New-York tribune., 1920-08-28
Hughes Urges
Free Legal Aid
To Stop Unrest
Ex-Justice Tells Members of
u. S. Bar Association That
Bureaus to Advise Poor
Will Check Radicalism
Biggest Need Is in Cities
Says Society in New York
Handled $4,000 Cases in
Year; Officers Elected

ST. LOUIS, Aug. Establishment
of legal aid bureaus throughout the
United States to rive free advice to the
poor was recommended as means of
checking the spread of radcalsm by
speakers to-day at the convention of
the American Bar Association in ses-
sion here. The association was asked
to assist in every way to encourage the
establishment Of such bureaus, espe-
cally in the larger cities The speak
ers included Charles Evans Hughes.
Republican Presidential nominee in
1916; Reginald Fl. Smith, lawyer of
Boston; Ernest l.. Tustin, Director of
Public Works, Philadelphia, and Judge
Ben Lindsay, of Denver.
instruction Not Only Question
"Justice and the Poor" was the sub
ject of the address by Mr. Hughes. He
said in part:
"The question Of Amerlcanzation is
not merely one Of instruction. Tho
teaching of our language, the cxposi-
ton of the Constitution, the ditfusing
the preaching of ideals are not enough.
Chow do we interpret America to
the poor and the ignorant? The ques-
tion is not Of what we promise, it is
not one Of congratulations about jus
tice but of the way in which we ad-
minister justice The chief agencies
in the interprc tation of American jus
tice to the unassimilated are our mag
istrates and municipal courts. There,
and not from speeches, he finds out the
extent to which he enjoys the equal
protection of the laws.
"The problem Of justice to the poor
very largely a local one It"is hazard
entire country, and while | understand
there are most regrettablc defects in
the administration of justice in the
minor courts in many places, due credit
must be given to those communities in
which earnest and successful efforts
have been made to remove obstacles in
the path of the poor.
"There is not the slightest reason
why in any part of the land the poor
should ever suffer from delay or ex-
pense in the enforcement of their
rights. 1t only requires an intelligent
perception of the grave injury which
determined effort on the part of in
huential members of the bar in order
to obtain a simple procedure without
delay and without any obstacle in
court costs.
Poor Man Must Have Advice
"There remains, however, the more
serious difficulty and its existence
shows the necessity for legal aid or
CARNATIONS. The poor man must have
legal advice, and, except in the simplest
present the merits of his case. Sim
plicity in court procedure and the null
tiplication of tribunals with special
functions are not enough. Speed and
cheapness do not suffice. 1t would be
a great mistake if, to remove obstacles
in the path of the poor, we encourage
the disposition of controversies accord
ing to the caprice of persons licensed
to dispense with law. The poor man as
we'll as the rich man is entitled to the
law of the land.
"Without opportunity on the part of
the poor to obtain such aid it is idle to
may provide the machinery Of the
courts, but to have justice according to
law, save in very limited class of
cases where a judge may act as ad
wiser, you must have the aid of law
yers. The legal aid society is the poor
mans lawyer and gives him the essen
tial assistance he cannot obtain else
where. ,
"The necessity for organization to
give this assistance should not be at
tributed to any general lack Of desire
on the part of members of the bar to
help the poor, but springs from the
CT
cities. The congestion of population af-
fords opportunity and cover for myriad
wrongs against the poor, and the high
minded practitioner moves in a world to
which those most in need are utter
strangers the poor are victimized on
every hand and they know not to
whom to turn, while those who would
prey upon them and make their mis-
fortune a source Of illicit gain are al
ways on the watch for opportunity.
The members of the bar who are most
likely to recognize professional obli-
cation to the poor are rarely so cir
umstanccd that they can give aid
without a waste of effort which suit
able organization would render un-
necessary, and while their sporadic eff
forts would furnish relief hero and
there, as chance might offer, a multi
tude would continue to suffer without
redress.
Organization Aided $4,000
ut is safe to say that the 1000 ap-
plicants whose cases were considered
last year by the Legal Aid Society of
New York would have gone without the
advice to which they were entitled had
it not been for organized legal aid
Moreover, the wrongs of the poor fall
into we'll defined classes, and the at
torneys for legal aid societies acquire
wide knowledge and an efficiency in
dealing with these cases which enable
them to give a service at the Offices of
the organization that could not be du-
picated by the best law firms in the
city.
"a lawyer in a great city best dis
charges his obligation to the poor not
by attempting to deal with matters to