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The Green Bag
of medicine, the general level which the science will attain, the extent to which it will advance or recede, depends not simply upon the ability of a scant mi nority of trained specialists concentra ting their energies on independent re search, but in equal or possibly greater measure upon the intelligence and dil igence of the general practitioner. Law yers, like doctors, cannot afford simply to rely upon what is written down in the books; they must themselves become investigators and collaborators. The advancement of science was formerly the concern only of the few; now there is scarcely a single topic of current pop ular discussion in any field which can be cleared up without recourse to the methods of science. The lawyer's full social duty is not discharged until he has qualified himself to discuss with some degree of confidence and author ity the leading topics of the hour which depend for their solution largely upon legal principles. Lawyers are very apt to fall into the perfunctory habit of treating the law as an isolated science, instead of re garding it in its true light as a branch of political science and as closely inter twined with ethics, economics, and social science in general. In conse quence of this tendency the lawyer is too often a sceptic or a misguided rad ical, and therefore an unfit leader of public opinion. A remark was recently made, by Professor Dicey we believe, that we have all become socialists, or something akin to that, already. Surely an accurate definition of socialism would show the indiscretion of such a state ment. The decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States are frequently attacked, on the ground either that they are too radical or too reactionary, but if those lawyers who advance these exaggerated views were more firmly
grounded in the principles of political and social science, there can be no doubt that their attitude would be one of greater moderation. A lawyer's opin ions on the fundamental problems of government and society are absolutely valueless if they are based only on a knowledge of the law. The lawyer to be truly worthy of his profession must familiarize himself with the important teachings of allied sciences. One of these fundamental problems is that of the relative rights of individ uals in organized society, with respect to property, contract, and conditions of living and employment. Are the rights of all men, in these respects, equal or diverse? The answer is to be found not in a purely legal inquiry, for the field presented for investigation is much broader, and satisfactory results can be obtained only by an unprejudiced discussion of the subject-matter of several different sciences. In this scientific age, conscience, or a desire to see justice done to all men, should not make sceptics or socialists of us all, neither should it force us back upon the line of retreat of a bloodless, unsympathetic formalism. Rather let the lawyer endeavor to make the most of his profession as an agency of human progress, and strive always to discover the scientific defects of the law that require mending, and to lead his fellow men in the paths of a more enlightened civilization.
THE BERTILLON SYSTEM A RECENT bent of the French mind was illustrated in a Paris fad, that of dactylographie. A peculiarly French sense of humor was shown in introducing police methods into the drawing room, and initiating the vogue of finger print autograph albums, patterned after the Bertillon records of police courts for the identification of criminals.
