The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1902-07-25
LAWYERS AND LAWYERS.


From the Nashyills American-l
A high and honorable profession il
that of the law. Every lawyer should
be proud Of his profession. and no
capable and honorable lawyer can be
guilty Of conduct which casts discredit
upon himself or his profession But
an astonishing number Of lawyers are
guilty Of conduct which ought ~ bring
them into general contempt Many
years ago, after looking around on the
bar of New England. Daniel Webster
wrote: THE morality of the pro-
fession. too, is a matter of doubt. or,
rather, il is a matter of no doubt at
all A lawyer who preserves bis integ-
rity unspotted deserves a place in the
calendar of saints. An acquaintance
with general literature may help the
law to invigorate and unfold the pow
ers of the mind. The evil is
that an accursed thirst for money vlo-
lates everything. We cannot study be-
cause we must pettIfog. We learn the
low recourses of attorneyism when we
should learn the conceptions. the reason
ings and the opinions of Cicero and
Murray. The love of fame is exiting
uished, every ardent wish for knowl-
edge repressed, conscience put in
jeopardy and the best feelings of the
heart indurated by mean money catch
ing, abominable practices which cover
with disgrace a part of the modern
practitioners of the law. Our pro-
fession is good if practiced in the
spirit of tit is a damnable fraud
and iniquity when its true spirit lie
supplied by spirit of mischief-mak-
ing and money catching.
If Webster were alive today what
would he say or think of large per
cent. of modern practitioners What
would he think of the lawyers who
show more energy in the pursuit of
clients than in the requirement of
legal knowledge; who encourage liti
cation solely with the view of secur-
ing fees; who seek ignorant juries.
encourage false swearing, Islander the
dead and heap Representations and
calumny upon the murderer victim
whose lips are forever sealed; who
make 1t a business to appeal to ig-
norance, prejudice and passion; who
with cowardly spirit take advantage
of the position thev dishonor to assail
witnesses; who display the disgusting
methods of the demagogue. resort to
the "low recourses of attorneyism,
and who are kept within the loose con-
fines in which they operate by fear OF
rather than from any pro-
per regard for truth, honor or decency?
We have roughly outlined type OF
which there are many representatives.
Some of these assume standing and
which they do not
possess. Where they imagine them
selves to be respected they are merely
tolerated. The legal profession has
been cheapened and degraded by this
class of practitioners and by methods
which are of too common practice.
The fact that man is a lawyer is not
to his credit unless it is known what
Kind of lawyer he is. 1t is the bust
ness Of the lawyer to see that justice is
lone, not to try to defeat Justice. 1t
s the duty of counsel to see that the
guilty or those charged with crime are
protected in their legal rights, and not
@ see that the murderer and the assas-
Tin, the thief and the robber go un-
of Justice. The honest lawyer
loes not sell his honor for fee. What
code of morals justities the conduct OF
a lawyer who, because he is paid to DO
70, seeks to have turned loose upon the
men whom he knows or
wen believes to be guilty of heinous
,rimes2 Can the conscience OF an
lawyer be put to sleep by
handsome fee?
Do not the methods and practices so
common among so many lawyers VINO
egard themselves as reputable mem
)ers of the profession, but who are far
rom being 80 when judged by the
standard which properly should be ap-
olied to the legal profession, encourage
he commission of crime and in large
Measure destroy respect for the law
md the courts2 Who is responsible
or the escape of SO many criminals
md offenders against the law from
Who are the greatest
blenders against society in this respectf
Nho2