CHARLES W. FAIRBANKS matter as he did not know how to violate the law himself; and would therefore be unable to show any one else how to do it. Mr. Fairbanks always stood for law and order, and has always, therefore, been a conservator of the public good. He learned well the lesson of the lawyer in the beginning; that a lawyer above all things should never be a law-breaker, and this lesson has guided his life. Mr. Fairbanks comes of a family of constructive people — men who do things, — do things of conse quence. Law grows as men grow. As •civilization progresses the law, which is but a concrete expression of progress, keeps up with the procession. He has been, there fore, a student of the times in which we live —• an American lawyer partaking of the spirit of the age, — a vital force in his great pro fession. The change from a small business to a large business, from individual capital to aggregated capital, from haphazard to organized enterprise, came as natural to Mr. Fairbanks in the course of his profession as the growth of an orchard, and the results were as natural as the ripened fruit. His grasp of these conditions was only equaled by the recognition of his great abilities as a constructive lawyer, piloting the way to honorable achievements. While the best of Mr. Fairbanks' legal
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career has been devoted to matters involv ing contract relationships, and the develop ment of great enterprises, where questions of cold law need careful interpretation, he was yet a great trial lawyer, and always made good before a jury. He was always able to talk of the facts in a case in a com prehensive mannner. He was accustomed to the impulses of the country whence jurors come, and his language was familiar to them because it was the product of his country rearing. He always said, "If I understand the facts myself I am sure I can make the jury understand," and with clearness and certainty, he brushed aside the sophistries which often presented them selves in the nisi prius court and riveted attention upon the salient facts and features of the case in hand. It is said that no executive officer is quite equipped for his duties except he be a lawyer himself, or is guided by a lawyer. Whether as an execu tive in charge of an important trust, or as a lawyer showing the way to successful work, Charles W. Fairbanks holds an enviable place at the bar of his adopted state and also at the Bar of the federal judiciary — and he is held in high esteem by his brethren of the profession everywhere. WASHINGTON, D.C., April, 1908.
