INSTILLS CONFIDENCE IN LAW

That the legal profession, in the mind of the average man, the man who feels himself oppressed by the inequalities due to economic conditions, has long labored under the taint of an original sin, not even the members of the bar themselves will deny. The unfortunate belief that all lawyers are to be looked upon with suspicion is too deeply rooted in the mind of the ignorant and ill informed man to be dispelled by mere argument. You may argue with this individual and he will listen to you with a humorous twinkle in his eye realizing that he cannot answer the contentions of those who espouse the cause of the profession, but at the same time believing that the very strength of the argument against him is due to some subtle twist of logic that lawyers only are capable of using. He who doubts this need only to accost the first laborer he meets and lead him into a discussion of the matter.

Reforms Being Rapidly installed

Realizing the necessity of putting the profession in a place where it would gain the respect of larger numbers of the people who make up the lowlier walks of life and of making it more difficult for them to be imposed upon by those who little claim to be called lawyers, the profession during the past fifty-years has put on foot various reforms. Probably the greatest of these are first, the reform in procedure, second the raising of the standards required for those who desired to become members of the profession, and lastly the legal aid movement. It is the last of these which concerns us here.

It is only too sad a fact to be denied that a college diploma and law school certificate will not insure the legal profession against crooks. Hence the raising of educational standards would not dispell the universal suspicion of the profession. But there is one thing that will always appeal to the man who does not stop to reason. Offer to give him something for nothing and you will at once gain his confidence. It is in this way that free legal aid is going to serve the double purpose of purging the profession of its taint, and at the same time serve those who have just causes and are unable to obtain the services of a lawyer who charges fees.

Legal Aid Shows Reality of Justice

Legal aid will serve another purpose. It will educate the masses in the knowledge that courts are places where anyone can go to redress the wrongs that have been committed against him. The cases are numberless where persons have suffered from the most unjust imposition because of the fear that the very words "law" and "court" have caused them. Unworthy members of the profession have very often gained their more unworthy ends by the skillful manner in which they have used this weapon. "Being called to court" and "going to court" are phrases as terrible to many persons as was the fear of eternal damnation to some of our forefathers. If these ideas can be educated out of minds of those who believe them, so that the ignorant man will know and believe that he will at all times get a square deal and that there is a power in the state that he can go to enforce that square deal, the future will need to have little fear of Bolshevism or any of the other isms. The legal aid movement is growing and those who are willing to make the sacrifice for it will do a more lasting service to mankind than they can now realize for civilization must rest upon law, and on order to have law effective it must be popular with those who must submit to it.