The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-04-26

day against companies and corpora tions in the public mind has been ere ated,' said Commissioner A. o. Lane, former judge of the circuit court, "in large degree by the corporations them selves. What is just, right and hu- n.ane for an individual to do is also just. right and humane for a corpor- ation to do. But this Is not always applied by corporations. Individuals in control of great companies will ire quently do certain unjust things for the company that they would not do as individuals.
 9Th cir code of ethics for themselves. strange to say, is often entirely differ ent. Why Personality don't see that there is any difference between an in dividual and a corporation, when 1t comes to netting out justice. The spirit of some corporations is simply. to get out of everything And get out of ev- erything they do. This does not apply to all corporations, of course. But when ever an act of injustice is done by one big company 1t indirectly affects all of the others.
 
 watter-just happens to come to my mind. There was a man from Toledo, Ohio, selling a certain make of shirts here not long since and I bought q half dozen. Another drummer from Memphis also turned up with better grade and I bought a half dozen from him. Both packages came by express about the same time.
 "The Toledo package cost 40 cents and for the package from Memphis the express agent charged dollar. I gave 1t at the express office. Here the rate was found not to exceed 40 cents. l requested the 60 cents change. They said they would look into It.
 Time went by and I called again. The manager stated that it was a mat ter between me and the agent who had charged the excess rate.
 "'Is he an employe of yours?' asked. Yes they said he was an employe of theirs, and he had not the right to charge that rate.
 "'You are then responsible,' l told them, and whethe CT the excess" in- volved cents or $2oo made no differ ence; they would be sued for that 60 cents. If several hundred dollars would be necessary to spend to get the 50 cents then that would be spent.
 This IS the sort of thing that makes the public distrust your company I said to them, and creates suspicion and prejudice against you They were given a day or so more to think about it before I filed suit. Then they sent the 60 cents to me. But it was forced out of them, as you see.
 Instances like these and many other sorts and kinds. some of i..em very grave, frequently occurring in a com r,unity, necessarily bring about a spirit of antagonism, and a habitual attitude of distrust of the principles of com panies as companies
 Every case of injustice in large or small degree should be fought to a finish. When fake and groundless suits are in- stituted against the city and the com ranies here, each one should be fought out in the courts to the very end. in order to prevent their multiplication.
 Yes, there are fake and trivial suits filed here in Birmingham, and many in stances whether personal injury suits are magnified to excessive proportions, but this Is merely one side of the question.
 "The personal injury suit proper should rot be confounded with the fake trivial suit. Both sides should be given and the difference between the two sorts should be kept clear and distinct before the public eye.
 we have here in Birmingham an ex- ceedingly efficient class of lawyers. The Birmingham Bar association has in it men not only of very high standard in- tellectually, but men of the highest ideals and the keenest sense of honor and jus tice. In fact, don't know of any town the size of Birmingham that has, as a whole, a cleaner. brainier set of men in the legal profession than we have right here, taken all in all.
 There are some shysters, 1t Is true. You canont have all on the same level. Shyster practice should not exist, of course, and public protest against 1t Is one of the best means to end 1t.
 "One great change for the better in our courts in recent times has been in the matter of the juries. We have better jurors as class right now than we have ever had in the history of the courts of Jefferson cvounty.
 Under the old system, if juror did not happen to be on hand, any fellow who came along would probably be taken by the sheriff. And the courthouse used to be crammed thick full of tramps and buns who were waiting just for this chance.
 "Under the new system buns are ex- cluded Only the names of reputable men are put in the box. and these are drawn by the judges themselves. That new rule has, in itself. worked for the greatest change fop the better.
 ..rTba condition of our courthouse Is dis graceful and is a matter of comment to every visitor in Birmingham who chances in--especially to judges and lawyers from other towns. little place like Green vile, Ala, for instance, has a far better courthouse than we have. Look at the condition of the tiles in the 1oor-the dirt and filth everywhere-the crowded cond- ton and the lack of ventilation"
 When, in fact. Judge Lane first took his seat on the bench he found the transoms immovable and windows in his courtroom built so they could not open! He straight way put in new ones that would open, He noted the hard. stiff-backed chairs for the jury, and ordered a new comfortable set of chairs. Whatever could be done in the way of making the best out of a pretty tough proposition he did. very quietly, as is his way. and very thor oughly.
 He liked his courtroom because he liked lis job and he has ever been a worker Every lawyer in town will tell you that In fact one of the stories they tell about Judge Lane Is that because he was ''so confoundedly hard a worker" and kept Lis courtroom clear he defeated the bond issue for the new court house!
 For one thing Judge Lane is a born executive. Then, he has always believed that .scollrthouse business should be run