Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1915-07-13


tarily in this respect, or the people
force them to make the change, the
greatest danger to representative
government will have passed.
The duties which the lawyer owes
TO the state or body polite, arise
from the fact that he Is an officer in
the judicial department, which is one
Of the three coordinate branches OF
the government, and, as such officer
he Is under the moral obligation to
use his best efforts to render effectual
and successful the administration OF
the legislative and executive depart
ments, as the three branches are sc
inter-dependent that a failure to ad-
minister properly the legislative or
executive departments will necessari-
ly hamper and reder less effectual
the judicial branch.
In the language Of another:
"A lawyer is an officer Of the
courts, and, as such, owes them va
rious duties. But the courts compose
the government. Hence the duties
to the state and nation. But there are
many other duties that the lawyer owes
directly to the state. The ordinary
citizen is under certain obligations to
the state, and a failure to keep, or a
wilful violation Of these obligations,
renders the offender liable to punish
ment. Upon admission to the bar the
duties and obligations Of the citizen
remains, and the duties and obligations
Of the lawyer are added to them. The
state has, through one Of its agencies,
the courts, conferred upon the lawyer,
upon his admission to the bar, a new
standing in the community. in which
he lives. 1t has granted him new
powers and privileges. 1t is proper,
therefore that it should exact greater
accountability from him, than from
the ordinary citizen
We desire to make clear and en-
phasize the fact that the duty Of the
lawyer as a citizen Is paramount to
that which he owes his client.
There are numerous and various
criticisms against certain members Of
the legal profession, who, 1t Is claim
ed, have been active in the destruction
OF representative government, and
who by the use Of technical objec-
tions, have delayed the administration
of the law, and defeated the ends Of
justice.
We will quote only three Of such
CRITICS s,ns-two Of which are made by
those Who stand high in the legal pro-
fession, and the third by one of our
greatest scholars who expresses great
for our profession.
At the outset We desire 1t shall be
distinctly understood that the discus
sion Of this question Is intended to be
applicable, in a general way, through
out the United States, and without
special reference to the bench, the
bar or the people Of South Carolina.
Our first quotation Is from the ad-
Washington, D. c., which was de-
livered before the South Carolina Bar
association in 1908, and was published
by order Of that association.
"See how wealth almost mono
polizes the legal talent. A moments
reflection will suffice for you to name
a score Of lawyers Of commencing
powers, in the pay Of enormous cor
moment. Now, take
five and count over for me, half as
many Of equal force and fame who
represent the people in their life
long struggle, with these vast and
interests. Let a young
man at the bar display great ability
instantly he is clapped under re-
tainer.
when Chatham made his first
speech in the house Of commons,
Walpole exclaimed: We must muz-
zle that terrible Cornet Of Horns
. The retainer Is not .bribe. 1t
Is an honest fee. I do not impugn
the motives of those who take 1t when
it comes. 1t is a fiattering, insidious
prize. I know wealth must have
brains to serve it; it Is entitled to
such service. I am not arraigning
wealth. My lamentation Is that there
should not be more to hear the call
to the other side, to stand as cham
pions Of the people, unfettered by any
such alliance. The questions we
must meet hereafter relate to wealth
and especially to the framing Of laws
which may regulate the distribution
Of it, Should all our lawyers be re-
tained by wealth? How can we less
en- the inequalities Of life, and not i'm
pair the principles Of property and
law? That Is the problem that con-
fronts us. How can wealth be forced
to pay its share Of taxes? How shall
We give the poor mans child even
chance in life? How get for him who
tolls a few free hours Of sunlight
with his family, an hour or two each
day to cultivate his mind? How see
to it that these ponderous soulless
machines, to which indeed we owe 80
much, do not become in the end very
juggernauts, crushing manhood, wo-
manhood and childhood to the earth?
How shall we counteract, with whole
some, hopeful laws the blind, de-
spairing efforts Of the giant, whose
hundred hands may soon find swords
to fight with? These are the questions
that face us. How shall we ever
answer them with safety II every
man, as soon as he has mastered law
enough to be Of use, foresakes the
poor and strikes hands with the rich?'
Mr.. Taft, ex-president Of the United
States, and eX-president Of the Ameri-
can Bar association, who has done
more than any other man in the
United States towards raising the
standard Of the legal profession, thus
clearly showed at the meeting OF the
Conference on the Reform OF Crimi-
nal Law and Procedure, that he does
not think the legal profession has
properly discharged it's trust: "One
of the strongest influences for loose
ness in the conduct Of criminal trials,
in my judgment, has been the pres
ence Of lawyers in our legislatures
who have sought to abate and limit
by statute the power Of the judges,
and to take away this source OF re-
spect for their rulings, which Is so
apparent in every English court Of
Justice What ! believe to be an un-
founded fear Of judicial tyranny, and
an unreasonable distrust Of judges,
have led to statutory limitations up
on their power in the conduct Of
trials in criminal cases which have
made the trial by jury in this coun-
try, and especially in the western
states, an entirely different institution
from what it was understood to be,
at the time Of the adoption OF our
constitutions. In many states judges
are not permitted to comment upon
the facts at all. They are not even
allowed to charge the jury after the
arguments Of counsel, but they are
required to submit written charges
to the jury upon abstruse questions OF
law, with no opportunity to apply the
practice concretely to the facts Of the
case, and with the result that the
questions. both Of law and fact, are
largely left to the untutored and un-
disciplined action Of the jury, in
fluenced only by the contending argu-
ments Of counsel. The restraint that
the judge in the course Of trial i'm
poses upon the manner and conduct
Of counsel in an English court, is thus
wholly wanting, with the result that
there seems to have been substantial