Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1913-03-25
AS MINISTER SEES LAWYERS
Nation Owes More to Attorneys Than
to Any Class, He Says. IS,

H 81
to Any Glass, He Says.
The Rev. DR.. Edwin L.. House OF
Spokane, believes in lawyers and Wig
orously defends them. Writing In the
Spokesman Review, he says that the
nation owes more to men in the legal
profession than to those Of any other
class. This is his defense:
When Dean Swift called the law
bottomless pit, cormorant, a harpy
that devours everything, he was more
witty than wise. A western lawyer
tells the story Of brawny, sharp
featured country woman who came In
to his office one day leading freckle-
faced, water-eyed boy by the hand.
Air you the lawyer?" she began. Up
on being answered in the affirmative,
she stated that she had brought her
boy Jim to town to bind him out at
the 'lawyerin" trade. At the sugges-
ton that he was entirely too young to
begin the study Of law, she said: You
don't know him. He was Just born to
be a lawyer. When he was only seven
years old he struck work; when he
was eight he got sassy, and now, law
bless me he just freezes on to every
thing he can lay his hands on. ....
Such is the story of the caricature
of what lawyer Is, and yet 1t express
es the popular conception among
quite a class Of people. To such
class the lawyer Is the man whose
trade it is to get people out Of scrapes.
No cause so infamous, no job 80 dirty
but can command his service, proVld-
ed his scruples, II he has any, are
overcome by the bail of a sufficient
fee. To such the conception Is un-
known Of a clean, conscientious man.
who passes in and out Of the temple
of Justice with reverent tread, whose
palms have never touched unhallowed
gold, who would sooner lose his right
hand than prostitute his talents by
espousing an unjust cause, and yet
there are thousands Of lawyers who
answer to this last description.
There are two ideals before the law
yer today, one which Is high and no
BILE and in harmony with the traditions
of the past, and, second, another that
is, to my mind, fearful comment on
the legal professions, and the times In
which we live. There are lawyers VINO
feel that there Is no profession In
which integrity Of character Is 30 VI
tally essential as that Of law.
The administration Of justice Is a
delusion and q snare where the high
priests In her temple are lacking In
learning, capacity and integrity. And
there are lawyers today who state
that 1t is right to defeat the ends of
Justice by any possible trick in the
courts, causing prisoners to escape
from the sheriff, running Off witness
es, suborning witnesses, embarrassing
them from testifying the truth. per-
verting their testimony, putting on
cases till the witnesses die or move
out of reach Of the court, getting
away with important papers In the
case, perverting the meaning Of the
law, on some trick or technically get
ting a new trial, or passing In review
a panel Of 100 men in order to pick
twelve men that could be hoodwink-
ed and be nodded according to the
wishes Of the lawyers. These and
many more illustrations show the
worst side of the lawyer.
Let us now notice very briefly the
part the bench and bar have taken
and what influence they have exercis-
ed in the formation Of the American
republic. In the early Colonial pc
riod we find three very strong men,
Winthrop, Bellingham and Humphrey,
all influential in the molding Of affairs.
In the latter part Of the Colonial
period we find John Adams, Robert
Treat Paine, Thomas Cushing, josiah
Quincy, James Otis, Thomas Jefferson,
James Madison and Patrick Henry
arousing and guiding public sentiment
towards the independence Of the colo
nists.
At the first Continental congress
more than half Of the delegates were
lawyers, and in the second congress,
the next year (1775), more than two
thirds Of the delegates were lawyers.
OF the 55 signers Of the Declaration
of independence, 32 were lawyers, and
% Of these afterwards became judges.
From the adoption of the constitu-
tion down to the ending of the civil
war the influence Of the bench and
the bar was paramount. Great names
come to our minds. and the incom-
parable Lincoln was Gods appointed
lawyer to save this nation in its crisis
hour.