were overcome, still what
eV, r defects exist in The system OF law
under which we live could remain. II
this part of my article | refer especially to
our own State. have never believed in
the codes, even though they were, as they
profess to be, the best practicable codifica-
tlun of the law and Its administrative
methods. The impending controversy
throughout the world, which may cul-
inmate In the next century, is between
,nGividuaiism. which is the foundation of
American civilization. and paternaism in
Its diversified phases, from Imperialism to
socialism. My firm opinion is that the end
OF all human effort and struggle is to be
the perfection of the individual; that the
larger half of legislation, even when re-
duced TO the greatest simplicity at present
| alta nable, is temporary and educational.
and that the pressure OF civilization should
be toward the training OF man to the
actual comprehension of his own
! powers, duties and Obligations, aud to
that minimizing of interferences with
| his personal freedom. 1t is also
my convection that The great principles by
! which all right action must be regulated
and all legal conflicts adjusted cannot br
! formulated, With these views l cannot
| and do not lndUrSe any comprehensive
! system of codItication which undertakes,
as our codes virtually DO, to supply fixed
! rules for the regulation of human affairs
and the adjustment of all legal questions.
! Here again, however, we encOunter a topic
! too large for exact elu ldatiGn. The code
! system, such as IL is, has been for SO many
years fastened upon this State that 1t
/ would be idle even to h, pc for its with
! drawal Our codes were the product of
conscientious labor by competent and able
men and were revised by lawyers and
| judges of distinction. But originally they
were necessarily incomplete, and they
! have been amended and supplemented by
| successive Legislatures, as occasion
| seemed TO require or as newly aScer-
tanned defects suggested improvements,
until they are mDrous. intricate,
conflicting and defective beyond all
possible expectation. In pleading
and practice alone, which are the points
more Immediately under consideration,
they exact from the careful practitioner
an amount of labor and OF writing and
reduce the half-paid judiciary to state of
doubt and hesitation which protract litiga-
ton almost beyond endurance, and which,
| in a large degree, tend to defeat the ends
! for which courts Judges and lawyers ex-
Ist. To show the truth of these assertions
| may briefly refer to a little book of 254
hat aTelz
Whose Fault?" written by barrlster OF
the Middle Temple and dedicated TO the
| Lord Chancellor of Great Britain. This
work is the COM ple.e record of an imagin.
ary lawsuit conducted through the methods
| prescribed by the British equivalent for our
| Code of Civil Procedure. which was
| adopted number OF years ago. Every
necessary paper. from the first brief tC
| the final bill of costs, is included. The
| supposed action is to recover damages fol
! injuries received through the negligence of q
Street railway company. The Statement
of the Claim" and the particulars OF
Injuries" which correspond to the com.
plant in this State, cover two small
printed pages. The answer-which den les
the accident and all negligence by the de-
fendant, and AYERS the cOntriDutory negli-
geuce Of the plaintiff-eXclusiye of thetitle,
consists of five printed lines. The entire
proceedings are in the book, embracing a
VeTDallD report Oh the trlal. An OrQln AIRY
transcript in our Supreme Court, In SINH
lar action, and without fault in the at
torneys or the lower court would contain
from eight TO ten times as much matter.
This is fair comparison between the re-
suits of the two systems, both founded on
the same principles. 1t is too plain for ar
gument that there should be an Immediate
and complete revision of our codes by a
commission of able and experienced law
yers, who should be allowed all the time
and clerical assistance they would need
for this task. Such a revision, thoroughly
carried out, would be worth millions to
the State.
Fourth-One of the effects OF the code
system has been to lower the standard of
qualification among lawyers themselves
ana TO develop the indescribabIe phe-
nOmenOn known as the business attor-
ney," who without natural endowments
for his profession, without legal educa-
tlon in any sense equivalent to that which
must possess, nevertheless becomes
money maker in the courts bv mere
shrewdness and manipulation and at the
expense OF his clients aud the publicN This
peculiar invention or product exists wher
ever law is presumed TO be administered
! and is not unduly prominent in this State.
where we have large number of broad
minded, well-educated and conscientious
young men, who, under the guidance of the
able professors Of the Stale University or
under other competent authority. have
been prepared for their profession and i'm
bued with the just pride and honorable
ambition that will conduct them TO de-
served success II they are allowed fair