The chronicle=news., 1913-08-13
THE BARS PLACE IN SOCIOLOGY
Address Delivered Today By Judge Nohcut
Raton New Mexico Meeting Of New Mexico Dar Association

~ Judge Jeaoo q. Qorthcutt, At
" 1ew Mexico Dar Association.
and a constituency ~ full Of pride In
their achievements n they were of
fidelity In their homage: and finding
their training appreciated and In de-
mand. the acquisitons to the profess
sion were many and valuable. SO
that. - We approach the Revolution
OF '7C. We find . bar already OF re-
nown. composed Of trained and able
lawyers and men, filled with patrio.-
ic virtue. ready TO conc forward. not
alone with their swords but with
their trained talents to aid In the
structure OF the laws. the observation
Of which distinguishes civilization
from barbarIsm. And tho people.
recognising their ability. were not
slow In svailine Themselves Of their
services.
on the fifty-six siGnerx Of the Dec
iarstion Of Independence twenty-five
were lawyers: OF the finy-five mem
bers Of the Federal Constitutional
Convention. thirty-oae were lawyers.
OF whom four had studied In the In.
ner Temple. and one At Oxford. under
Blackstone. In the first Congress
ten Of the twenty-nine senators. aud
seventeen Of the siaty-ilvc reprcxsn-
tatives. were lawyers.
These men attempted. In the light
Of their training snd experience. TO
make laws which were stable and
permanent. yet sufficiently elastic to
me~, the srowth OF = vixorou. nation
and chums;nE viciasitud~s Of pro.
4reas. They realised that laws. to
meet the support and obedience Of
the people. must reach the spot: that
Il. they must III condIi Ions a. rene.
iiss and restrictions: guides. or iim..
iations. must br effective. lucid aud
positive. II was by them known. aut.
must not b. forgotten by us. that.
from the inrepiioa Of the adoption OF
ruies Of human eoaduri. the dIaaai-
isfaciion Of the people with the laws
grows out Of their confusion os inap-
piicability.
There was very brief period aft-r
the Revolution that the old tiae a..
ssRouisn' to the bar arose. but this
was principally out Of the tsrdine.s
Of some o! the presieaSiy promlaen,
lawysrs TO recosnis- tho chsaEr.i
conditions aad 10 reiess 10 ,heir IL.
ordinate fidelity 10 the custom. Of tho
Mother coaatsy.
Hut there were enough as then In
nuabsr aud ability TO guids their Pc.
isiosic constituents srshi; sad. 10
every crisis and emergency. lawyers
willing and able have b-ea souad 10
project their couniry against the so'.
hics Of the ds,isainx sad the ssp~si.
m-nis Of the visioaIry. Are W. sti,I
ablc. prepared and wiiiiax- q"
The query. which ~e se-k To make
psomincnt IL: Do-s the legal pros~.-
sion 10 III. tui'csi s,ales today an.
Preeiai~ It's position. and Ia IL s,sSi.
cicniiy Impressed with Its duty to
preserve and pron,oi- the purposes o.
'ts ~sisieace2
Our experience tells us what -
expect Of the busiarss man. who Ia sc
g grounded In bis owa roseeii and -
worldly wise - TO dsapens- with tn.
sdvIce Of the trsiu-d lawyers: In
other words. u be- beconss his own
lawyer. we know 'ha, some lawyer IL
soiae TO fsiica on his errors.
Now. II this eau bc said Of the In
dieidusi. what will he the consc.
qucnecs Of the state. which In hut
collection Of individuaia. becoming
its own lawyer. and Determining :
first hand Is tho Court Of Ultimate
Resort what Its laws shall b.. and
how th-y shall b. construed aud exc.
cutcd. What the effect Of this pol.
icy. u persissed In. will lead to is one
Of the qucsiious with which the bar
Of the Nation is confronted today.
And TO what extent II the bsr going
to express itself to the pubiIc-'he
electorate In particular. upon tho
danger Of experimentation In this di-
rcctiOny
Happily msny bar associations aud
collections Of lawyers arc taking hold
mor- vigorously with the new qucs.
tions OF government snd legal rcfor.
nation and Improvement today than
ever In the past. This probably Il
explained to q decree from the better
and more experienced organizations
Of lawyers into associations.
The life Of tho organization brinx.
~ 0MeAe,sns- - r0rsh ne