46
The Green Bag
"We are not here to-night," he said, "to take pride in the wealth that has been amassed by any of the more for tunate of our membership. Still less are we here to take pride in the cunning that has been shown in the course of the conduct of professional work." And he denounced as sordid, base and be littling, and as entitled to no respect, the riches realized from fees heaped on fees though "beyond the dreams of avarice," unless accompanied by integ rity and independence of character and by loyalty to a high ideal both unpur chaseable and incorruptible by material advantage. The Governor's first point suggests the question: What is the object of our activities in the practice of the law? For the overwhelming majority of lawyers, as already we have intimated, there is, and there can be, but one answer, "To gain a living." Notwith standing our splendid opportunities of public service, often to be availed of and never to be disregarded, the press ing duty of most is to support one's family and to keep out of harrowing debt. In providing for ourselves and for those dependent upon us a digni fied and appropriate maintenance, here is nothing which even in the Governor's view can be "sordid, base or belittling." This obligation has been felt and recog nized by the chief as well as by the least of our brethren. Our first great leader, unsurpassed in the loftiness of his spirit, the brilliancy of his intellect, or the splendid results of his devoted patriotism, Alexander Hamilton, re signed from the cabinet of George Wash ington, as we are told by Oliver, "be cause he was in debt, and had no mind to die in debt. He was actually con scious that his public work had entailed a sacrifice not merely of his own ease, but of the interests of his family. The
last nine years of his life were devoted to the honorable but undramatic end of discharging his debts and providing for his children." And Oliver adds, "He was the leader of the New York bar during the whole of this period, and although, had he abstained altogether from public work, he doubtless might have added considerably to his income, his earnings were substantial, even if we judge them by modern standards, and very large indeed compared with the rewards of his own day." In our day, as in that of Hamilton, the avoidance of debt and the acquisi tion of a competence is a proper object for the honorable desire and effort of any lawyer. Those harvesting the suffi cient results of honorable labor may be deemed, as they were termed by our Governor, "the more fortunate of our membership," though he disclaimed any pride in their wealth. Not less than those rendering exceptionally valuable service in any other calling, the learned and capable lawyer may expect ade quate compensation and sometimes wealth. But wealth is a term of relative and varying significance. Under present conditions the millionaire may be one who enjoys, not, as formerly, the in come of a million, but a million of in come. Such the Governor may have had in mind when he borrowed from Dr. Johnson the phrase "wealth beyond the dreams of avarice," rotund enough for the Eighteenth Century, but not sufficiently grandiose to measure the large heaps from which sleepless if not dreamless financiers of the present era may draw excitement, and possibly satis faction. In the pursuit of wealth, as distin guished from competency, our most highly remunerated counsel necessarily and properly lag far behind the finan
