The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1910-09-30
BAR BANQUETS
 JUDGE GEORGE
  w, WHEELER
(continued from page s.)

AAeH dHU GEOhAeh- IAAeNt AN' ie'A 9O'S
 have seen at short range the daily effort of the lawyer as he pour ed out the treasures of mind and heart as though each piece of work was the last; seen the rugged and in contest fierce and long, and in the main, through it all, generous, man ly and courteous.
 Self interest does not move law yers to the self sacrifice of the best they have to give. It is the training, the traditions, the. associations and the service in pursuit whose roots run deep down to the foundations of justice herself. A master touched the springs and depths of human CT look for great things from self interest: interests may change; but look for. anything from feeling. from religious faith, patriotic faith.
 T do not feel as though were but stepping from one court to another No man should be insen- in such a tribunal It is indeed high, a commanding honor. To me it is a hazard, an adventure, untried, un- S fath homed, full of new and widening responsibilities The uppermost thought is, how shall the new duty be met?
 interpret, construe and find the law of to-day which years hence may eff feet the personal rights of genera tions unborn, and mar or assist the de- . velopxnent of society fashioned and upheld by the law as found and de- clared by those whose names and work shall soon be forgotten, save by that audience which constitutes/ the real public opinion of the Judiciary the bar. This is the thought that lifts the cloud, this is the spur-the chance to aid in a task so pregnant with present usefulness and so potent for future needs.
 ssEvery Institution, be it conner ciaI, educational, benevolent or re- ligious rests upon the law. Every business transaction is controlled by her; every concern of human society is dependent upon her. Every pubic agency acts within her limitation 4 and under her influence. She secures our rights and redresses our wrongs: We pursue our minimizing way ana she Ks by her side, our security and our blessing. Through her we enjoy the greatest boon of mankfnd-ouf liberty So it results, the work or the judiciary is only bounded by the[en- deavors of men and women who i've in unfettered freedom of thought
 Law is the fruit of custom. IL IS inc ascertainrn ent of what is usual and should have been done under the circumstances according to the estab- lisf1ed judgment of society
 Precedent is an established custom decisive of the transaction which II settles.
 becomes authenticated and the pre- cedent is the law.
 The judge searches and analyses the precedents and finds the class or classes to which the phase of human conduct before him belongs, that is, he finds the established and authent1- cated custom controlling the s1tua- tion When there is no precedent, or .. feature of the transaction differs from the precedent found, he seeks tro1 it.
 When there is no precedent and no custom to turn to and this occurs in the rare and exceptional case, TOT most cases compel the application or the old principles, he searches TOT the principle that should govern, that is for the reason of the law, by examining the case in the light of his study, his training and experience, with the aid and analogies of that vast body of precedents and pr1ncl- pIes found in the books, with the as sistance of that common sense, n formation Sand Judgment of the wise: of universal acceptance and guided by that sense of natural justice i'm % planted in the breast of man
 He conducts his investigation apart from impressionable clamor and passing impulse, free from prejudice or passion interest: he seeks for the truth, and having found it, he acts by it, keeping within the rules of logic, and weighing the principle to be applied in the scale of the con sequences of it's adoption as a binding rule to govern human conduct, now and hereafter.
 What he finds he must accept, his conclusion is not his own will, his conclusion is the reason and Judg-
 
 the settled and established methods of the law.
 This process is very different from the making of law.
 Precedent controls him, principle controls him, reason controls him, the promptings of justice control him must act by the method and modes of the law. and none other.
 The work of the judges is in dis favor in some quarters because it has not been made to square with the spirit, and need of the times" The remedy of existing evils by .legisla- ton, the extension of the powers of government in constitutional way, the play for position, does not con
 The demand that the judiciary square it's law to the spirit and need of the times" does concern me, and you, and every other member of our profession. That this demand is made by very great and patriotic man, who has, as I believe, worked, cessfuI1y too, for the uplift of Ameri- can public life makes it all the more difficult yet all the more imperative to speak of it.
 We have heard a similar demand officially a few years ago that the : powers of the national governm ent be increased through judicial inter pretation, while great Secretary of State and lawyer too, said, if the states do not reform an increase of power will be acquired by construc- ton of the constitution.
 Settled canOnS Of construction, set tied rules of interpretation, settled principles control the courts in pass ing upon statute and constitution These are a part of our common law and grew and developed in the same way our substantive law has grown Courts may not change these at will: Against such a, course the wisdom of the centuries rebels.
 You remember Professor Phelps once said, in a memorable address, I am sorry I cannot quote his words the eulogist of the common law would find the most signal illustration of it's compreh ensiveness in the fact that all. the results of constitutional