The Nashville globe. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1906-193?, 1912-05-10

NH1N ~ To- Let hiiu start anything !
for the good of the community In
which he lives; for the good of the en-
tire town; for the uplift of the race
in general l repeat, let him start
something like this Let him be the
prime mover. And you will soon find
your doubling Thomases. Yes, they
will spring up like mushrooms. They
usually begin by asking questions like
these: who did you say it was that
called the meetings?" "Why, Mr.. |
Jones" you answer. what is his OBJ
ject in calling the meeting?" ''Well,"
you say, "he thinks there should be
some such organization as a civic |
league or something of the kind to
look after the moral tone of our COM
munity. He says that matters seem
90 be going to the bad around here
and he thinks that wo ought to get to-
gether and project some plan to i'm
prove conditions morally, financially
and otherwise" What is the mem |
bership fee?" he asks. Well, of |
course you can't tell him because they
have not met as yet and de-
cided on anything The party /
asking the questions knows this |
just as well as you do. But he
must ask some questions in order to |
put in his demurrer Finally he says,
well, you had better watch that fell |
low. He's a lawyer, you know, and
lawyers are tricky" Now this party |
does not go to the meeting and does
what he can to keep others from go
ing. But, my friends, l want to say
to you that the real lawyer is any
thing else but trickster. l mean by
that to say that the real, genuine law
yer stands for those things which are
just the opposite of the things for
which the trickster stands. The law
yer stands for uprightness, for probity
of character, for a square deal He
scorns and frowns down upon any sug-
gestion looking toward crookedness in
mans dealing with man. He has ut
ter contempt for the man or set of
men who would attempt such a thing.
Again, it is said that the lawyer
hunts up lawsuits That he seeks to
bring about such complications that
will result in lawsuits. In fact, | have
heard it said that he aids, abets and
encourages lawsuits, that he himself
might be employed and thus feed upon
the ignorance and credulity of his
client. Now, my friends, | wish to
say that this is a common charge
That is to say, it is a charge one fire.
quently hears on the streets, in the
workshop and in the home. And it is
very serious charge. 1t is a belief
generally held by our people concern
ing the Negro lawyer. But l hasten
to say that nothing can be further
from the truth when it comes down to
the real lawyer. You will note that
| en- trying to emphasize the word
lawyer" in this paper. And in or
Ger that you may not mistake my
meaning, / sometimes use the words
real" and genuine" | have no de-
Tense to make of the pettifoggers that
creep into the profession. The legal
profession should not be held respon-
sible for them any more than the med
ical profession should be held respon-
sible fer the quacks that get into it;
or the ministry, for the worthless char
fcters that slip into it. This matter
of slipping in has been going on all
along the ages. 1t was in vogue when
/ Christ was here on earth. You re-
member thetstory about the man who
Slipped into the wedding feas; not
having on the wedding garment.
That practice is kept up even to this
day and ime. The difference is, we
are not so rigid in enforcing the rules
against the fellows without the we'd
ding garment as the people of olden
times were. Permit me to say in
passing that these without-the-wed-
ding garment fellows may be found in
all of the professions, in all of the
trades, and in every department of
h4man endeavor. And for my part,
| believe the rules should be most rig
idly enforced. They can be, but I
must not take up the time in discuss
ing the ways and means.
But to return to the thought ] deny
that the lawyer hunts up lawsuits. |
deny that he seeks to bring about COM
plications that will result in lawsuits.
On the contrary, the lawyer seeks to
keep down lawsuits. He avoids seek
ing redress through the courts. That
is his last resort. His method is that
of compromise, of adjustment, of
, equitable settlement outside of the
, courts. I'd have no trouble in citing
many cases to prove that this is true
If it were not for this characteristic OF
/ the lawyer the whole country would
crowded with business. There would
/ be involved in lawsuits. If it was the
J disposition of the lawyer to bring
, about complications that would result
/ in lawsuits, the courts would be over
/ crowded with business. There would
= be lawsuits upon lawsuits, an endless
{ chain of lawsuits. No, believe me
= my friends, the lawyer does not seel
! to bring about lawsuits. But because
: of his genius and his skill; because Of
! his disposition to see that all parties
, to the controversy might have fail
t deal, men are many times enabled tt
3 avoid lawsuits. They are enabled t
! reach an understanding and come t
4 an agreement and thus settle their diff
ferences outside of the courts.
a Having pointed out some of the er
r roneous views and opinions commonl!
e held as to the lawyer and his profes
:, sion, let us next inquire as to the rem
: edy and find out, if possible, how
ell