The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1899-07-08


hibitions of Injuries have been made TO the
1uries, and IN Nebraska the Supreme Court
held such evidence TO be admissible, while
In Michigan the highest court held II was
The other paper of the afternoon was by
Judge Timothy Z. Howard, on According TO
Law" Judge Howard said that all ends of
justice should be reached through the due
processes Of law. but many things have &C.
CURED red to make men think that the old saying
accepted one. The world was scandalized
at the partition of Poland. but we have
looked calmly on the division of Africa.
where brute force has been the chief requi-
site to secure portion of the continent.
Cecil Rhodes was called to account only
after the Hers had proven themselves too
strong for him. We of this country pushed
back the Indian and took his lands. The
negro Is gradually being pushed back TO his
old place socially and politically and does
not now occupy the advanced place he as
sumcd at the close of the The white
man is gradually subordinatng TO himself
The appeal to physical force is In every
ones mind. although Ii should not be so.
The savage In the American seems to have
been awakened and il would appear that
the country will make a descent from the
lofty ideal which ii has ever held up and
resort to force to impress opinions on 9TH
welfare of the Republic is bound up in the
sanctity of the law. Every citizen should
have high reverence for the law and obey
During the morning session w. p. Fish
back offered a resolution against the Gus
tom of making political assessments. The
resolution presented was as follows:
Resolved That the committee on legis-
lation is hereby instructed to prepare
bill, to be presented TO the General AS
sembly of Indiana al its next session, pro-
viding for the punishment or any person
or persons who shall solicit from any candl-
date for judicial office the payment directly
or indirectly, Of any sum or sums OF money
for political purposes"
The resolution was so amended as to pro-
vide for the punishment of those who re,
ceive such money and was then adopted
with but two or three opposing votes The
report Of the treasurer showed ,a expenditures
during the past year of N,l9o.9O and a. pal
ance on hand of 81 ,3Of35.
MIR. HOWE'S PAPER.
The main address of the session was de-
livered in the morning by William Writ
Howe, of New Orleans. Mr.. Howe delivered
an able address on Ethics and his con-
illusions were as follows:
I'VE will agree that an accused person
must be tried according to the settled
rules of criminal procedure. unless, IN
deed, we wish TO relapse into lynch law
and barbarism. We must further concede
that any trial which merits the name i'm
plies defense as we'll as prosecution
and II Is not too much to assume that the
accused is much entitled to learned coun-
sci as the State. The accused may be
bad man. but he must be tried according
to law, and such trial implies the presence
of counsel for the defense in order to In
sure a correct result.
In the first place. let it be remembered
that while the accused may have COM
mitted the acts with which he Is charged,
those acts may not constitute q crime at
important point. A ticket broker was some
time ago indicted in New Orleans for forg-
ing an Endorsement on railroad excursion
ticket, and was about TO be convicted Defore
the petit jury, when ii was discovered that
the act he had committed did not constitute
an offense under the law of Louisiana.
1ax hxr hn u-hi oh
amended in this regard. The accused may
have been a worthless wretch, but surely
no one would seriously contend that his
tense in question.
Again there have been examples where
persons have confessed the commission of
crime where either no crime had been COM
mtted at all. or the person confessing was
perfectly innocent. Possibly Tom Mar
shalls client was one of those. Such cases
may certainly admonish the most sensitive
counsel that he may defend a criminal in
an apparently desperate predicament, pro-
vided he do SO by the methods We shall al
Again, as we all know. there is dread
disease called insanity, which We claim to
%e have yet t great deal to learn Who
shall dare TO decide, ex parte, that an ac-
cused person who committed some dreadful
deed has really and necessarily committed
a dreadful crime in the moral and judicial
sense? The convolutions of the human
brain are s so nHmeroS ow dhs ws
with the trained SKIN Of professional ath-
letes, counsel on both sides assist the court
and enlighten the jury?
Again. even when crime has been, be-
yond doubt, committed by the accused.
there, are different degrees of crime; 1t Is
one thing to commit murder and quite an
other to commit manslaughter. 1t is one
thing TO commit an assault with intent TO
murder and another thing to commit an
assault with intent to kill. and still another
TO commit a simple assault. And 1t is a
matter of high public policy that able coun-
sci on both SIDES should help to solve such
problems of degree.
las for civil cases, the right of advocacy
s fe anynng are st be more rs mnS @
troversy of this kind until it has been thor
oughly sifted on both sides? | take up at
United States. 1t contains forty-three
opinions. In eight cases. or nearly 20 per
centum. there was dissent. In two cases
| justices dissented: In two others three jus
tees dissented, and, finally, in two others
four justices diSsented.
I'VE all remember the income tax case,
and the transmissouri traffic case. When
very learned men, under the responsibility
of great official position, can thus differ
in regard to the meaning of human lam
guage-or even of a single word-the advo-
| cate may certainly take sides, in advance
| OF decision, in perfect good faith. And we
civil litigation there are two sides at least
There may be honest difference Of opin-
n.
Notwithstanding all that laymen may think
| or say. an honorable lawyer may appear in
| a civil suit for either plaintiff or defendant
| provided he does so in accordance with
what we understand to be the rule of ethics
or the English and American bar. Litiga-
ton is necessarily kind of warfare, but
war has Its laws. its rules of honor its
maxims OF chivalry. We are to make war
| Tor our clients. but we are to do so i'm only
| honorable ways We are to state the facts
whenever we state Them correctly We are
| 10 quote the law, whenever We quote IL
correctly, and IL is in the application of cor
| rect law to real facts that the skill of adj
vocacy is to be exhibited.
| COMMON SENSE AND HONESTY
And so. as it seems to me. we may sum
up the whole matter of professional ethics,
| so far the duties of the advocate are
concerned. in the simple proposition that we
| are to present the facts of our side cor
| rectly, and quote the law correctly. and
| then make war for our client TO the hes,
of our ability in accordance with the rules
| of honorable warfare. This is not only COM
| mon sense. and common honesty-this Il
| not only justified by the best theories O,
| judicial contest and decision but as honesty
| is the best policy. il is justified by the ex.
| ample of the best and the really most sue.
| CeSSful advocates. Can you imagine Ber.
| ryer, of France, or Sir Charles Russell OF
| England. or Mr.. Evarts. of New York mis-
stating facts or misquoting law? II was
| said of the late Henry r. Seldom of Roches
| equity. that his briefs might be cited as
| authority, and Professor Pomeroy actually
| cites one in note.
Putting the matter on the lowest plane