Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1921-07-07
President OF Bar Association
Says They Should Work To
Unite All People; Wrong
To Blame Attorneys For
Mistakes OF Legislatures.

, Declaring that the lawyers of
North Dakota must come out openly !
in regard to political affairs, Judge /
Charles A. Pollock of Fargo, presi-
dent of the North Dakota Bar asso-
ciation, said that they must aid in
bringing closer together the people |
OF all classes. He said that it was
wrong to blame the lawyers for the
mistakes of the legislatures. for since
statehood. the legislators have been
composed mostly of farmers, and if
mistakes have been made they have
been mistakes Of farmers
Prompt Action Needed.
In the course of his address at the
session today, in which he discussed
the place of the lawyer in regard to
various questions, Judge Pollock
said:
We have condition in this state
which calls for prompt action upon
the part Of the lawyer Fear that
gripping the subject publicly would
prove disastrous has caused us to re-
main quiet. when it was clearly our
duty to speak. If the doctrine of
Socialism is the best for our people
let the lawyer publicly advocate it;
-
oppose it. School house campaigns,
If need be, should be carried on. The
people want light. Who are more
capable of carrying forward the lamp
of intelligence than that body of men
whose time and inclination lead them
into inquiries concerning modes OF
governing the state.
Engcnder No Hate.
The remedy for bringing the pro-
ducer and consumer more closely to-
gether is not to engender hate be-
tween citizens and neighbors it is
not in attempting to overturn a fair
~ successfully working government,
and place in it's stead an experiment,
the like of which has always proved a
failure: 1t is not in furnishing an op-
portunity to flch from the pockets
OF the people vast sums of money by
way of taxes to be expended by those
whose 1nexperience in public affairs
ought to have prevented their leader
ship. 1t is not in opening wide the
doors OF the treasury to give financial
aid to every conceivable person or
corporation who make the loudest
claim Of being the, farmers friend
and a constant hater of Big Busi-
ness?' 1t is not in seeking to array
class against class, and especially to
and tradesman, in open hostility to
the farmer and laboring man-No,
none of these-but rather the true
remedy is found in helping to bring
closer together the people of all
classes whether farmers. >so-called
laboring men. professional or trades
men, of whatever class they, may be.
We live in a farning community
Agriculture must thrive or we perish.
! The lines of self-interest suggest that
for us to get ahead the farmers must
prosper and that prosperity must be
natural and constant. An intelligent
and cooperative study of the ques-
t1ons which are involved in that
| prosperity will surely solve the prob
| lem.
Farmers Mistakes.
Since statehood Our legislatures
! have been composed largely Of farm
ers. If mistakes have been made,
| they were their mistakes. Certainly
there should not be laid at the door
of the lawyers all the blunders which
have been made in times past. I
have notion that if there is any
class of men who have superior
right to complain it Is the lawyer,
because so few of them have been
members of the legislature
II call upon the lawyers of the
state to embrace every opportunity
to speak words of hope to their
neighbors and friends to the end that
the highest good fortune may be at
tanned"
Eighteenth Amendment.
Judge Pollock discussed the rela-
tion of the lawyer to the eighteenth
amendment. providing for constitu-
tional prohibition, and the Volstead
act. and said that he was not in ac-
cord with the opinion of some
lawyers that the amendment lis
purely remedy for dealing with the
liquor traffic and therefore ought not
to be found in the constitution OF
either state or nation
In discussing laws passed by the
last legislature, he said it was wrons
to oblige the courts to excuse a WON.
an juror upon a written excuse. He
also discussed the juvenile commits.
sioner act. particularly as it applies
to the appointment of woman com.
missioner in each district
In discussing the Cancellation OF
controversies" act, which gives the
court the right to appoint concilia.
ton board to hear civil matters before
they are brought into court, he said
THE difficulty attending the con,
ciliation act lies in the fact that i
! will be difficult to find competent mser
to act as conciliators. The compen
sation provided will not induce thu
! busy man to leave his own employ
ment to settle the petty trouble O.
his neighbors. If the constitution
permitted 1t and new court coult
be established to take care Of thes,
matters. believe much good woult
follow. L like the idea. Of bringing
:, the parties face to face before
court. Their difficulties often grow
less as they approach the cour
room"
| He spoke OF the important positio,
| the lawyer occupies in reference t,
the church and to the state and com
munity.
Tribute to Akin.
In closing, Judge Pollock pait
tribute to. Sir James Akin of Win
nipeg, who Is to be the principa
speaker tonight. Judge Pollock said
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