The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1902-10-25

| Sltlon on the bench, and a daily OBJ
! server of the strife of litigation, a
/ person in Judge Kavanagh's place
should be, and undoubtedly is, well
equipped for giving advice to ambitious
law students. Judge Kavanagh does
not say that judges are picked from the
ranks of successful lawyers, because
it is a well known fact that high
priced attorneys nearly always refuse
to exchange their practice for the hon
ors of the bench. Judge Kavanagh has
a better judicial mind, perhaps, than
half the lawyers appearing before him,
whose fees in a single case sometimes
| exceed the yearly salary of the judge;
but what these attorneys lack in ana
lytical power is counterbalanced by
forensic talent which, adroitly applied
has more weight on jury than alb
stract reasoning. Reading Judge Kav-
anagh's opportunities for young men, -
we conclude he is a man who knows
himself, and knowing himself, he is
better pleased to sit on the bench than
ne would be pleading at the bar.
Judge Kavanagh begins his literary
contribution thus:
The profession of the law in every
part of the country is more crowded
IMAM any other of the learned call
lngs. However, this has always been
the case, and the opportunities for the
aple lawyer are today quite as good,
If not better, than ever At the same
time the chances for a lawyer of poor
or even of mediocre ability have never
been nearly so bad.
There you are. The ambitious young
man might as we'll be told that if the
cat does not jump one way it will
jump another. But he is sure of catch
ing on to the opportunities for the
able lawyer" so the young man pro-
ceeds in his reading of Judge
kavanaugh until he strikes this:
"A successful lawyer works hard,
lives we'll and dies poor Daniel Web
ster said, and the situation has not
changed since his time.
But if the searcher have a fine dis
dain for wealth, if he believes with
Dean Swift that God shows what he
thinks of riches by the kind of men
he gives them to-" then let him look
into himself and take inventory.
Honesty, courage, intelligence and
health are necessary to marked sue
cess even in commercial pursuits,
where the attainment of money is the
only thing desired.
In the learned professions there must
be added to these learning, tact in the
management of people, and skill along
the lines to be pursued.
Perhaps the young man thinks he
is fully equipped with all these quail
ifications to meet and overcome diff
ficulties, and his ardor is not damp
ened as Judge Kavanagh continues:
There is still room at the top, but
it is a weary climb, and the strug-
Cling crowd about the base grows
years of waiting for a practice before
the most promising neophyte.
1t is many times better to be good
blacksmith than poor lawyer. The
blacksmith is respected, can earn
enough money to easily supply his
needs, and has to keep up no desperate
struggle with appearances.
There's the rub! What ambitious
college youth after declaiming ''At
midnight in his guarded tent would
elect to become a blacksmith? There
fore it is that the boy of Is or IA,
obliged to earn his living or help sup
port the juniors of the family, is bet
ter off in the meridian of manhood
than the youth aiming for but never
reaching the top" Oft times the me-
chanical young man, if his inclinations
are studious, makes better use of
the knowledge acquired at the forge
than the other obtains from Black
stone. What a blessing it is to be
born poor!
Judge Kavanagh concludes his
article on opportunities by asserting
that 1.-The only difference in the legal
profession between what it was before
the present industrial and social con-
dition arose and what it has become
since is that the requirements now are
more severe, and that rewards for the
few are greater. But one must be
able to swim on the tide, for the I'M
dertow was never so strong. The best
chance-followfng the trend of all
modern affairs-lies in choosing a spe-
cialty."
This is true of the profession of law
in our intermountain country as it is
in the congested districts of the east.
Those who have selected specialties
and have established reputation in
such lines are the really successful
lawyers. The heads of such concerns
employ assistants, hard working
drudges, to conduct their business be
fore courts. Among such is the youth
who won the prize for declaiming at
the college commencement. He now
works for $40 a week-a blacksmith re-
ceives not less than SO per day. Salt
Lake has too many lawyers. So has
Butte and Denver The real business
in the three cities, perhaps, is concen-
trated in twenty-five law firms. The
others live from hand to mouth by
bringing actions to court on contingent
fees, or acting as collection agents.
Before selecting a vocation in life the
Catholic young man of education
should seriously enter into himself. The
fiattery of friends and well wishers is
more harmful to future than any OBJ
stacle he may meet on the way. IL
he is of the right stuff he viii over
come difficulties. If he is not of the
right stuff, education has been thrown
away.
We notice in the leafiet presented
monthly to members of the Sacred
Heart league mention of petitions for
vocations. For example, in this month
of October, opposite the 18th day, H.
597 members of the league ask the
prayers of the Apostleship of Prayer