human affairs. The practitioner is dealing always with business activities of others. There is scarcely a branch of human knowledge or activity that the lawyer does not have to study. To try a case successfully, involving mining, irrigation, livestock, physical injuries, and so on to infinity, the lawyer must make himself familiar with all these subjects. The more intimate the acquaintance of the practitioner with the details of all the other vocations, the more successful he would be. A training in logical thinking and accurate deduction, wide knowledge of history and economics, together with facility and technical skill in the use of English, would add greatly to the lawyer's equipment." In these days of good schools, the only safe recommendation is that the prospective lawyer attend a regular law school for his technical training. Many successful lawyers have obtained their knowledge of the law by study in a law office or by reading alone. This method, however, is likely to leave a person without the broad knowledge of the principles of law that is obtained in a first-class college.

After graduating from his course, it is a good plan to spend a few years in the office of a good law firm. The school teaches the principles, and work in an office gives the needed preliminary practise.

Opportunities in Law.-In the United States, law is probably the most overcrowded of all the professions. There are in the country about one hun

dred and fifteen thousand lawyers, the greater part of whom are not successful. In Chicago where there are five thousand lawyers, most of the legal work is done by about one thousand, the others merely existing. New York has more lawyers than all France.

Probably one reason why there is such a mania for the study of law in America is that it is considered as a stepping stone to politics. Another reason is the high fees sometimes paid for individual cases. These are uncommon, but they act as a stimulant similar to the occasional "lucky strike" found by the prospector. Very few men get rich in the practise of law, but some lawyers use their profession as a means of making profitable business connections. "Ninety-five per cent.," says Austin Fletcher of the New York Bar, "of those who enter upon the practise of the law would probably have done much better if they had chosen a different kind of work. Not more than five per cent. attain a genuine success, in accomplishment or reward. No one should enter any of the learned professions because he believes it offers a large pecuniary promise. If one prefers the law to any other occupation, he possesses one of the elements of success in taking it up. He should next be certain that he has sufficient stamina to hold the moral rudder true, for there is no profession or business vocation which requires a keener moral sense and greater strength

of character than the practise of the law." Of mere petifoggers, legal tricksters, and practitioners of low ability, the country has too many; but there is still a crying need for men of character and ability to assist in maintaining the rights of mankind.

CHAPTER XII

POLITICS

Definition. The word "politics" is used to express a number of very different things. To many, it means a system of graft entered into by a number of tricksters working under the cloak of government. This, however, is not its true meaning any more than farming means the raising of inferior products of the soil to be used in cheating purchasers out of their money.

The Standard Dictionary defines politics as being, "The branch of civics that treats of the principles of civil government and the conduct of state affairs; the administration of public affairs in the interest of the peace, prosperity, and safety of the state; statecraft; political science; in a wide sense embracing the science of government and civil polity."

Thus, it is the management of public affairsthose pertaining to society taken as a unit. Dishonest men may use it to further their own ends, but this does not make the subject any the less important.

Importance of Politics.-"Politics, or the science of government," says a member of Congress, "is the greatest and most profound study of mankind, and has attracted to its consideration in all ages public-spirited men of high character, great knowledge, and profound wisdom. A full knowledge of the true principles of government and the ability to conform to them is the highest degree of intelligence. Once having mastered this science the way is clear for unimpeded progress in every other vocation in which human effort is enlisted."

Many people are pessimistic in their views of politics. They simply say: "Politics is corrupt and the less a person has to do with it the better he will be off." They follow their own advice and have nothing to do with it. If politics has degenerated in a free country like ours, it is because the masses of the people have left the subject entirely alone. They have not taken the trouble to attend primaries or even to vote, and then they complain that conditions are not as they should be. The only way to keep dishonest men from running public affairs is for those who are honest to take a part themselves.

Every man of ability living under a free government owes it to himself, to his family, to the nation, and to posterity to lend his strength to making the government what it should be. There are many who, if a merchant should make a few cents over