The Lancaster news. [volume] (Lancaster, S.C.) 1905-current, 1914-10-23
Governor Baldwin of Connecti-

| NONeTuOT bdluWln OIL COnnoCtl-
cut addressed the comparative law
bureau and Edmund Wetmore of
New York spoke to the patent sec
tion on "Some Present Aspects of the
Patent Law"
President Wilson in his address
said the world was now stirred to
its depths" but the best course for
a nation to pursue was the disin-
terested part. He added that the
unsettled world conditions made u
! good time for freeing the law from
the dry consideration of cold prece-
dents and injecting into it more Of
the viewpoint of justice for the ordi-
nary man
we stand now in a peculiar case"
| the President continued. "Our first
| thought, L suppose, as lawyers is OF
| international law. We know that we
see in international law, as it were.
| the moral processes by which law
itself came into existence. | know
that as lawyer l have myself at
times felt that there was no real
J comparison between the law OF IA Ma
ton and the law OF Nations. because
the latter lacked the sanction that
gave the former strength and val
ldty And yet if you look into the
matter more closely you will find
that the two have the same founda-
tions and that those foundations are
more evident and conspicuous in our
day than they ever have been before.
The opinion of the world is the mis-
tress of the world and the processes
OF international law and the slow
processes by which opinion works it's
will.
What impresses me is the con-
stant thought that that is the tribu-
nal at the bar OF which we all sit |
would call your attention, incident
| ally, to the circumstances that it
| does not observe the ordinary rules
of evidence, which has sometimes
| suggested to me that the ordinary
rules OF evidence had shown some
signs OF growing antique
Everything, rumor included. is
| heard In this court, and the standard
or judment is not with regard to
the character Of the witness. The
| motives are disclosed, the purposes
are conjectured, that opinion is final
ly accepted which seems to be not
the best founded in law perhaps. but
the best founded in integrity OF char
| acter and OF morals. That is the pro-
cess which Is slowly working it's will
upon the world, and what we should
be watchful OF is not so much jeal-
Gus interests as sound principles of
action.
"The disinterested course is al
ways not only the biggest course to
pursue. II you can establish your
character, you can establish your
credit"
What I want to suggest to this
association is whether we sufficiently
apply these same ideas to the BODY
or municipal law which we seek to
administer. The changing of law by
statute seems to me like mending a
garment with a patch; whereas law
should grow by the life that is I'm II
not by the life that is outside OF 1t.
should hate to think that the law
did not derive its impulse from look
Ing forward rather than from look
ing backward, or rather, that 1t did
not derive. it's instruction from look
ing about and seeing what the cir
cumstances of man actually are and
what the impulses OF justice neces-
sarily are.
Understand me, gentlemen, am
not venturing In this presence to i'm
peach the Law. But I do wish to
make this intimation, that in this
time of world change, 1t is worth