The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1913-04-04
TALK LEGAL LORE
County Attorney Meeting
Closed With Big Banquet.
Most Lively and Instructive
Session Held.

The annual meeting of the county
attorneys of the state ended last night
with a banquet at the Throop hotel,
| where the Kansas lawyers sat for three
| hours and listened tes tales of legal
| lore and opinions of the sink holes in
| the Kansas statutes. 1t was a fitting
conclusion to one of the most lively
/ and instructive sessions ever held by
the public prosecutors of the state.
Many experiences of the active trial
| lawyers of the state were related at
| the banquet and some of the. stories
| told were fitting characteristics of the
veterans of the Kansas bar. Joseph
| G. Waters, dean of the Kansas State
Bar association, told at length his ex-
periences as trial lawyer in the state.
He related the fearful incidents when
he begged, pleaded, sobbed and prayed
with the IL men in the jury box to
acquit the innocent defendant and
send him back to the fond embrace
of a heart broken wife and wondering,
innocent children. But never again..
declared Waters. The Topekan told
the prosecutors that he had tried his
last criminal case and was out of the
criminal practice for keepS-and some
Of the prosecutors who have sat on the
opposite side of the table with Waters
-breathed easier when Waters said it.
John Marshall. attorney for the
State Temperance union, told of the
exciting and unpleasant experiences of
the man who holds the job of keeping
the Kansas jointist on the run. sit
! ting on the Lid" was the toast to
which Marshall responded and he gave
the county attorneys to understand
that if they hadn't already tried it,
that sitting on the lid in a damp COM
munity in Kansas was neither a pleas
ant nor agreeable undertaking.
s. N. Hawkes., assistant attorney
general and POSTMASTER, related num-
erous incidents of his experiences as
an active practitioner. In his remarks.
Judge Hawkes. discussed many promi-
nent cases in which the lawyers pres
ent were more or less familiar
Triumphs and Defeats of the Pro-
curer de la Republique," was the toast
assigned to George H. McGill, county
attorney, of Sedgwick county. McGin
didn't explain fully whether the pro-
gram meant all it said, but he did tell
his brother prosecutors that there was
regular merry-go-round of triumphs
and defeats for the average lawyer
who lands in the county attorneys Of
flee. In fact the Wichita lawyer wasn't
quite sure whether the balance be-
longed on the debit or credit side of
the ledger and was kept constantly
busy trying to strike a balance.
1.-THE Man With Grievance was the
toast to which James Meek, county at
torney of Wyandotte county, respond
ed. Meek apparently knew all about
the man with a grievance and crouch
and an ingrowing disposition to set
the states legal machinery on some
enemy, real or imaginary. What Meek
told the Kansas prosecutors, was to
keep a lively look out for this brand
of citizen. He is a dangerous customer,
Meek assured his fellow Lawyers, and |
most of them who have had actual ex-
perience, agreed with him. sss=-
Frank Forrest county attorney of
Allen county discussed the question,
1.-The Justice of the Peace, Shall he go
or Stay?" Forrest thought it depended
largely on the justice Of the peace.
His Honor the judge was a toast
to which o. s. Samuel, county attorney
of Lyon county and president of the |
county attorneys association, discussed !
at some length. Samuel is serving his |
third term as prosecutor in Lyon
county and has had considerable ex-
perience. He declared that the courts
were inclined to be fair and that fair
and honorable practice on the part of
the practicing lawyer never failed to
insure him an equally fair deal from /
the man who presided on the bench.
The county attorneys spent but one