6. There can be no question but that our membership in States with large Bars, while as a rule numerically larger, will remain relatively smaller than in the States with small Bars, considered from the standpoint of the percentage upon our roll of the entire Bar of a state, until the general adoption of our County Advisor system in every state having a Bar of over say 1,000 members. This system is the hope of the future and we have several times, commencing in 1914, urgently recommended its general adoption, after giving the system a successful trial in 1913 in Pennsylvania; and later, among other jurisdictions, in Massachusetts (under the supervision of Frank W. Grinnell and John Lowell, Esqrs.), in New York (under the supervision of Charles A. Boston, Esqr. and Hon. Francis Lynde Stetson), and in Missouri (under the supervision of Senator Seldon P. Spencer and Hon. Frederick W. Lehmann). Although the general adoption of the County Advisor system has been repeatedly urged in communications we have sent to the Local Councils, it has not until this 1920 meeting of the Association been endorsed by the Executive Committee. The system has probably been best briefly summed up in our communication of 31 July, 1916, to each Vice President and each member of a Local Council throughout the Union and from which we quote as follows: "Important to Have a County Advisor in Every County.-As the entire Bar of a State cannot be personally known to the members of its Local Council, we recommend that in order to carry on thorough membership work at least one lawyer be selected in every County in your State (a practice already in most successful operation in several States) upon whose fairness and good judg ment your Local Council may depend and that he be requested (irrespective of whether or not he is now a member of our Association) to serve, as a labor of love for the profession, as confidential advisor to your Local Council and to check over for your benefit a complete list of the members of the Bar in his county, and from time to time to advise you in answer to inquiries concerning candidates for membership. If a member he could also most effectively be used in securing new members from his county by personally inviting those of the right sort to join and reporting their names to you. Our 1916 communication continued: Card Index for Each State Bar." The list of desirable members of a County Bar, when received from each County Advisor. should be carefully preserved, and this committee stands willing during the fall months to record upon cards the results of this checking by counties for your entire State for future reference, our system being to have one card for every lawyer in each county. 7. Finding that few Local Councils moved to initiate the County Advisor system, your Membership Committee in 1917 commenced the preparation, state by state, of a card index of the entire American Bar, which has been proceeded with ever since, except when interrupted by war activities in 1918. This work is now about completed, monumental as it is, with about 140,000 cards, one for each lawyer, arranged by states, and within states by counties, and again within counties, alphabetically by cities. and towns, the lawyers in each city and town being also in alphabetical order. As soon as completed our plan is to have the cards for each county sent simultaneously to a County Advisor in each County of the United States (there are about 2,000) to be checked under a simple system we have formulated. When properly checked we know the Association's membership work will be greatly simplified. The card index should be maintained permanently and kept up to date by rechecking, county by county, at least every two or three years-and this card index the retiring committee intends to leave as its chief contribution, as a continuing foundation, for the membership work. 8. In conclusion your committee reports that of the funds appropriated for its use no part has ever been expended for conferences, traveling expenses, hotel bills, restaurant charges or other personal expenses of any of its members, as it seemed to us wiser with respect to the work of this particular committee to depart from the Association's usual and unquestionably proper practice of allowing its committees such expenses. During this eight-year period the annual income of the Association (which is almost wholly derived from membership dues) has increased from the $20,783 it was for the fiscal year 1912 (for which year the Treasurer's report shows a deficit of disbursements over receipts of $2,895.79) to the year just closed in which our income was $68,298, and the Association in addition now has on hand in cash and securities $53,342. August, 1920. For the Committee: Lucien Hugh Alexander, |