The Cairo bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1???-1928, 1911-07-13
WOODROW WILSON
ON LAW REFORM
MISCARRIAGE OF JUSTICE DUE
TO TECHNICAL RULINGS BY
COURTS ARE SHOCKINB.
.0THER NATIONS LEAD j. 5.
Pleads for Higher Ideals Among
Lawyers So That Law May
Stand for Right and Jus.
tice--Amend Rules Of
Practice.

|
| address before the members Of the
Kentucky Bar Association here to-
night, Gov. Woodrow Wilson of New
Jersey, said the conditions of mod
ern commercial and professional
| life subject the lawyer to tempta-
| tons which seriously stand in the
way Of rendering the ideal service
to society which is demanded by
the true standards ana canons Of his
profession.
He said in part.
expert in the law; and society lives
by law. Without it its life is vague
inchoate disordered, vexed with a
hopeless instability. At every turn
Of its experience society tries to ex-
| press its life, therefore, in law: To
make the rules Of its action univer-
sal and imeprative. This is the
whole process of politics. Politics
is the struggle for law, for an insti-
tutional expression Of the changing
life of society.
"The lawyer has always been in
ldispensable, whether he merely
| guided the leaders or was himself
| the leader, and nowhere has the
lawyer played a more prominent
part in politics than in England ana
America, where the rules OF Law
| have always been the chief instru-
ments Of contest and regulation, Of
liberty and efficient organization
and the chief means of lifting So
| eiety from one stage to the next Of
its slow development
"The lawyers ideal part in this
unending struggle is easy to con-
ceive. He, above all other men.
should have quick affp@nption Of
what is feasible, of tHe nBw things
that will fit the old, of the expe-
riences which should be needed, the
wrongs that should be remedied,
and, the rights that should be
more completely realized
"He can play this ideal part, how
ever, only if he has the right in
sight and sympathy. If he regards
his practice as a mere means of live
ihood, if he is satisfied 10 put his
expert advice at the service OF any
interest or enterprise, If he does
not regard himself as an officer OF
the state, but only as an agent OF
private interest; if, above all he
does not really see the wrongs that
are accommodating, the mischief that
is being wrought, the hearts that
are being broken and the lives that
are being wrecked, the hopes that
are being snuffed out and the ener-
gies that are being sapped, he can
not play the part of guide or moder-
ator or advisor in the large sense
that will make him a statesman and
a benefactor.
"The truth is that the technical
training of the modern American
lawyer, his professional PROPOSES
sions and his business involvements
impose limitations upon him and
subject him to temptations which
seriously stand in the way of his
rendering the ideal service to SO.
ciety which is demanded by the
true standards and canons OF his
profession Modern business, In
particular, with its huge and com.
plicated processes, has tended tc
subordinate him, to make OF him 6
servant, an instrument instead Of
free advisor and master Of justice
Moreover, the prepossessions o.
the modern lawyer are all in favor
of his close Identification with hi!
clients. The lawyer deems himself
in conscience bound to be conten
tious, to maneuver for every advan
tage, to contribute to his clients
benefit, his skill in a difficult an(
hazardous game. He seldom thinks
of himself as the advocate of society
He moves in the atmosphere of priv
ate rather than public service. Hi
business becomes more and more
complicated and specialized, Hi
studies and his services are apt t
become more and more confined t.
some special field Of law. He be
comes more and more a mere ex
, pert in the legal side OF certain
, class of great industrial or flnan
cial undertakings.
II 1T is evident what must happer
in such circumstances. The benci
must be filed from the bar, and i
Continued to page 6)