New York is full of professional men, that is, of men who earn their
living by brain work. One class--the clergy--has already been mentioned.
The Bar is next in numbers. There are about three thousand lawyers
practising at the New York bar. A few of these have large incomes, two
or three making as much as fifty thousand dollars per annum; but the
average income of the majority is limited. An income of ten or fifteen
thousand dollars is considered large in the profession, and the number of
those earning such a sum is small.
In most cities the members of the legal profession form a clique, and are
very clannish. Each one knows everybody else, and if one member of the
bar is assailed, the rest are prompt to defend him. In New York,
however, there is no such thing as a legal "fraternity." Each man is
wrapped in his own affairs, and knows little and cares less about other
members of the profession. We have been surprised to find how little
these men know about each other. Some have never even heard of others
who are really prosperous and talented.
The courts of the city are very numerous; and each man, in entering upon
his practice, makes a specialty of some one or more of them, and confines
himself to them. His chances of success are better for doing this, than
they would be by adopting a general practice. Indeed, it would be simply
impossible for one man to practise in all.
Many of the best lawyers rarely go into the courts. They prefer chamber
practice, and will not try a case in court if they can help it. The
process in the courts is slow and vexatious, and consumes too much of
their time. Their chamber practice is profitable to them, and beneficial
to the community, as it prevents much tedious litigation.
Many lawyers with fair prospects and comfortable incomes, who are
succeeding in their profession in other places, come to New York,
expecting to rise to fame and fortune more rapidly here. They are
mistaken. The most accomplished city barrister finds success a slow and
uncertain thing. It requires some unusually fortunate circumstance to
introduce a new lawyer favorably to a New York public.
The profession in this city can boast some of the most eminent names in
the legal world, such men as Charles O'Connor, William M. Evarts, and
others of a similar reputation.
The Medical Profession is also well represented. It is said that there
are about as many physicians and surgeons as lawyers practising in the
city. New York offers a fine field for a man of genuine skill. Its
hospitals and medical establishments are the best conducted of any in the
country, and afford ample opportunity for study and observation. The
opportunity for studying human nature is all that one can desire. The
most eminent medical men in the country either reside here or are
constantly visiting the city.
Some of the city practitioners are very fortunate in a pecuniary sense.
It is said that some of them receive very large sums every year. Dr.
Willard Parker was once called out of town to see a patient, to whom he
sent a bill of $300. The amount was objected to, and Dr. Parker proved
by his books that his daily receipts were over that sum. He is said to
be an exception to the general rule, however, which rule is that but very
few of the best paid medical men receive over $20,000 per annum.
Surgeons are paid much better than physicians. Dr. Carnochan is said to
have received as much as $2000 for a single operation. As a rule,
however, the city physicians do little more than pay expenses, especially
if they have families. From $5000 to $10,000 is a good income, and a man
of family has but little chance of saving out of this if he lives in any
degree of comfort.
Literary men and women are even more numerous in the metropolis than
lawyers or doctors. They are of all classes, from the great author of
world-wide fame to the veriest scribbler. The supply is very largely in
advance of the demand, and as a consequence, all have to exert themselves
to get along. A writer in the _World_ estimates the annual receipts of
New York authors at about one million of dollars, and the number of
writers at 2000, which would give an average income to each of about
$500. As a matter of course, it is impossible to make any reliable
estimate, and there can be little doubt that the writer referred to has
been too generous in his average. Authorship in New York offers few
inducements of a pecuniary nature. Men of undoubted genius often
narrowly escape starvation, and to make a bare living by the pen
requires, in the majority of instances, an amount of mental and manual
labor and application which in any mercantile pursuit would ensure a
fortune.