Feb. 2,

1903, p. 32, § 1.

court, evidence to put him on his defense; and being acquitted, he may be a witness.

Note. This section is now probably nugatory, and rendered so by subsequent statutes now codified, but it was not omitted, because commissioner was not certain as to its effect.

Statute imposes delicate and responsible duties in discretion of court; when its action not reviewed.-Gassenheimer's case, 52 Ala. 313. When court may disallow a co-defendant to be discharged and testify although no evidence against him.-Brister's case, 26 Ala. 107. When court may refuse to pass on evidence and discharge a co-defendant.-Washington's case, 58 Ala. 355. If case against co-defendant nol. prossed, or if there is a severance, he may be a witness.-Henderson's case, 70 Ala. 23. Defendants as witnesses for and against each other; when allowed.-See Henderson's case, 70 Ala. 23; Marler's case, 67 Ala. 65; Morgan's case, 45 Ala. 65; South's case, 86 Ala. 617 (6 So. 52). See citations to preceding section.

7900. Wife witness in abandonment and vagrancy proceedings. In all cases where a husband is charged with abandoning his family and leaving them in danger of becoming a burden to the public, the wife shall be a competent witness against her husband.

Act of 1903, p. 32, not an ex post facto law.-Webster v. State, 142 Ala. 56 (38 So. 1010). A statute which simply enlarges the class of persons who may be competent witnesses, not ex post facto law.-Ib. Hopt's case, 110 U. S. 575.

WITNESSES; COMPETENCY; EXAMINATION OF (Civil Code)..4007–4018

62-AC-VOL. III

APPENDIX.

(977)

CODES OF ETHICS.

A COMPILATION ADOPTED BY THE STATE BAR ASSOCIATIONS IN ALABAMA, COLORADO, GEORGIA, KENTUCKY, MARYLAND, MICHIGAN, MISSOURI, NORTH CAROLINA,

VIRGINIA, WISCONSIN, AND WEST VIRGINIA.

The code of the Alabama State Bar Association, the foundation of all the other codes, is made the basis of this compilation. All concurrences therein, additions thereto, or eliminations and material alterations therefrom are noted. The Missouri Bar Association, alone of all the others, has incorporated synoptic headings with each canon adopted by it; in this compilation these headings are noted in black type in front of all the canons to which they are applicable.

At the commencement of the Alabama Code of Ethics are the following introductory statements:

[Paragraph I.] The purity and efficiency of judicial administration, which under our system is largely government itself, depend as much upon the character, conduct, and demeanor of attorneys in this great trust, as upon the fidelity and learning of courts, or the honesty and intelligence of juries.

[Paragraph II.] "There is perhaps no profession, after that of the sacred ministry, in which a high-toned morality is more imperatively necessary than that of the law. There is certainly, without any exception, no profession in which so many temptations beset the path to swerve from the lines of strict integrity; in which so many delicate. and difficult questions of duty are constantly arising. There are pitfalls and mantraps at every step, and the mere youth, at the very outset of his career, needs often the prudence and self-denial, as well as the moral courage, which belong properly to riper years. High moral principle is the only safe guide; the only torch to light his way amidst darkness and obstruction."-Sharswood.

[Paragraph III.] A comprehensive summary of the duties specifically enjoined by law upon attorneys, which they are sworn "not to

*Prepared by the Committee on Code of Professional Ethics of the American Bar Association. The large type is the Alabama Code; the small type shows amendments thereto by others states.

Compilation of the Codes of Ethics.

violate," is found in section 2985 (590) of the Code of Alabama. These duties are:

"First. To support the constitution and laws of this state and the United States.

"Second. To maintain the respect due to courts of justice and judicial officers.

"Third. To employ for the purpose of maintaining the causes confided to them such means only as are consistent with truth, and never seek to mislead the judges by any artifice or false statement of the law.

"Fourth. To maintain inviolate the confidence, and at every peril to themselves to preserve the secrets, of their clients.

"Fifth. To abstain from all offensive personalities, and to advance no fact prejudicial to the honor or reputation of a party or a witness, unless required by the justice of the cause with which they are charged.

"Sixth. To encourage neither the commencement nor continuance of an action proceeding from any motive of passion or interest. "Seventh. Never to reject, for any consideration personal to themselves, the cause of the defenseless and oppressed.

[Paragraph IV.] No rule will determine an attorney's duty in the varying phases of every case. What is right and proper must, in the absence of statutory rules and an authoritative code, be ascertained in view of the peculiar facts, in the light of conscience, and the conduct of honorable and distinguished attorneys in similar cases, and by analogy to the duties enjoined by statute, and the rules of good neighborhood.

[Paragraph V.] The following general rules are adopted by the Alabama State Bar Association for the guidance of its members:

"Craft is the vice, not the spirit, of the profession. Trick is professional prostitution. Falsehood is professional apostasy. The strength of a lawyer is in thorough knowledge of legal truth, in thorough devotion to legal right. Truth and integrity can do more in the profession than the subtlest and wiliest devices. The power of integrity is the rule: the power of fraud is the exception. Emulation and zeal lead lawyers astray; but the general law of the profession is duty, not success. In it, as elsewhere in human life, the judgment of success is but the verdict of little minds. Professional duty, faithfully and well performed, is the lawyer's glory. This is equally true of the bench and of the bar."-Ryan. (Wis.)

The oath of office prescribed by law, "I do solemnly swear that I will support the constitution of the United States and the constitution of this state, and that I will faithfully discharge the duties of the office of attorney and counselor-at-law, and solicitor and counselor in chancery, according to the best of my ability," includes within its terms all the duties formerly declared in the oath itself, viz.: "To behave himself in the office of attorney according to the best of his learning and ability, and with all good fidelity, as well to the court as to the client; that he will use no falsehood, nor delay any man's cause for lucre or malice." (Mich.)

Fidelity to the court, to the client, to the claims of truth and honor-summarizes the duty of the lawyer. (Mich.)