The Ordway new era., 1913-05-30
AReioinder Rejoined

shoulder. We are not seeking tC
dislodge this sign of belligerency, for
we are a peaceable man. But the de-
fense Of our pugnacious friend does
seem impregnable and we will risk
landing blow with the hcpe OF get
ting away before he counters
In last weeks issue Of the Call un-
der the heading, "a Rejoinder," Pro
and Con puts forth a labdred and sol
emn defense Of the sanctity Of judi
cial procedure, coming out OF his
wilderness of words now and then To
cast "A sly inuendo in the direction of
this writer. The rejoinder is n reply
to a supposed affront offered the legal
fraternity by a person who is desig.
mated by the somewhat enigmatical
term Rev Gentleman" Does he
mean "Revered Gentleman? After
reading again the rejuiDder we are
sure he DOGS not mean this Wecon
clude from the dire calamity which Is
predicted for the said offending clergy
man that this obscure appcllatiun
tDcdusfF hSNOiutipuh'y "ShNiS
At any rate There is no doubt Of the
word gentleman. and we assume
that the word signitied by the abbre
viaJionls equally complimentary.
The reference Ia the offending
address to lawyers who befog the
issue, witnesses who distort the evil
dence and juries who stumble upon Il
verdict" does not appear at all in the
written draft Of The baccalanreate
address, but the speaker was inspired
by the presence OF members OF the bar
to indulge in bit OF satire at their
expense. Now comes Mr.. Pro and
Con and proceeds to beat the air tn
the extent Of two columns aud to
give the Rev. Gentleman much free
advertising. We herewith tender our
profound thanks for this unexpected
generosity.
My dear Mr.. Pro and Con, ''much
(legal) learning doth make thee mad. :"
We did not intend to besmirch the
ermine; we meant to be humorous.
But, alas! we seem doomed always to
be taken seriously. In the future we
shall label our Jokes and furnish In.
structions for their interpretation.
But seriously, Mr. Pro and Con, would
not the offending words quoted above
apply to much OF the output Of the
courts that has come under your
observation? Did you not say in the
presence of the writer very recently
that In almost every deliverance OF
the supreme court Of Colorado for the
last ten years the dissenting opinion
had been the right one?
We are inclined to believe that the
"time honored and time tried princi-
pie OF our courts Of Justice, In adhering
to the rule of established precedent"
is somewhat OF a fetish. The sensi-
tiveness Of our legal friend regarding
its sacredness leads US to suspect that
1t Is not fundamental principle at
all, else no one need fear harm coming
to it from the criticism of a mere
"layman. The writer comedies the
necessity for established precedent
and orderly procedure. but when the
an aid to justice, when judicial pro-
cedure exhausts itself In conforming
to precedent, litigants are likely to
get scant Justice and the people,,
In whose interest the courts have
been established, should not be re.
buked II they raise II plaintive cry OF
protest.
We receive with becoming humility
the rebuke administered to us for
assuming to understand the "obscure
fundamental principles underlying
our judicial procedure" which Pro
and Con supposes to be outside the
mental range of the majority OF lay
men. We do not presume to know
the law with all its ramitications, but
we.contend the Fundamental priIci-
pies" arevery simple aud easily COM
prehended! Pro ami Cons rather
cOndescending reference to ,"laymen"
leads us to enquire for the location OF
that thin, line which separates the
layman from the lawyer. Might not
layman who lives just this side the
line take issue with a lawyer who re-
sides just beyond the line?
We wonder to whom our critic re
fers when he speaks OF political
preacher? Itis now more than half
year since We were taken seriously to
task in private conversation by a
newspaper proprietor OF this commun-
ity for our youthful indiscretion 10
presuming to bring religion and poll.
tics into iuxtaposition. We thought
after that interview that we should
forever contlne ourselves to the 'old
Jerusalem gospel" 1t IL possible that