Page:The Green Bag (1889–1914), Volume 17.pdf/365

 344

THE GREEN BAG

who would raze the old structure merely because it is old, not because it is ugly, but, perhaps, for the very reason that it has in it some of the elements of that beauty the consciousness of which has never so much as entered into the mind of such a man. This was most fittingly emphasized by the late Chief Justice Cooley, in his ad dress, as President of the American Bar Association at Saratoga, in August, 1894, when he said: "What I desire to impres sat this time upon members of the legal profession is that every one of them is or should be, from his very position and from the license which gives him special privileges in the de termination of legal questions and contro versies, a public leader and teacher, whose obligation to support the Constitution and laws and to act with all due fidelity to the courts is not fully performed when the fundamental organization of society is as sailed or threatened, or the laws defied or likely to be in the community in which he lives, as a result of revolutionary purpose, or of ignorance, or unreasoning passion, unless he comes to the front as a supporter of settled institutions and of public order, and does what he properly and lawfully can to correct any sentiment, general or local, that would in itself be a public danger, or be likely to lead to disorder or unlawful violence. ''It is a low and very unworthy view anyone takes of his office when he assumes that he has nothing to do with public igno rance of the dutv of subordination to the

institutions of organized society, or with breaches of law existing or threatened, except as he may be called upon to prosecute or defend in the courts for a compensation to be paid him." In closing, I would emphasize anew the thought that, as the lawyer finds himself the beneficiary and the heir of great privi leges which yield commanding opportuni ties, it is more incumbent upon him than upon any other to recognize that these privileges and powers impose obligations from which there can be no escape, as. in deed, there ought not to be, except by meet ing and welcoming them in the completest sense possible. If, at any time it shall be come apparent that the sanctity of the bal lot is either threatened or assailed; if the administration of the law, whether civil or criminal, becomes either lax or careless; if the evils in any industrial movement mani fest such power that they threaten monop oly or put popular rights in peril; if the executive, the legislative, or the judicial branches of our system shall, either by de sign or accident, tend to trench unduly or dangerously upon the rights of any of the others — the one man who should resent and resist the dangers thus threatened, is the American lawyer. The traditions of his profession, the execution of the high trust confided to him, the example set him by great leaders through- many generations, all demand that he should exercise the greatest watchfulness and show the highest courage. NEW YORK, N.Y., May, 1905.