4 rtoe Conservative *
FRANK ORRKN LOWDEN.
Attorney.
I have no doubt but that , as a general
proposition , the yoxiug man's chances
are better than ever before in the his
tory of the world. The chief concern of
those who manage every industry of
which I know is to discover bright young
men capable of performing the most im
portant work.
I doubt , how-over , if the young man's
chances in the legal profession have im
proved. I am quite certain that the
general practitioner of the law has ma
terially suffered from the evolution
which is going on in the industrial
world. That there will be full compen
sation for this iu special employment I
cannot believe. It is too early to say in
just what relation to society the legal
profession will emerge , but it is clear to
FHANK OKItEN LOWDEN.
my mind that it is undergoing a rapid
change.
There are two causes for this. First ,
the concentrating trend of capital in
eacli line of business activity reduces
the occassion for differences which in
their settlement require the services of
a lawyer. For instance , for a thousand
independent retail merchants we now
have the great department store ; for a
score of independent manufacturing en
terprises we now have the great combi
nation. So iu the banking business and
in all others the tendency towards con
centration is readily apparent. This
meauo the diminution of disputes over
legal rights and thus a diminishing de
mand for the lawyer's services.
As an incident to this tendency , has
come the formation of different kinds of
insurance companies to indemnify
against risks which in former years af
forded a considerable field for the law
yer. To illustrate : A quarter of a cen
tury ago a man decided to go into the
manufacturing business. After select
ing the site , he was compelled to employ
a lawyer to examine the title. That is
now done , in a largo measure , by title
guarantee companies which issue poli
cies guaranteeing the title. After his
manufactory was started , perhaps lie
was unfortunate enough to have an ac
cident to some of his employees. It was
necessary for him again to employ a
lawyer to protect his rights. Today an
insurance company looks after his in
terests.
The second cause of the change in the
status of the legal profession is to be
found in the constantly lessening dispo
sition to vindicate personal wrongs , as
such. This is due to the modern spirit
of commercialism and is not , I take it ,
limited to America , but is a well-nigh
general condition. A quarter of a cen
tury ago men , at great expense , resisted
any attempt to deprive them of a per
sonal legal right. Witness the great
slander and libel trials. Recall the great
forensic struggles in which the pecuniary
amount involved was but a bagatelle.
That time has largely gone. Today men
litigate as a rule only when it is profit
able. And every lawyer will confess
that litigation rarely over pays pecun
iarily except to the lawyer. Though
this present spirit is criticised , it may be
that it is only another step in the di
rection of a more perfect humanity.
Just as the duello yielded to the law
suit , so possibly the lawsuit is yielding
to something better. Not long ago we
desired to meet our adversary with pis
tols ; later we desired to meet him in the
court-room ; now , when we see him we
take the other side of the street and try
to forget his existence.
Of course , nothing above negatives
the need of the lawyer , but he will be
found more and more in the law depart
ment of the great corporation and less
and less in general practice , and there
will be fewer of him needed.
It must be admitted that evolution in
the industrial world is bearing hard
upon the lawyer harder , in my opinion ,
than upon any one else in the business
world , except possibly the commercial
traveler. There will always bo room in
the higher ranks for both , but I advise
any young man who thinks of entering
either occupation to first reflect that
evolution is against us.
Chicago , July 5 , 1901.
W. C. BROWN.
Vice-President and General Manager , Lake
Shore & Michigan Southern Ry. Co.
. Taking the field of human effort , as a
whole , professional , .clerical , labor
skilled and unskilled , the impartial
student of history must arrive at the
conclusion that from the time the bread
supply was conditioned upon the sweat
of man's brow , no generation has been
so favored as the present.
More qan be earned in a less number
of hours with less hardship and exposure
to danger , and a dollar now will pro
cure more of the necessaries or luxuries
of life than over before.
In almost every department of busi
ness the opportunity for securing work
is as five to one when compared with a
quarter of a century ago , and with
faithful , intelligent , persevering service ,
advancement is absolutely sure and
more rapid than ever before.
Thirty years ago a young man in an
official position on a railroad was the ex
ception , and too frequently the most
potent recommendation in securing em
ployment and promotion was relation
ship to some prominent share-holder or
director. In those days , railroads were
widely separated , and the sharp , strenu
ous , competitive , conditions which now
obtain were unknown. Bates were
high and the necessity for the most
rigid economy and the highest possible
standard of operating efficiency ( with-
w. o. BROWN.
out which no railroad can now live ) was
not felt.
Present conditions demand the very
best material obtainable , and the son of
the section man has the call , and is
selected in place of the son of , the
director or the large share-holder if jhe ;
former possesses these elements in
larger measure than the latter , and lie
can come pretty near dictating his own
terms of employment.
The marvelous development of elec
tricity as a producer of light , heat and
power , has opened up to the young man
of the present , a field almost as wide
and promising in itself , as the entire
field of opportunity , which awaited the
graduate of the high school or college
thirty years ago.
Conditions surrounding the young
man starting out in life , and especially
in railroad service , are bettor , almost
beyond belief.
Thirty years ago the only doors open
to the young man , fresh from the home
on the farm , or in the village , were those
of the saloon or the , cheap boardinghouse -
house ; drinking , profanity and all that
