Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1903-08-17
VERMONT BAR MEETING AT NEWPORT.

with a sumptuous banquet. where
there was an abundance of good
Things 10 eat and to listen to.
An address was given in Lanes
opera house, Newport, Thursday eve
ming by the Hon. Charles A. Prouty
OF Newport. Mr. Prouty spoke of the
advantages to the young lawyer of
the country over those of the city.
He also spoke of the advantages of
Vermont as place in which to prac-
tice law, in comparison with other
states. In beginning he said:
sin the last six years my duties
have taken me into every state and
territory in the union, and l have
gone in way which has famiiiarized
me to great extent with CONNER
cial and social conditions. Meeting
hundreds of lawyers from all parts of
the country l have inevitably con-
trasted their condition with ours;
have almost of necessity inquired
whether ought not myself to have
begun otherwise or elsewhere. AS
result of this observation and refiec-
ton there has grown up within me an
/ abiding conviction that were /
obliged to do it over again and could
exercise a conscious volition would
be born beside the placid waters of
this beautiful lake, 1 would study law
and would practice my profession in
Vermont"
Today the West with which Horace
Greeley advised the young men to
grow up is more densely populated
than Vermont and there is no other
"West" to take its place. The young
man fancies that by going far enough
he will find some place where compe-
tition is less acute than at home.
Not so. Though the young man
travels westerly to the Golden Gate
he will find few rural communities in
which there is lees competition than
here. He will find few places where
legal attainment and legal ability, as
he has been taught to understand the
term, counts for more than in YER
mont. We have few marble palaces,
but there is less hunger, less naked
ness, and less poverty here on the
average than in any other state. The
last census shows that the marked
tendency of population is not toward
the setting sun but toward the cities,
and the real question which confronts
the young Vermonter is whether he
shall choose the city or the country
The young man reasons that the
important business is in the city, and
that if he desires to participate in
this he must locate there. This il
exactly true. The large fees are paiC
in the city and cannot be paid in the
country, but all city fees are not large
Our young attorney may never obtair
one of these princely incomes. The
young man who goes to New Yort
without connections to help him has
in undertaking to establish lucra
tive practice, a task not impossible
but discouraging. Some succeed
The great majority fail. Nor doe
t success depend upon ability, for h
t may be years without an opportunit.
r to demonstrate his capacity. Upol
3 the other hand in Vermont he secure
almost at the first an opportunity tc
q show what is in him and success
8 sure to come if he deserves ii
9 Assuming that the young man doe
n obtain a large income is it wort
II more to him tnaD the smaller one b
d might have in the country? Men ar
: rich not in proportion TO the numbe
!. of dollars which they possess them
: selves but rather in proportion to tn
ID possessions of their neighbors. Tn
10 income of the successful lawyer i
20 New York is less in proportion to tn
y income of his clients than that of tn
N Vermont lawyer. The lawyer in goo
10 practice in Vermont lives in bette
a house, spends more money, mair
n tains a better style in compariso
with his neighbors, than does his Ne
N York brother. The country practis
ut tends to develop better lawyer tina
,e the city. 1t is the principle involve
9. in case, not the amount of none
in which requires ability in its tris
or The practice of the law feels tt
'y commercial spirit of the age. Elt
quence is no longer priced at the ba
ol Tie legal ability most highly paid fl
er today is that which advises metho,
IN by which the public may be fleece
ng with impunity. This commerce
re tendency is strongest at the center
fe commerce. The law practice in Ne
of York and Chicago has become
i'd string of specialties. The highly pa
ed lawyer is part of the business wor
I'D and has little to do with judg
IN ord ;ur;ao Tho aa mo man O r tho O.,