Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1911-07-11
Mistsllansous Reaains,
WILSON ON LAWYERS.
New Jerseys Big Governor Tells Some
Plain Blunt Truths.

New Jerseys Big Governor Tolls Some
Plain, Blunt Truths.
Gov. Woodrow Wilson spoke recently
to the New Jersey Bar association and
his address must have been painfully
frank to the legal fraternity. 1t GER
tainly is refreshing to the people of
the country to have their case against
the delays and technicalities Of the
law as practiced by modern lawyers
put so plainly and forcefully. Gov.
Wilson, among other things, said:
1.-The people Of the United States are
in a very critical mood as to the
courts" said Gov. Wilson, "and while
the respect for the courts Is inherent
in us all, 1t certainly has been strain
ed. AS for myself, l have a deep
seated, I might say an incorrigible,
reverence for the courts.
when I look around me-" said the
governor, 1T astonishes me to think
to what I might have come II 1 had
continued the practice Of law. Still, I
have been teaching law all my life and
have been in touch with the currents
Of lawyers thinking. This profession
has not undergone the same liberaliz-
ing in this country Of ours that has at
tended 1t In other countries. In Amer
lea alone has 1t remained a truly tech
nical profession.
1T used to be that the lawyer occu-
pied a position analogous to that of the
family physician. He was the special
counsel Of the citizen, the family and
Of communities. He Is that no longer.
He deserved the confidence that was
given to him then.
There are a few men who still bear
that relation, but they are very few.
You here before me are specialists In
technical advice along very narrow
lines. Most Of you are advisers Of the
corporations. l know many lawyers
who, when a general law question
comes up, are obliged to go out and
try to find a lawyer.
"The task that Is on my shoulders,
to find a man suitable for judge, Is a
very hard one. The field, I may say
to you, is getting mighty small. If you
have to get a Judge you must find a
man that knows the general law. 1t is
getting 80 that you have to catch 'em
young and make them judges.
THE community does not any long
er regard you lawyers as a body of
guides of its affairs. The trouble is
that you have abandoned statesman
ship to climb to technicality. am not
saying this by way Of criticism, but
you are now in the business Of giving
expert advice of technical matters.
This l may say to you Is not profess
sion any longer; it is business.
I'VE have intensified our technical
tiles. We have constructed so impreg-
nable a tangle of technicality, an am
bush of technicality that surrounds
the law and the courts that we must
tear the veil away in order TO see the
face of the facts. ---- - -
I'VE must tear away the shell to get
the kernel, and 1t seems to the people
as If it were all shell, and as If there
wasn't going to be any core. Now, you
may restore your profession to the
confidence of the people, If you will.
You may do 1t in a single year, If you
want it done. Why do you not do it?
You say you are acting for the COM
munity. If you are, why do you not
get rid Of the technicalities instead of
setting up difficulties anew.
|. Let me say that these difficulties
and technicalities will be torn away.
II this change Is wrought without your
assistance, it will be wrought to your
discredit. There is no mistaking the
spirit Of the times. II that spirit Is
hostile to institutions, those institu-
tions will fall."-Augusta Chronicle.