Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1909-02-10
THE PRICE OF
A SOUL
CONTINUED from Page Two.)

ing to prove that to be just which he
knew to be unjust. and | will show
You a man who has grown weaker in
character year by year, and whose
advice, at last, will be of no value to
his clients, for he will have lost the
power TO discern between right and
wrong. Show me, on the other hand,
a lawyer who has spent lifetime in
the search for truth. determined to fol-
low where it leads, and | win show
you a man who has grown stronger in
character day by day and whose adj
vice constantly becomes more val
liable to his client, because the power
to discern the truth increases with
the honest search for it.
Not only in the court room but in
the consultation chamber the lawyer
sometimes yields to the temptation TO
turn his talents to sordid use. The
schemes of sEolatiUn that defy The of.
ficers of the law are, for the most
part, inausurated and directed by
legal minds. President Roosevelt
speaking at Harvard a few years ago
complained that the graduates of thai
great university frequently furnished
the brains for conspiracies against the
public welfare | was speaking on
this very subject in one of the grea;
cities of the country some months ago
and at the close of the address a Judge
commended my criticism and declared
that most of the lawyers practicing in
his court were constantly selling thely
souls. The lawyers position is
scarcely less responsible than tn,
position of the journalist, and if the
& Journalists and lawyers of the country
could be brought to abstain from the
practices by which the general public
is overreached, it would be an easy
matter to secure the remedial legisla
, ton necessary to protect the produc
ing masses from the constant spolia
ton to which they are now subjected
by the privileged classes.
Most of you, | presume. will en-
gage in what is known as business. al
though | confess that | have no sym
pathy with the narrow definition whicf
is often given to the word business
Every person who contributes by
brain or muscle to the nations wealth
and greatness is engaged in business
and is a necessary factor i'll tho
worlds progress.
In increasing Factor.
Commerce is an increasing factor n
the business world. 1t includes boil
tp1n
stands next in Importance to produc
ton. Production comes first. but pro
production could only be carried o.
on a limited scale without the ex
change of merchandise To desire Il
gain an honorable distinction in thi!
department of labor is a worldly am
bition. He who improves the instrl
ments of trade or brings purchase
and consumer nearer together, am
thus facilitates exchange. may coun
himself real bencfactor But ever
here there are temptations to b
avoided. Let me suggest three. FRS
speculation. | do not mean TO say tina
the element of chance can be entire
eliminated from any kind of business
The farmer takes his chances upon Tn
seasons; the merchant takes hi
chance upon the market; the railroa
owner takes his chances upon both tn
season and the market; and we a
take our chances upon sickness an
death. Uncertainty enters into ever
human calculation, but distinctio
can be drawn between those uncertain
ties which are unavoidable. and thos