The Idaho Republican. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1904-1932, 1915-10-22

money to study law and had just fin
ished making up his mind that a
career as a lawyer and public man
was not for him. When he accepted
toe railroad job in Denver he did it
with the idea of forgetting all about
his lifelong ambition and stalking his
future on an egort to reach the top
in the railroad world. 1t appeared
that he had passed thep arting Of the
ways.
The train was announced and Cum
minis started for the gate. Then he
bumped right into an old friend of
his fathers. There was, of course,
talk, and Cummins explained that he
was on his way to take railroad
job in Denver, Colorado.
II thought you were going to be a
lawyer" asked the old friend of his
fathers.
That's what I've always wanted to
be-" replied young Cummins, "but
couldn't arrange it. have no
money to put me through law school
or to keep me while I study. l must
be at work. So I've decided on a
roailroad career as the next best
thing"
IF you want to be lawyer, Pm
afraid you may always have regrets
if you don't make a try at law"
suggested the family friend How'd
it do If l get you into a law Office
here? You could work little and
study as you 60"
That would be fine Cummins
told him, but I've already got my
ticket and taken job in Denver,
Colorado"
In a minute it was all arranged.
Cummins turned in his ticket, wired
that he couldn't take the railroad
job, and went to work in the offices
of Mcclellan & Hodges in Chicago,
where he was introduced by his
friend. For two years Cummins earn
ed his board and keep by working
for the attorneys, and studied at
night or at odd times during the day.
At the end of the two years he knew
the law, or, at any rate, he knew
enough law to pass the Illinois bar
examination.
Thus it was that Albert B. Cum
Minis became a lawyer. For three
years he practiced in Chicago. But
all the while he had an idea that he
would like to live in Iowa. He want
ed to operate in a smaller field where
he would be less inconspicuous than
necessarily was his lot as young
lawyer in Chicago. He picked Des
Moines, where he formed a partner
ship with his brother, ]. c. Cummins
In Des Moines he came to be recog-
nized as a really big lawyer-the
biggest in the state. Every town has
at least one lawyer who people will
tell you is the best in the state or in
the entire county. But trere seems
to be no question that Cummins was
really abou the best to be found in
Iowa. He has a natural legal mind
Give him an elaborate tangle of legal
facts and he can get right to the
meat of the situation a good deal
like well-trained rabbit dog follows
trail through dense underbrush.
A while ago one of Cummins's
partners worked several days pre-
pairing brief. 1t was big knotty,
perplexing case and the partner
wanted the senator's opinion of it..
Commins glanced over the brief a
few minutes and then, pointing his
finger to one line, said:
Right there is the point to your
entire case" And events proved
that he was exactly right.
All his life Cummins has been a
toiler and a fighter. He was obliged
to begin work when he was ten years
old, and he has worked, mostly, ever
since. Rarely has he had holiday
since he entered public life. In the
Is years prior to the lest few months
it Is doubtful IL he has devoted one
entire day to pleasure. Years ago
Cummins made the discovery that
one often accomplish things by work
which could not be gained in any
other way. So, as say, he has work.
ed. Work with him has almost a
fetish. A few men in, public life
seem to struggle up to certain point
and then proceed largely on their
regulations; but Cumimns appears to
have lacked the knack of climbing
with out fighting. His political record
is not one of unbroken defeat or I'M
interrupted triumph. On three diff
ferent occasions he made an unsuc-
cessful. dash for the United States
senate. But the point is that three
defeats did not head him off.