Semi=weekly graphic. (Pine Bluff, Ark.) 1895-1902, 1896-08-08
LEGAL LIGHTS.
Officers and Men Whose Vim, Ability
and Usefulness Have Made the
Country Famous-PrOg-
ress of the Bar.

frequently than from any other
profession are selected the men who
I'LL the highest public stations in the
service oil the country. The legal
profession has existed in some
Shape since government was first
established, and viii endure as long
as laws are 6beyed and justice ud
ministered. Its members spring
from no privileged class, but from
the people whose aims and aspira-
lions they share. They have led IN
7 almost every struggle for freedom
and the advancement of mankink,
and to the American lawyers the
people are largely indebted for the
blessings of liberty they now enjoy.
It is q mistake to suppose the life
of a lawyer is one of ease. True,
the profession of law is Jealous
master and brooks no rivals. He
who would win its honors and emo
luments must spend his days and
nights in unceasing toll. The law is
progressive science, and with the
increase of the population and the
advancement of the industrial, COM
mereial and mechanical arts, and
the amazing growth of the corpor-
ations, multiplicity of new and
important questions are suggested,
the determination of which requires
the highest order of legal talent and
constant investigation. A vast
amount of the adiudged cases con-
stantly being printed by the press
in the form of reports and treatises
on the increasing variety of impor-
tant subjects created by the growth
of modern civilization, must be ex-
amined If the lawyer would keep
abreast with the times and be
equipped for the legal battle con-
stantly being fought. He must
know not merely the law which the
legislatures enact, mot the constitu-
tional and statue laws alone, but
that ampler and boundless lurisdic-
tion, the common law brought by
the pilgrims and early settlers from
the mother country, and enriched,
enlarged AID ameliorated by success
sive generations aud ad pied to
meet the wants OF a pr gressive
civilization. Where can this law
be found2 In volumes-you count
them by the hundred by the
thousands, filing vast libraries
exacting long labor, constant re-
search, the labor of lifetime. In
early days the lawyer rode the cir
cult. There were giants in those
days, yet they carried their Libraries
with them in their saddlebags.
Books were few, and they were com
PEELED to rely not on precedent so
much as on principle The South,
being then an agricultural section,
the principal subjects of legislation
were lands and negroes. Corpor-
ate law was in its infancy, and the
lawyer of the ante-bellum days did
not have to grapple with a great
variety of new and perplexing legal
problems, yet the bar was crowded
with the highest order of talent,
and especially was the bar of Jeffer-
son county ever distinguished for
the ability and character of its
members. At the jefferson county
bar have practiced some of the NEST
eminent lawyers in Arkansas men
who have adorned the history of the
state and whose names are house
hold words. To the profession of
law are committed some of the most
important interests of the state.
Its members reinforce the judiciary,
counsel the executive and furnish
the most capable members OF the
legislative department of the state
and federal government. They de-
fend the weak; they humble the
proud; they defeat and Illustrate
dark deeds; they deliver "the poor
that cry and the fatherless, and
he who hath none to help him; they
break the Jaws of the wicked and
pluck the spoils out of his teeth. In
the language of great English jurist
las long as the profession retains
its character for learning, the rights
of mankind will be arranged, and as
long as it retains its character for
virturous boldness, these rights
will be well defended.
The bar of Pine Bluff is an able
one and its individual members are
endowed with generous feeling to.
ward each other, and it may be said
III bEubu J1hl bncIC 6AG lew iSdlOuS-
les, but an earnest desire upon the
part of every member to uphold the
honor and integrity of the legal pro-
fession.
One noticeable thing about the
profession in Arkansas is that it
takes brains and energy to go to the
front, family name or social distinc-
ton does not give prestige to an I'M
worthy member. The race belongs
to the swift, and it cannot be said in
this connection that
ssAudacious ignorance stalks oy
with proud aud pompous pace,
While high born genius dallies the
lowliest in the race.
But the men of the greatest abil-
ity are always found in the front
rank.
Here, as elsewhere, the lawyers
reflect in their most advanced form
the genius, growth and greatness of
the country's prosperity, and the
stability Of the local and state gov
eminent.
The members that constitute the
bar of Pine Bluff are far and widely
known for their good citizenship.
Some are marked by The "sere and
yellow leaf of age" others young