The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1914-07-21
The Lawyer and His
Public Responsibility

senger shall come. There are hum
dreds OF lawyers who absolutely have
~intrusted into their keeping hunoreoS
of thousands Of dollars without a re-
ceipt of a bond; this confidence eS-
| tends to every phase Of life, we re
| intrusted with all the sacred secrets
of our clients. and these are rarely
betrayed.
Lawyers Great Influence.
No other professional man has such
| an influence, the preacher comes ana
| stays a few years. does a great serV-
ice, but he is not a fixture; II ne IS d
Methodist Jour ears soo1. rolls by
and he must make a new home; II he
is a Baptist, he generally stays until
he shakes up the old morally Stunted
| deacohS right good. or possibly DulldS
a church., and then he has to go. the
doctor never takes the same interest
in public matters as the lawyer, ne
operates in a smaller sphere, the fact
is, he is busy i lieving human suffer-
ing and the public has never depended
upon him for leadership, as it has the
lawyer. The influence Of the teacher
comes nearest I, that Of the lawyer,
in my opinion, there are men and
women in North Carolina today,
whose James you will never hear call
ed, who are doing a service to hui
mainly which will be felt throughout
the ages to come; christian teacher
who are building their lives n their
ideals into the lives Of our children.
But what about this upright law
yer, his modest lawyer whom you
rarely e about away from bis COM
munity; 1 should like for Wake Forest
to make a speciality of this class of
practitioners. Say what you may the
State Of North Carolina looksl largely
to Wake Forest College for public
men to shape the ideals and make
public sentiment in the State, send
the men from this college wherever
you may, and you will find those men
occupying a large place in the politi-
cal, religious, business and social life
Of their community. The Wake For
est lawyer is q factor in North Caro-
lima, go into any county n you find
him now. and I'm glad to say that he
is securing his part of the business,
and / think most Of them are entirely
: loyal to this institution, they should
!, be. it is undoubtedly characteristic Of
. North Carolina Baptist, that they love
' Wake Forest College, o will MT
, go far in life until you find out that
. this college lies close to the hearts Of
\ many men and women in this State,
there are thO1 -ands Of North Caro-
4. linianS who never saw these splendid
buildings and never had a boy edu-
. Gated here, who have possibly in
+ vested one dollar or more in the fund
: which enables the college to main
+ tain itself. and this investment has
+ made the donor ave a real lively per
r sonal interest in your institution.
Two Things to Be Demanded.
= Let me suggest to my ideal lawyer
at least two things, which in m,
opinion he should distinctly stand 70
at this time. First, there is a grow
a ing idea that a lawyer, take an &C
tive interest in politics, for selfish mo
tive, the public generally think tha
hn yoDtG M &c orN ou~oo r
see the day when the lawyer is no
interested in politics, but l want hin
a to remove the idea that this interes
~ is personal, he must do it, he can do
- if he a make public sentiment, an
if he has the confidence of his people
-; he can dissipate the idea that he is il
- politics for Lis own ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
-. A man can be OF more use in tn
=. building of character, and it the pro
rrv motion of high ideals, when he strive
~ unselfishly for the uplift Of his fel
low mon; We will have to make tn
laws, and we will nave to interpre
A. them; we will stand for the grea
n fundamental principles which hav
to entered into the making of this gov
eminent; and we must do and be I'm
-, selfish in the act.
Ill No Place For DemagOgues.
st Second, l beg you to respect GU
'n institutions: the cynic and the dema
rs SOgue has no place in q healthy com
he munity. There is a tendency abroa
in the land, to depreciate the req
I'D merit of our jury system, we hea
re often that the jury system should .
IS abolished, that a court of judges cOul
administer justice much better; w
n must not be Indifferent and let tn
DIS sentiment grow, it strikes at the Yer
lis vitals of our Jurisprudence, mo [ be
e fieve the abolition OF our jury systeI
al would d~iSorganize our whole SySteI
n of government: we must not forget til
TO bitter struggle our fathers made
e. keep the administration Of justice
IN the hands of the people; It must n,
TN be forgotten that the whole body
no the people is the source of justice, {
the people are the source of authorit
TO the people are the source of authorit
ne We remember that the people al
ne the source of authority because NJ
no Jefferson wrote it down for
est at Philadelphia. in word that