Los Angeles herald., 1909-06-20
ADVISES
PURITY IN LAWS
SPEAKER AT CITY CLUB SAYS
REFORM is NEEDED
LEGISLATURE MUST ALTER DAM
cERous CONDITIONS
Shame Said to Lie in Fact That Some
Practitioners Engage in Legal
Contests for Unworthy
Purposes

The session of the City club yester-
day was unusually short because one
of the two speakers who were on the
program was unable to be present and
the second speakers address had Deeh
trimmed to a few remarks. Senator
M. Estudillo had been scheduled to ad-
dress the club on "The Peoples Lobby,
but he was unable to be present be-
cause of case in court. Hon. Everett
]. Brown of Oakland, judge of the su-
perior court of Alameda county, as
cussed 1.-THE Laws Unrest"
1--WE cannot ignore the fact that there
is a widespread spirit of unrest re-
garding the administration Of the law
sweeping over the country" said Judge
Brown. "The murmuring is now grow
ing so loud we must take cognizance
of it and all over the country face this
new problem.
at is essential to the welfare of our
country that it's citizens have conf
dence in the desire and ability of the
judiciary to carry into execution the
laws of the land. And when we hear
this widespread criticism 1t is time to
stop and look and listen. And when we
have stopped and looked and listened
it is then time to act.
Purity in the judiciary
"I believe in the American citizen and
his ability to handle this problem
without unjust and unfair criticism.
1t is a common habit of the layman to
abuse the judges on the bench for the
laws unrest. In the mind of the lay
man the judge is the responsible source
for this state of affairs. The judge
does have some responsibility. There
are men sitting on the bench whose ac-
tions have contributed to this wide
spread spirit, but the man who believes
the personality of the man sitting on
the bench plays any large part in this
question is much mistaken. If 1t was
due only to the judges the problem
could be easily solved. But it is much
more difficult matter than that. At
fairs are now working out so those
who sit on the bench will owe no obli-
cation to any man or set of men or
political party. When this result is
finally achieved much will have been
accomplished, but it will be only a
small part of what there Is to do.
1--WE must look to the legislature OF
the state for the reasons for the laws
unrest. There must reform begin.
There is no question that our proceed
ure has long ago outlived its purpose
and those features that once went
toward the protection of the individual
are being turned to baser purposes. One
cna0Se IndL is urgently necessary Is 10
make it more difficult to become an at
torney-not in the amount Of Black
stone he must know, but in the amount
of his good character.
Evils In the Profession
"It is a shame upon our profession
that there are those within its ranks
who use their privileges to become the
mouthpieces of crooks and perjurers
We want those of this character who
are in the profession disbarred, and we
want an easier system of disbarment.
Action of this kind will go farther
toward righting conditions than any
thing else that may be done, but the
change must come from the people,
The City club is showing deep inter
est in the junket that has been ar
ranged for next Saturday. Instead of
the usual weekly luncheon at the
Westminster the members will take
special cars at the Pacific Electric de-
pot at 1 o'clock and go to San Pedro,
where they will take launches and, un-
der the guidance of Capt. A. A. Fries,
visit the inner and outer harbors. The
launches win convey the members to
Long Beach, where dinner will be
served at the Hotel Virginia at $3.50.
The last special car will return to Los
Angeles at o'clock.