Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1912-08-14
FACT AND GOSSIP
IN MONEY MARTS
Why Is It There Are More
Lawyers in Congress Than
Other Professions?
BY 8. c. FORBES.


NEW YORK. Aug H.-America is
laWyer-ridden. The be all and end Ian, the
Alpha and Omega of government is not
to grind out laws by the thousands. but
to foster the happiness and welfare of
the governed. 1t is an old and accepted
maxim that that country is best governed
which is least governed. In a republic
IN a democracy-laws should be as few
and simple as possible, not as many and
as intricate as legal ingenuity can con-
trve
Think Of 35,oOO.thirty-fve thousand.
laws being passed during one session!
have looked up the records, and /
ind that lawyers have constituted from
80 TO 10 per cent of our congressman dur
ing quite number of years. Take the
FiftiethI congress. 1t was composed of 263
lawyers, SO business men, q agricultural
people and AZ others. In other words of
every 100 members, 65 were legal gentle
men, II men of business, I agriculturists
and IL followers of various other tasks or
professions. In the Fifty-sixth session
no fewer than 299 members were lawyers
SIS out of every 100-while agriculture
could claim only and business 20
The business of government should be
placed little-a great deal-more in the
hands of business men. men of practical
experience in the actual affairs rather
than the theories of life. We are bust
ness nation, a people of achievement in
the workshop, in the field, in the factory,
IN the counting house, in the laboratory.
Why not entrust our government to grad
yates Of these stern schools rather than
to students of legal tones?
Lei us be honest, however Let us ad-
NIT that business men are partly. if not
chiefly, to blame for their sparse repre-
sentation in the halls Of our solons. Men
of large affairs have TOO often in the
past looked down upon politics. They
have regarded politics as a game to be
played, not honestly honorably and
above board but by stealth by subter-
fuge, by corruption. Unfortunately, too
many politicians did play dishonesty, did
pay more attention TO their own purses
thar TO principles, and did drag law-mall-
ing into the mire. But-also unfortunate
lV-men of big business were by no means
blameless. for not infrequentIy they were
parties to bribery, to underhandedness
to crooked dealings They used poit-
clans as pawns. They sought favors and
were willing to pay for them. yellow
dogs abounded in the subcellars Of leg
islatures-fed from high sources often
times. tSee the Standard Oil letters
printed month by month in Hearst's Mag
szine.)
Happily, the kennels have been thnned
to some extent. 1t is no longer considered
proper to feed Yellow Dogs. The rail-
roads for the most part have stopped it,
Standard Oil. having been dissolved,
may not find occasion to spend so much
for legal--or illegal---services. yellow
Dogs, it has been demonstrated, are apt
TO be pulled from the darkness of their
subterranean kennels and placed in the
lmelight.
Politics is becoming more respectable
This being So may we not hope that
hereafter business. agriculture, education
and other lines of activity will contribute
a larger quota of legislators?
Lawyers have not proved a success at
making laws. The laws of the United
States form the most jumbled-up. compli-
Gated, contradictory, impraCtiCable, sense
less mess to be found in any nation on
earth. We pass more silly acts in one
year than any other country passes in
generation. Some of our statutes are not
even meant to be enforced. Others are
intended to please passing within and
are promptly forgotten. The most dis
cussed American law today is the Sher-
man antitrust act. For some two decades
IL was left in peaceful repose. its pro-
visions utterly neglected and everywhere
violated with tmpunity. Then it was re-
discovered brought from it's pigeonhole
and made TO do duty, although just what
duties 1t ought to do could not be deter
mined by the courts, the final interpre-
tation being hopelessIy divided one.
If the next two or three sessions of
congress. Federal and state, were devoted
not to making more laws. but to making
bonfires of most of the old ones and con-
solidating, classifying and remodeling the
sensible and necessary ones, the country
would be much better off 1t is criminal
to pass statutes that can not possibly be
enforced, for thereby the innocent are
made lawbreakers.
Instead Of 70 lawyers in every 100 leg