"The extent to which college men from the national universities enter into the legal profession is of the greatest importance to the country because of the large influence which lawyers play in the government of the United States", declared Mr. James Byrne '77 last night in his talk on "Law and Public Service".

"Difficulty arises in speaking of this subject", Mr. Byrne began, "because men thinking of entering the legal profession already know a good deal about that vocation. In addition to this, law is not sharply divided into fields which permit of separate analysis, and there seem to be no qualifications needed by those planing to enter the profession. Almost any man who is honest and energetic who can understand what is said to him and can make himself reasonably well understood, seems to be fitted for the work".

"A generation ago", Mr. Byrne continued, men entered the legal vocation because they had no strong inclination toward other fields. Today that tendency has become a source of danger as the attractiveness and number of other occupations increases, and a smaller proportion of well trained men devote themselves to the law. If the point where high quality men fall to enter the legal profession arrives, the college graduates will need to consider their duty to the country as well as their own material comfort in thinking of the law as a possible vocation".

Gives Great Experience

"In the legal profession", Mr. Byrne pointed out, "a young man finds many attractions. First of all he deals with large affairs and with materials which will soon be tested in a concrete fashion by an authorized body in such a way as to show whether or not his work has been well done. Besides this, he comes into contact with men of great experience, and from his associations comes a gradual growth and development of personal experience which is in itself a great reward. A lawyer, moreover, is in a very independent position; his ability and energy are his capital and he is consequently not disturbed, as is a business man, by financial panics.

"In the last few years", Mr. Byrne concluded, "a feeling has developed among legal men that the law of the United States must be revised and codified to bring it into accord with the principles of the men who founded this country's constitution. I can conceive of no nobler or more appealing work than that, which must fall upon the younger generation of lawyers, of compiling the law which through the ten centuries of accumulation since its origin in England has developed into the greatest system of law the world has ever seen".

Final announcement has now been made of the men who will today hold conferences with undergraduates especially interested in law. The blue book, in which students who desire interviews may sign up has been placed in the corridor of the Union. The following men will meet those undergraduates who wish to see them in the Quiet Room of the Union:

From 9.11 o'clock this morning, Mr. R. W. Holt '11 will consult with students while from 12-1.30 o'clock Dean Roscce Pound Hon, '20. of the University Law School, will hold conferences, and Mr. R. W. Hale '92 and Mr. J. J. Magnire '11, both of the Boston law firm of Hale and Dorr, will be available from 2-4 o'clock for interviews.