Evening star., 1935-01-27

and Belgium and Denmark show
about the same proportion.
In these older countries the body
OF law has been in the course of
building far longer than in the United
States. In Italy. for example, the
successor of Rome, which gave the
world so much Of its law, there are
but a fraction Of the lawyers there
are in the United States Yet the
precedents, the statutes. the whole
background is of far greater bulk than
here. There would seem to be a
much greater need for many lawyers
and yet a fraction of the number Of
American lawyers handle the task.
Constitutionally, the practice of law
is privilege, and not a right, and
that is the basis on which Mr.. Teiser
bases his contention that 1t is entirely
feasible to limit admissions to the
bar as a purely arbitrary measure.
The legal profession started acci-
dentally. Originally. contestants over
property or other rights were called
before chiefs or head men to state
their cases. AS society grew more
complicated others, taking a special
! interest in such questions, took 1t
| upon themselves to advise persons
| involved in controversies. Imper-
ceptibly, these individuals began to
have a certain standing, but they
were allowed to appear and assist
litigants purely as courtesy. 1t was
the principal who not only had the
right, but was required, to appear.
The lawyer was there on sufferance.
No fees could be demanded.
Limits at the English Bar.
That view has come down intact TO
an amazing extent. Through Eng
lish Jurisprudence, there were arbi-
trary rulings as to how many lawyers
could practice in a certain area. 1t
was not until the reign Of Queen Vic
toria that any but serjeants at law,
few in number, were permitted TO
practice before the Courts of Com
mon Pleas. Not only were numbers
Of practicing lawyers strictly limited,
! but even numbers of apprentices.
! To this day there are limits on the
English bar. Nor can an English
lawyer sue to collect a fee. 1t must
be paid voluntarily.
Procedure in the United States has
been more liberal. Here the rule of
! knowledge of the law has been, lat
terly, the principal test. That is,
school degrees must be taken and
| the bar examination passed. If can
didate passes the bar examination
he is admitted usually as a matter
of course, but, even so, he must be
admitted on motion Of q person
already member and with the con-
sent of the court. The idea that law
practice is a privilege, and not a
right which can be insisted upon, per-
sistS to this day and that forms the
basis Of this bar limitation scheme.
Lawyers are thicker at the Ma
tional Capital than anywhere else
in the world. In Washington there
is one lawyer to every 140 persons.
That is an extreme case due to the
concentration OF legal business before
the Government departments, the Su-
preme Court of the United States and
other special courts, such as the
Court Of Claims. Nevada. presumably
on account of the Reno phenomenon,
ranks next with a lawyer for every
394 persons. New York has one for
every 456. There are specialized rea-
sons for these concentrations, but
the country as a whole shows tre-
mendous overcrowding There are
many youths who would dislike the
idea of seeing the bar closed until
the numbers dwindle to a fixed maxi
mum. but the whole public is aroused
to the need of bar reform and this
is one way to accomplish it.