Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1903-05-04


end. That is my advice" This is the
same kind of advice which John x.
Porter, for many years the leader of
the New York bar, once gave to my |
father. My father determined on one
occasion to appeal to the courts for |
win -ication. He had conclusive evil |
dence to support his case. He took |
this evidence to Mr.. Porter's Office and |
read ii to him. After reading 1t, John |
X. Porter, as a conscientious lawyer, |
turned and said: "Dr. Talmage, upon |
that evidence l can win the suit for
you, but am going to tell you what l |
told Horace Greeley, who last week
came on the same kind of an errand
and sat In the same chair on which you
are now sitting. Go home and mind
your business. You have a work to do.
Life is too short for you to spend any
Of that time fighting in a court of law
unless your work is menaced-" My ia
ther went home. The suit was never
] brought.
But" says some young lawyer. that
may be all right for well established
attorney like John X. Porter to do. He
| ".
He could afford in his position to turn
down a Greeley. But that is not the
way young man can build up prac-
tee. 1t is what he does in the court
and not outside of 1t, that wins him
fame" No. my friend, you are wrong.
The public Is not as stupid as you
think. If that public once hears a
whispering that you are trying to keep
clients out of trouble instead of push
ing them in. you will have all the CHI
ents you want. Study the history of
Mayor Jones Of Toledo, O., who has
just been reelected for his fourth con-
secutive term. He is generally called
Golden Rule" Jones. l know nothing
about Mr.. Jones' private life, nothing
about his politics, but this l do know
the people, the common people Of that
city, believe that Mr.. Jones is their
friend and is trying to help them as far
as is able to do. Every newspaper in
that city was against him. During the
campaign they would not even print
his name. The Republican and the
Democratic organizations were against
him. Each party had its separate can
didate. Yet Golden Rule" Jones went
quietly ahead. At the public ballot
boxes he received an overwhelming
majority, his vote being 70 per cent of
all the votes cast. Why? The people,
the common people, believed he was
trying to tighten their burdens instead
Of getting them into deeper trouble.
What is true in reference to politics is
true in the lawyers Office. One of the
best recommendations a lawyer can
have is that he always conscientiously
and faithfully makes his clients inter-
ests his own.
The Young Lawyers Duty.
The high principled lawyer protects
the weak as well as the strong. The
young graduate from a legal school is
likely to take any case which comes in
his way. 1t is not so much then a ques-
ton of money as of getting something
to do. He will spend as much time
over the case Of a pet dog which has
been poisoned in a back yard as he
will twenty years later on a 100000
: suit But after awhile that young man
works his way up the legal ladder.
His brain becomes keener, his expert
1 ence greater. He stands in the front
: rank of his profession. What is the re.
suit? He ceases, as a rule, to deal with
1 cases involving small fees. He is q
railroad attorney or a rich mans ad
:, vocate.
My legal friend, now is your opportu
e nifty for heroic self sacrifice. Do yOr
+ know of a case in which poor man Is
l. menaced with injustice? Do you know
4 of man who is charged with a crime
= of which he is innocent? The glory
t, you win in championing his cause il
l. better to you than 100000 fee. Thu
L great corporations and the wealth!
q men have reserved for their services
g the strongest legal brains of the coun
1t try. l ask, who are going to look afte
n the legal interests of the poor and thu
l. helpless? You know just as well as
Is that the critical time in the youn,
If mans life is just after he has com
IS mitted that sin which he did thought
N lessly and without realizing its hel
nousness You know that if he is one
IS convicted and sent to the penitentiar.
~ and herded in with lot of old Grim
e. inals he will become one of the black
it est of the black. Will you leave hir
ur to the care of one of those legal in
~ competents who are found hangin
tie about every court room, waiting lik
er vultures to pounce upon the helples
a and the slain? Or will you, in th
cd front rank of the legal profession. Civ
ar your time and services to save tina
ell young man? You know as well as
do that that little child who had be
ep legs cut off by the cruel wheels Of th
le electric car through the carelessness {
X the motorman will get nothing unles
do a man of your brain plead her caus
IN, You, with your legal ability, could wi
i'd, for her a verdict Of $4,000 cash. Wi
ep you let that little child be sent to