The daily morning journal and courier., 1894-07-11
COMBINATION OF PHYSICIANS,
The Richer the Patient tho Create should Be the Fee. ssys pr. Nam

should Be the Fee. seys pr. Nam
 mond. ...-
 From the New York Law JournAl,I
 In an article in the North American Review for, June. 1884. entitled "What Should Doctor Be Paid" Dr. Will liam A. HaMmond takes the ground that charges for medical and surgical services should be graded according to the wealth of the patient. He squarely contends that physicians should be aI- lowed to reqopp themselves for ill-paid or gratuitous authorizations to the poor by exactings gaperous tribute from the
 rich. He apparently claims that 1t ought to be considered legitimate for a physician to make g bargain In ad- vance with rich man. who is seriously III, that If a cure be effected, or the progress of the disease arrested, the physician shall receive, certain pro- portion of thetpatients fortune. One of the writer's iilusira tions at least shows that he has the courage of his convic-. tions. He says: l
 The tourist captured by Siollian
 brigands does not hesitate to give $2O,- 900 under the threat that failure to do so will surely result in the amputation of his nose. He would give ten times as much, If he had it, to save hiuaIelf from so horrible g. rnutilation. But should surgeon, by 8 skillful opera ton, preserve the same organ of the same tourist from the destructive in. fluenca of injury or disease, the proba- bility Is that, should he fix hts mone- tary compensation at 50 large . sum as $500, he would be regarded as d. most as much of a robber aS the Sicilian brigands, and that even many of his fellow practitioners would look at him with that degree of envy which the obtaining of such fee would ex- cite" .... .t.% E
 We are glad that this illustration was used, for it brings out the essential
 vice of Dr. Hammond's contention so forcibly that extended counter argu- ment IS unnecessary. The discussion has a bearing upon fees for legal ser vices as we'll, and, as to both profess sions, the theory above set forth logic ally involves g system of bandittis ransom, rather than conscientioqs ser
 vice to mankind for fair and Just compensation. determined by the com parative seriousness Of the service and
 the standing and experience of the doc. tor or lawyer renderinH it. 7, : . Dr. Hammond draws envious com parisons between fees of physicians and those of lawyers. which latter often are to an extent determined not by intrin- sic standards. but by the rem involved,
 This distinction, when 1t exists, arises from the nature of the rem itself
 Where rights of property are the only
 thing concerned, In q legal proceeding,
 1t is not improper that the value of
 the property gained or protected for . l client should enter as an element in
 the problem of datsrnaining the proper
 remuneration. In oasea where t ts RlI lowable for lawyers to undertake busi'
 ness on contingent fees, the justice ot "a proportlonate gate of compensation
 will be quite generally recognised. Or l OluAPJ .EQl6CIlOA u0othD1p opSWuYN falls under the same rule, as does also convsyancing, whsre . printable pot 4n- l like that of insufance comes Into play Forns of legal business thAt~Rrs m0rs analogous to medical services are crijn, ipal proceedings and matrtmo morisl o4ses The contention has been made, and even judiciAlly sanctioned, thst 1t ia Legitimate for 2 3uryta gauge tho yalus of legal services h defending Apsrscr on criminal triai, according to ths iattsF's wealth, which ppopositicn VI deem unsound in principle and insv- Eltably tending to make iagal practice .
 merceNary system of rangem to tFtbute, The tenptation of an advocate to 2ptr- form unprofsasional acts. and enttrtly
 lose sight of, the proper restraints of an ofsicer of the icourts, In defendtng rich rogue on ai criminal cbarge. would obviously be sfsetlk inerSaeedf if tho teeaasel ssss,ssa tlat speuss isias- ( 3Sss Ysfss M sse