10 Conservative.
least concern sat upon the visages of the
doctors as they discussed the almost phe
nomenal increase of young "medics"
from year to year. The profession was
already overcrowded , and yet they come
forth in swarms every season. In the
profession of law , the condition is much
the same , and notwithstanding the Lord
is supposed to exercise a special care
over preachers , the ministry cannot be
said to be an exception ; teachers also are
often found as apparent supernumer
aries and unable to find satisfactory em
ployment. "What is to be done ? What
did the doctors do ? They raised the
standard of admission to their associa
tion and sought legislation favorable tea
a higher standard of admission to the
medical profession. This made more
room at the top , and at the bottom also ,
as many who had been practicing for
years were retired because of inability
to meet the new requirements ; and the
medical universities added another year
to the required course of study , so that
the output was not quite so rapid. So
it is in all professions. The standard
has advanced , but the demand for young
men thoroughly equipped for their work
in the educational world is as strong to
day as ever. Opportunities to do in a
decade what formerly required a half or
quarter century are frequently in evi
dence. Concrete examples are numer
ous , and might be mentioned in confir
mation of the thought that ours is a day
of great opportunity for young men in
the largo and inviting field of education.
The author of this paper was himself
a college president , however unskillful
he may have been , at the age of thirty-
three. Others have reached the same
goal still younger. I do not say that
wisdom suggests such things , but
such is the fact , and it is but one exam
ple out of many of the young man's
chance.
Defiance , Ohio , July 25 , 1901.
E. D. KENNA.
First Vice-President and General Solicitor ,
Atchison , Topeka and Santa Fe Ry.
System.
Members of the legal profession are
accustomed to seek two kinds of suc
cess pecuniary gain and political hon
ors. In the past they have obtained
wealth frequently , and more frequently
gained public favors ; while it is doubt
ful if they have not shared equally with
our military heroes in the glories of our
history. Certainly , Lincoln , the lawyer ,
is second only to Washington , the sol
dier in popular esteem ; and the fame of
Marshall , Jefferson and Hamilton may
outlast that of Jackson , Grant or
Dewoy. In no other society has the
lawyer occupied so conspicuous a po
sition , and under no other form of gov
ernment could he have been so well re
warded. The greatest success possible
for any American citizen is to become
president of the United States , and a
majority of our presidents have been
lawyers. But it is well for the young
lawyer with an eye to the future , to en
quire why the lawyer lias occupied so
honorable a position in the past , and to
remember that the most successful have
not always been the wealthiest lawyers.
Neither Marshall nor Webster would
have been rated high in Bradstreet , and
Benjamin Harrison , the most justly
celebrated lawyer of his day , left a
modest estate that would satisfy the
ambition of few , modest , business men.
The lawyer's opportunity for making
money was never so great as at pres
ent. The magnitude of ordinary busi
ness transactions has become such that
the favored lawyer often receives a
single fee , equal in amount to the earn
ings of a lifetime of the lawyer of the
post. Yet the sums paid , enormous as
they may seem to some , are not exorbi
tant. Proportioned to the amounts in-
E. D. KENNA.
volved in such matters , the legal charge
is light. Ten thousand dollars is often
paid for drafting a single document ,
such as a mortgage to secure $100,000.-
000 , and this is not unreasonable , for
when considered with reference to the
value of the transaction to those paying
the fee it is no greater than would be a
fee of two dollars for drafting a mort
gage to secure $20,000. Nor is a fee of
$100,000 in a $200,000,000 foreclosure
proceedings so great a charge as would
bo a fee of $10 on the foreclosure of a
$10,000 farm mortgage. The United
States Steel Company can more easily
afford to pay its chief counsel $250,000
a year than a national bank with a capi
tal of $100,000 can afford to pay its
counsel $250 a year. Nor are such op
portunities few. Given the proper
qualifications , and every young lawyer
possessing them , is limited in his capa
city to earn money by his physical en
durance only. Naturally , the qualifica-
, ' * *
A ; % ;
tions are unusual , but they are not ex
traordinary a thorough education , a
practical mind , unusual energy , and
temperate habits. With all of these ,
any young lawyer can find more work
than he can do. Let him look a single
one , and he must depend more upon
chance than upon opportunity.
But a word of warning is necessary to
the young lawyer who , allured by the
promise of pecuniary profits , may be
come insensible to their cost. He must
pursue his ambition in one of our lar
gest cities , and he must ally himself with
a class. Let him weigh whether the
prize is worth the sacrifices required.
The social and business requirements of
city life attack the seat of all happiness
good health while association with a
limited portion only of any community
narrows the man. It is not only because -
cause the wealthy lawyer is rich that
his fellow-men seldom tlmist public
honors upon him , but because in the
pursuit of money , ho generally becomes
the exponent of the wealthy members of
the community only , and as a result ,
too often loses all sympathy with those
who oppose his contentions. The man
who distrusts a jury , or fears the people ,
is out of touch with our institutions.
The man whose daily duty it isto defend
a corporation finds it difficult to look
upon the jury system as the palladium
of our liberties , and to believe the pub
lic sincere in its declarations for equal
rights. But this is because he is ever
guarding a single interest. If the city
lawyer represented now , as formerly he
did , the poor man today and the rich
man tomorrow , if he as often sought
to uphold the will of the people , as to
attack it on constitutional grounds ; if
his talents were at the command of op
pressed poverty as often as they are to
protect property from the unjust at
tacks of demagogues , he would view our
institutions differently , and the public
would take a kindlier view of him. But
our nature is so weak that I fear the
temptation to make money will continue
to allure lawyers from the nobler walks
of the profession to those that are more
in harmony with the desires of the age.
Yet as such walks will be closed to
some , let the others console themselves
with these truths : The lawyer who re
mains in the country will live longer ,
his life will be broader , and his oppor
tunities are the best for obtaining the
greatest success that is within the am
bition of any man.
Chicago , 111. , July 15 , 1901.
W. B. BARR.
General Freight Agent , Chicago Terminal
Transfer Company.
Almost without our knowledge , cer
tainly without the F preciation that
will follow later on , our country has
advanced from a subordinate place , to
that of a great international factor with
