The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1903-07-09

| lie safety Let us not be deceived. The
world is getting better. There are more
| good people In IL than ever before. The
crimes OF the few are more widely EXPORTED
| than ever before.
But we can take a step in advance. and
| the bench and bar of Indiana. as heretofore,
| will boldly lead the way and welcome the
4 dawn of a era when the people Will
| fully realize that the laws are ample and
will trust in their full enforcement. In
| that good day the birds will nest In the
/ mouths of cannons swords will be beaten
into plowshares, and spears into pruning
/ hooks"
o. H. MONTGoMERY's SPEECH
Oscar II. Montgomery. of Seymour, spoke
| on THE Unhappy Court He said in
| part. 81 don't believe there are many un-
happy courts. but 1 know there are unhappy
! lawyers. If the unhappy court will tell
US that they so, we will endeavor to
| see that their places are filed at once. 1
have seen courts ignorant to principles ele-
! mentary. defying justice with assumed
knowledge that would put Solomon or a
Moses to shame, while the lawyers on the
other side fairly rejoiced. There may be an
unhappy court somewhere, but nope not
If there is one who will not correct an error,
! he Is indeed an unhappy court. If per-
chance there be court who decides ques-
! tons with an IF through fear and pre1u-
] dice, or one that Is reeking with dishonesty,
| with all such We have no sympathy. III a
| court discharges his duties impartially and
| Justly, with conscience and rectitude, such
| one will still be happy court"
Charles w. Moores, of Indianapolis, spoke
| on The Lawyers Books" He said in part:
| "A lawyer sometimes gets into an argu-
| ment for which he has made no conscious
| preparation. He knows the court will be
on to him as soon as he begins to speak
| Oh equity and justice, Tor courts know
| all the earmarks of fraud. And the ex-
| perienced attorney dare not apologize or
make damaging admissions about his want
/ nj Arx.fc
/ self serving, and these he will work for
| all they are worth. And sometimes at
these feasts the speaker makes similar
\ Dlun and tries to tell in advance what his
speech is going to be- i won't. Being of
Irish descent. / confess to have found an
analogous case to the one at bar in that of
! the Hibernlan on the bridge gang who was
annoyed by the cries of drowning man in
| the stream below. The man in the water
kept calling out, Help! Help! l can't
| SWIM, and finally, as the mans head dis
| appeared for the last time, the man on the
bridge filed his answer: Well nayther
can l. But / m not Dragging about It,. Our
| profession is familiar with books. From
| Moses to Charles Major, the men who have
written the books have been lawyers; and
so have been the men who read. No other
profession has the time to read. Bacon
| once said: Reading maketh full man.
And this is our way Of getting full.
The books that have helped us are count
| less as the sands of the sea as the cases
| put forth by the West Publishing Company.
1 shall choose rather to speak of the books
that have hindered u.s. OF the books that
| hinder, the first of all those that In try
| ing to teach virtue make virtue uninter-
esting. The Rollo and Elsie books, and the
| wisdom literature of the late Ruth Ashmore
have discouraged more seekers after virtue
| than their authors ever dreamed The
books of the impossible ideal are the dis
| couragers of righteousness-the handmade
ems and prime ministers of crime. The i'm
possible ideal has done more mischief than
| the awful example, Better fifty years of
Tom Jones than cycle of Z. p. Roe. Per-
haps the books that hinder us most of all
are those that bear our names on the title
page. / know how a lawyer hates to have
his own books quoted against him in argu-
ment, as If one were not free to change his
mind as he grows in maturity and wisdom,
| or secures inconsistent employments from
year to year. A mans books, unless he
| goes at them leisurey, are apt TO do even
worse than ruin his reputation. They may
! Injuries his health. Many a man wears spec
tacieS for life in memory of youthful ex-
| cesses in the way of nocturnal proof read
ing, and many man has put in cold type
| views that later will return to embarrass
| him. The books that have hindered
us are numberless. They are those
we have to discuss without reading.
those our friends have written and expect
| us to know about, those We wrote ourselves
and are trying to live down, those that we
| give away and those that give us away
those we have lent and those that keep lent,
! those We subscribed for because other lead
ers of thought like John r.. Wilson and
| Harry j. Milligan did. and those we buy
and keep at our office lest our wives dis
| cover our extravaganza, the Book of Com
| mon Prayer in whose intricacies we are
always losing our way, and last, and worst
| of all, the absorbing book that shuts the
world of men out of our vision altogether
and that we must read when We ought to
| be making a living
| TRACEWELL CALLED ON
| Robert Tracewell, who was instrumental
| in securing Indianas s636.OOO war claim over
many protests, was present. and when
| call od on sail al I
Der of the Methodist Church, but 1 don't
believe in protracting meetings all at one
| time 1 want to assure you that / am not
in the employ of the Postoffice Department.
1 belong TO the Treasury Department, and
We have enough money on hand to build
| the Panama canal. Ii is said that federal
officers never quit their job until they are
| dead, but / want to say that some day /
| intend to return TO Indiana to practice law,
and | intend TO become member of your
| Bar Association"