Evening star., 1937-09-25

assigned To the brooding silence OF ma.
chineless rooms.
Every applicant is assigned a num-
Der. which he writes at the top of
each paper, and the examiners have
no way whatsoever of knowing whose
papers they are marking. At such q
state OF high tension are many of the
entrants that it is not unusual for
some Of them to end up with a differ.
ent number on their last paper than
ON the first, as the digits are inad-
Vertently reversed or scrambled amid
the increasing nervousness and at
tempt at speed on the part OF jittery
student.
II ALPH GIVEN, the efficient secre-
tary and mainstay of the COM
mittee, Is custodian of the numbers.
and lists opposite each of them the
grade received on each paper from
the respective examiners. A total OF
not less than 42O points for the .iy
papers is required. Applicants aver
aging less than 420 or "flunking" more
than two papers, even though their
average totals 420, must take the en-
tire examination again. in an ensuing
June or December. if they wish TO be
ADMITTED to the bar, and not inf,e-
quently have to take 1t several times
before succeeding. Many States with
less rigidlrequirements require the un-
successful applicant to take another
examination only on the subjects
which he has failed.
Mr.. Given recalls that during the
World War the requirements of the
committee were waived to the eytent
OF permitting an oral instead of writ
ten examination Of prospective appli-
cants who had been ordered to leave
Tor training camps.
After the written examination is
over and successfully passed. the
moral character, references and past
record OF each applicant are rigorouslv
scrutinized and he is required TO ap-
pear in person before a member of th.
committee for an oral examination
as TO character and fitness.
Despite the constantly-raised re-
qulrements Of most States in the mat
Ter OF admission to the bar. the ran
loly-increasing number of ATTORNEYS
would seem to indicate that the mod
ern youth does not share the unhappv
opinion voiced by Thomas Middleton
ABOUT 1890 that whose loves law dies
either mad or poor" There are now
about l75,000 lawyers In the United
States. On the basis of the 1890
occupational census, there was one
lawyer for every 862 of the population
OF this country, or 131 per hundred
thousand, as contrasted with ~ for
every hundred thousand in England.
227 in France and in Germany, and
40 in Italy.
The District of Columbia, with one
lawyer for every 140 persons or TIA
TO every hundred thousand. has the
largest number of attorneys for its
population in the United States,
though this is partly due to the pres
ence of many in the Federal service.
Nevada ranks next with one for every
1874 and New York third, with one
lawyer to every 456 persons.
These facts and figures do nothing
TO add a roseate glow TO the thoughts
OF the budding lawyer as he struggles
through his bar examination. When.
on October IL. Mr.. Earnest moves his
admission to the bar, along with the
names Of other successful candidates,
any slight sense of achievement does
not render the applicant oblivious to
the fact that. after all, the years of
study and sacrifice have taught him
only the A. B. C.'s of the vast and
fascinating field of legal knowledge
that stretches ahead of him. And the
shade Of Daniel Webster looms over
him at the threshold, reminding him
grimly that, whatever rosy ideas the
average layman may have Of the
practice of law, "A man can never
gallop over the fields of law on Pega-
sus, nor fly across them on the wing
of oratory II he would be
great lawyer, he must first consent
to become a great drudge"