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igg Mattis. 15.NORTH WESTERN REPORTER, 2d SERIES precedent by permitting a single inroad, however small, upon the public's share of the shore line, other inroads will inevitably follow, unti; the aggregate becomes a real threat to the public's free access to the lake. To avoid any possibility of such a re- sult, the courts should with equal vigor re- pulse the first, the second, and rvery other assault upon the public domain. If eternal vigilance is the price of pre- serving the full benefit of Minnesota's lakes for all members of the public —as it is of liberty —public officials must gladly pay that price. They must not stand by, wholly unconcerned, like Nero, who fiddled white Rome burned, and permit public access to our lakes to be cut off or reduced for sel- fish private purposes. Yet here town supervisors appear to have been entirely ob- livious to the full import of the petition, of the filing of which they received notice. Not only did they fail to protest, but they actually Rave aid and comfort to the pe- titioners in their raid upon the public's con- servation chest. The obvious purpose of providing notice to the town supervisors of proceedings to vacate a street or highway is to put tl.ese officers on guard, so that the interests of the public may be amply protected. The supervisors of Excelsior township having failed in their duty in this respect and having permitted a default to be entered, it is at least understandable why the petition was originally granted by the lower court. But when the court's decree vacating the street was promptly attacked by appellants upon their receiving notice of the proceed- ing, the trial court should have been idert to the public interest and, unhesitatingly, should have reopened it; and this, not- withstanding that appellants' motion to re- open was motivated principally by the an- ticipated damage to their own property. Not to reopen the proceeding in the public interest was a clear abuse of discretion, and the order denying appellants' motion must be reversed. If, in view o: the importance we have attached to the preservation of our lakes and full access thereto for the public and for posterity, respondents still deeire to urge that the portion of Lake Street be- tween their property and St. Albans Bay has become "useless for the purpose for which it was laid out," they will be ac- corded that privilege. We may not have all the facts. But respondents should un- deistand that any decree of vacation must be supported by clear proof that the street has in fact become "useless" to the public in the full and unrestricted meaning of that term. Reversed. r o �a mows mir0 r In re LIPSCOMB. No. 33759. Supreme Court of Minnesota. June 2, 1944. 1. Attorney and client 0:039 Conviction of a felony or a misde- meanor involving moral turpitude restilts in disbarment as a matter of course, even though sentence is suspended. Minn.St. 1941, § 481.15, subd. 1(1). 2. Attorney and client e-39 The record of conviction of a felony or a misdemeanor involving moral turpi- tude is conclusive in disbarment proceed- ing and cannot be questioned by proof ..1"Inde. Minn.St.1941, § 481.15, subd. 1(1). S. Attorney anu • 4}54 That money w ient owed attor- ney but refused to y. A have been more than enough to tag -if another client's claim did not con:. 11ch ex- tenuating circumstances as w., stify a reference of proceeding to dir,b., 1r. ney for embezzlement of and clit money. Minn.St.19.11, § 4r 1.15, subd. 1(i Proceeding on order to show cause why Allen 1.1. Lipscomb should not be dis- barred. Respondent disbarred. Philip Neville, Sec'y, State Board of Law Examiners, of Minneapolis, for peti- tioner. Henry G. Young, of Minneapolis, foe respondent. PER CVRIAM. On October 27, 1943, respondent, an at- torney at law duly licensed to practice in our state, pleaded guilty to an informs-