The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1910-03-21
HIahsr g Amoaa -

An over the country from president
To poludmaster The question IS ask
ing, What is the matter with the
law?" And bar associations and leg
islative bodies everywhere are en-
deayoring To meet the difficulty
which an acknowledge exists. by
means OF remedial legislation. ana
such leg Station is enacted. and. be-
ing tried, seems 60 fail OF its purpose
and such legislation win De enacted
and VIII continue 20 tail Of its pur
pose. because il doe not touch the
root or the difficulty. For the great
est trouble with the law today. ind
the chief obstacle in the way OF its
due administration, is the lawyer IT,
self; and much of the apparent nee
+ essity for amending the law could be
I permanently obviated by The more
effective method as yet apparently
untried, Of amending the lawyer.
( And the judges? The judge is re-
cruited from the ranks Of the bar
and he is not now, he never has been
and never can be- any better than
| TIC UAA AANNAA w NNNM AAN NfiA $50 anu
while / know that all of us, have
thoueht at one time or another and
perhaps have Impressed that view
upon an enroged and oyerinquisitive
client, that a judge is not necessarily
Ia lawyer, yet fof the purpose of this
argument ! am going TO include him
{ in the category.
The lawyers then Individually and
collectively, are charged by their
oaths and their office with the admin
/ istration and enforcement OF the law
but modern development has produc
ed a class of lawyers whose Office
, seems TO be the evasion OF the law
To what end then shall we concern
ourselves with the enactment of rem
edial statutes, which, once enacted,
will be inrusted for their enforce
ment to q profession whose leading
lights are largely paid for deyising
methods to evade them.
In the principal theatre of San
Francisco within few weeks.
heard one of the players himself
impersonating an attorney who was
supposed to lead the profession de
clare that "a lawyer had use for
every attribute but conscience and
/ heard that sentiment applauded
vigorously by an audience which fiji
ed every seat in the house -and they
applauded it because they believed
il to be true and they believed it TO
be true because their obsery alton of
the profession had induced such be-
Go, L.. Ner
brings the legal profession and the
law into reproach is the endeavor so
frequently successful, of some indy
idual or corporation or class TO OBJ
tain something from the law to which
they are not entitled, and the efforts
of some member of the bar to assist
them in doing so.
Why. for instance--and for lack OF
time. / take only the simplest and
most obvious Illustrations but the
principle is the same and extends
through all the complexities Of the
law from the poorest fence OF the
tenderlon in trouble with the police
court to the richest merger Of New
Jersey. defending itself before the
Supreme court of the United states
why. | ask. should any man, who
has violated the law, expect or even
hope to escape conviction when
brought before a court Of justice
For no other reason than because the
profession itself encourages him in
that expectation. or, why should any
= man who is indebted TO his neighhor
or who has injured him civilly. be.
leve tht he can avoid a judgment
when brought into court TO answer
for such debt or such civil injury
For no other reason than because
some member of the profession has
encouraged him in such belief
Shall a man go undefended, then
or q cause untricd2 Not at all But
why should the guilty man escape OF
the debtor fail to pay? For no man
is entitled to more than justice from
Amy court and no attorr Y should en-
courage him 20 expect 3 1re, or he'll
, him to obtain it, Why hen, should
not an attorney say to q guilty eli
ent: Yes, IL you desire my services
! tn see that you are fairly tried but
| / don't see how you can escape con
| yiction, and / don't see why you
| should" Or to the man H. b. d o.
! who has wrought his neighbor injury
Yes, II you wish, I'll see that your
cause IS fairly heard, but I don't sec
how you are going to avoid iude
| lment, and / don't see any reason why
| you should" And having said this
if he would go into court and see tina
| his client got a fair trial and no more
| the guilty would generally be convict
| ed and the debtor would lose but
| the client would have received every
| thing to which he was entitled anC
the attorney would have done al tina
| is required, and, indeed, all that Is
warranted or justified by his oath.
But you will say such a COURSE
| would have a tendency TO discourage
| Mitigation. That is true-in many In
/ stances it would undoubtedly hur
business, but in every instance i
would promote justice.
And it would elevate the rofessiol
and bring 1t to that high STANDARD
where it rightfully belongs and t
, that place in the estimation OF thi
people which would make the lawye
= what he ought to be the leader in thu
70 cause Of right; and the bar woul'
then be made the nucleus Of ever.
movement for the honest bettermen
Of conditions while the law itsel
n would become what of right 1t shoul
q be-"a rule of actor" to be followe
r. by the willing and enforced agains
y the unwilling, instead OF a game Z