THE LAWYER

New Zealand Times, Volume LI, Issue 12021, 26 December 1924, Page 9

THE LAWYER

HIS PLACE IN THE BIBLE. MOSES’ KNOWLEDGE OF LAW. Moses was recently referred to as the pioneer estate agent. He must, have cleaned up the subdivsiion of the Promised Land, as a change of occupation is noted, and he is now more generally known as the Lawgiver. Judged by modern standards,, Moses, as a lawyer, had a lot to learn. He failed to understand, -for example, that the first principle of drafting laws is to word the sections in such a way as to bring more business. No one could imagine a present-day lawyer writing simply: “Thou shalt not eteal.” Why, any fool can understand that. He would put it: “Any person who after the commencement of this Act appropriates or is about to appropriate to his own use goods chattels and effects or, any of them in which he has not any property estate and interest or any of them whether with intent to defraud or otherwise shall unless he is able to satisfy a court of competent, jurisdiction that he was or. is or intended to be within 30 days thereafter the reeal or reputed owner thereof be guilty of an offence under this Act.” We think Moses should have stuck to real estate. GREAT STRIDES. The lagal profession must have made great strides during the next few generations. Indeed, in some respects it might be said to have achieved an efficiency which cannot be bettered to-day, as will be seen by a letter written by St. Paul to the Corinthians (1. Cor. vi.): “Dare any of you, having a matter against another, .go to law—” and again, “ . . . there is a fault among you because ye go to law with another. . . Why do ye not rather suffer yourselves to be defrauded!” Sound advice, whic hmight just as aptly be given now. The only other helpful reference which we can call to mind at the moment, and which serves to show that new ideas as to means of benefiting the profession were not lacking, is by Shakespeare. It will be remembered that Hamlet debated quite a long time with himelf as to whether it would not be better to commit suicide by sticking himself with a bare bodkin rather than suffer for “the law’s delays.”