SAMUEL BALDWIN WARD

THE MEDICAL PROFESSION

     [Speech of Dr. Samuel B. Ward at the annual banquet of the New York
     State Bar Association, in the City of Albany, January 18, 1887.]

MR. PRESIDENT AND GENTLEMEN:—­That a medical man should be asked to be in attendance at a banquet such as this was natural, and when I looked over the list of toasts and found that the clergymen had been omitted, I took it as an intended though perhaps rather dubious compliment to my profession, the supposition being that the services of the clergy would not of course be required.  When I was asked to respond to this toast, in an unguarded moment of good nature, which is remarkable even in me, I was beguiled into consenting by the persuasive eloquence of your worthy President and Secretary, and a day or two after I visited the Executive chamber with the view of endeavoring to make “a little bargain” with his Excellency.  Being myself neither a lawyer, a politician, nor the editor of a Brooklyn newspaper [laughter], I was totally unacquainted with such things, but still I am the reader of a weekly Republican newspaper (that is spelled with two e’s and not an a, and has no reference to the “Albany Evening Journal"), and have ascertained that among a certain class of men, these “bargains” were exceedingly common.  Respecting the exact nature of the proposition I shall not reveal? but suffice it to say I failed most ignominiously.

After leaving the executive chamber I spent a good part of the morning in reflection as to the cause of the failure.  Among other things it occurred to me that perhaps the newspaper statement, that “bargains” were so common among officials was untrue, but when I reflected that my newspaper was a republican organ and that the Executive was a democratic official I knew that every word that organ would say about a political opponent must be absolutely true.  It occurred to me that perhaps inasmuch as I was not a politician, his Excellency might have feared to trust me, but I recollected to have read of the dire misfortune that befalls certain politicians in New York from trusting each other.  As the Governor’s shrewdness was well-known, I knew that he felt that if he could trust any one, it would be one of my profession, and therefore that excuse would not answer.  It also occurred to me, that perhaps I was somewhat green and unwise in consenting to make this bargain in the presence of witnesses, but when I thought of all the sagacity and shrewdness and reticence that was concealed behind Colonel Rice’s outspoken countenance, and of the numerous “arrangements” of which he was cognizant, and in relation to which he had never said a word, I felt assured that that was not the reason.  I finally came to the conclusion that the Governor was a man to be trusted; that if there still be cynics who believe that “every man has his price,” they would find the Governor’s price far too high for them ever to reach. [Applause.]