367 ordinate question whether the defect in the rail ought to have been known to and re paired by the defendants. He informed me that I was mistaken; that when the trial began it was expected that the only ques tion of fact was whether or not the defen dants had been guilty of actionable negli gence, as that was the only question presented by the pleadings. But the action was found to have raised two other questions which were complicated and difficult. One was, " Why did not Governor Smith (president of the defendant corporation) go to the war? " The other, " Was not the plain tiff or his father, or some of his near rela tives, once convicted of, or charged with, or suspected of a violation of the Maine liquor law, of the sale of intoxicating liquor, wine, ale, or beer without license? " As the Gov ernor excused himself for not going to the war, on the ground that, being governor at the time, he could serve the country more efficiently by staying at home, raising, equipping, and clothing regiments, and put ting them into the field, than by shoulder ing his musket and going to the war — and as many were of opinion that the Maine law was unconstitutional, and its violation consequently no crime, the enquiry took a wide range, and everybody could be called as a witness, so that the evidence could only be closed by the physical exhaustion of the court and counsel, or the financial exhaus tion of the parties. The final result was a jury equally divided as to numbers, which settled nothing, and satisfied nobody. While this statement is an exaggeration, there is a foundation for it, or its sarcasm would not be so acceptable. It suggests an evil which does exist, in the reformation of which the Bar is chiefly interested. But reformations move slowly. I have not much faith in them. I know well that unless
something is done to stop the overcrowding of the legal profession, its high standard of virtue and morality will not be maintained. Lawyers will be driven by necessity to lower and more disreputable means of se curing an income. There is a field which promises to the student much better rewards than the pro fession of the law. It is the great and almost illimitable field of the physical sci ences and mechanics. It has been opened within my recollection. My memory goes back to the time when there were no de partments of mechanics or engineering in our universities, and a school of mines did not exist in the country. We have as yet scarcely entered upon this great field. And even now it is giving better means of subsistence and success to multitudes of young men than they could have found in any of the older professions. It is also the field in which the great discoveries and inventions of the future are to be made. Electricity is fast becoming the motive power of the world. Our hills and moun tains teem with metals and minerals, to be mined and applied to use by cheaper and more economical methods. Scarcely a month passes in which chemistry does not announce some new and profitable discovery applicable to many departments of human industry, or new shields against the weapons of the great Destroyer. And this is not the half of the catalogue. While it is true that the strict practice of the law is less profit able than formerly, the world cannot dis pense with good lawyers, and no good law yer who adds to his profession a thorough knowledge of any one subject of scientific research connected with any human indus try or valuable to the preservation of hu man life, will suffer for want of profitable employment.
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