Denver labor bulletin., 1917-12-29

eral and the railroads in particular
win their suits against their employees
have always been noticed, and com
mented upon from the standpoint of
the parties in interest, with the judge
trying the case almost always the OBJ
iect of praise by the one and censure
by the other.
In the present state Of our criminal
practice and corporation procedure,
the law. for precisely the same reason
is hanging too heavily on the side of
the criminal and the corporation, not
withstanding the great difference be-
tween criminal and civil jurispru-
dence
In charity for human weakness, per
haps we might always do we'll, par
ticularly when searching for moral
reason. to first exhaust the domain
of legitimate motive, and approach
the field of the culpable only by the
process of exclusion, reductio ad alb
surdum.
l. Young, inexperienced. and neces-
sarily ignorant lawyers are usually
the public prosecutors, while the high
and heinous criminals always secure
the best talent to defend them. This,
however. is a rule of many exceptions
in the large cities and business cen
ters, where, if public prosecutor en-
tiers office with proper motives, in
vastly too many cases. becomes an
arch criminal himself in his too great
desire to serve certain interests in
stead of the public veal
2 CORPORATIONS have regularly in
their employ and paw lawyers. not
necessarily of the highest talent by
any means, but speciahsts in accident
and injury law, while the lawyer rep
,.1a ha
more than a general practitioner: and.
If he does make accident and injury
law a sDecialty. he IS too frequently
and uniustlv charged with being a
"snitch." The fact also that only in
the great industrial centers is there
enough litigation of this kind TO fur
nish constant employment to few
makes that kind of lawyers very
scarce.
This difficulty Organized labor
might easily remedy bv the employ
ment Of competent counsel
Here. then. as just shown. for the
. reasons stated, we have two classes of
cases similarly provided with counsel
on the different sides. and accounting
for this unexpected uniformity in ap-
parent difference.
The law. as practicei among Us, is
a real game; and, as IN all games, the
best player usually WINS.
Following the withdrawal of the
Roman arms from north of the Alps.
cases in court. both civil and criminal.
for more than a thousand years in
central and northern Europe, were de-
cided by trial by ba-rel,' procedure
yet subsisting in full vlgor. altho sell
dom invoked. in the time of the i'm
mortal Blackstone. and even still
l., -ta
real game played with swords. either
/ by the parties themselves or by cham
, pions hired to do the fighting for
them, and where the judge was the
umpire TO see that the game was
played fair. and 70 announce the win
ner. the victor. the slayer,
Trial by battel,' a contest of arms,
gradually gave way to more humane
and reasonable procedure. not with
change of system. but by means only,
where the contest ('battel'0 of wits
by hired champions Clawyersl was
substituted for that of arms, the judge
still the umpire to decide the case in
essentially the same manner as in
more savage times, and where the
means employed and the event of the
contest frequently still bear as little
relation TO the rights of the parties as
did the trial by hattel.'
Thus. not only has the law been
shown to have become lopsided. but
also administered hy a wrong system
from the earliest times Of our juris-
prudence. from the fall Of Rome. and
still vet: and thus also has been shown
that the poor litiEHnt suing 4 corpor-
alton is going up against the same old
game played in the same old way.
where he must fight at a disadvantage
always. and whore the umpire, the
judge. if he does not call Time
against him on demurrer. is perforce
almost compelled 20 rule him out on
points. on technlealities.
If, now. courts were tribunals for
doing Justice instead of decinC cases,
the law might still be kept upright:
for. be it remembered that under our
system Of Jurisprudence the courts are
called upon to decide cases presented
and not to do Justice to the htigants.
The fact that the plaintiff always
claims one thing and the defense an
other must not be taken to mean that
either claim or defense is just or rep
rescnts the right vet the issue, that
claimed and that denied, is as far rs
the court can inquire.
In the administration of the law we
are still savage. having retained the
SsAillS - NNNllls sAAttF 80 w navy -
ferrcd the means from sheer force to
sharp wit, we have become only re
fined savageS. which has only had the
effect of making Us fall that much
farther short Of Justice.
This is no reflection upon our
courts, our judges. or the lawyers, but
upon our system Of judicature; for,
no matter who may fill these places,
the results must now be the same.
The reason for the failure of justice
is seen largely in the inability of coun-