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1913. FREDERICK P. FISH..

Letters Patent in Relation to
Modern Industrial Conditions.

1914. ROBERT H. PARKINSON......
...Address as Chairman.
1914. EDMUND WETMORE.

1914. THOMAS EWING

Some Present Aspects of the Patent Law.

The Contract Theory of Patents.

1915. ROBERT H. PARKINSON.
....... Address as Chairman.

1915. CHARLES E. TOWNSEND.

[blocks in formation]

.......

1917. ROBERT H. PARKINSON. 1917. JOHN P. BARTLETT.

1918. JOHN P. BARTLETT. 1918. WILLIAM L. DAY..

1918. JAMES T. NEWTON....

1918. THOMAS EWING..

1919. ALAN D. KENYON...

1920. A. C. PAUL....

1920. EDWARD S. ROGERS..

The Possibilities of the Right of
Discovery in Patent Litiga
tion; Some Recent Judicial
Developments.

.Address as Chairman.

. Modern Accountings in Paten and Trade-Mark Cases.

Patent Situation from the Manu facturer's Standpoint.

Address as Chairman.

Public Opinion Reflected in Patent Decisions.

Address as Chairman.

. Open Court Trial in Patent Cases.

..Work in the Patent Office and Pending Legislation Relative to Patents.

Shall the Patent Office be Inde-
pendent of the Department of
the Interior.

Proceedings in rem in Patent
Causes.

. Unfair Competition and its Late
Developments.

. Some Suggestions Concerning a

Trade-Mark Registration Act.

PROCEEDINGS

OF THE

COMPARATIVE LAW SECTION

The annual meeting of the Comparative Law Section of the American Bar Association was held in the Daniel Boone Room of the Hotel Statler, St. Louis, Missouri on August 25, 1920, at 2.30 P. M.

Wm. W. Smithers, Chairman of the Section, presided.

The Secretary reported that the By-Laws drafted by the Chairman had been submitted to and approved by the Executive Committee of the American Bar Association.

The Secretary read the report of the work of his office during the past year, which, on motion duly seconded and carried, was approved and ordered to be made a part of the minutes.

The following officers and members of the Council of the Comparative Law Section of the American Bar Association were elected for the ensuing year:

Chairman, Wm. W: Smithers.

Vice-Chairman, Charles S. Lobingier.
Treasurer, Eugene C. Massie.

Secretary, Robert P. Shick.

Council: Simeon E. Baldwin, Connecticut; Seymour C. Loomis, Connecticut; Roscoe Pound, Massachusetts; Andrew A. Bruce, Minnesota; John H. Wigmore, Illinois; John S. Lehmann, Missouri; W. O. Hart, Louisiana; Walter S. Penfield, Washington, D. C.

It was resolved unanimously that the Comparative Law Section should have one number of the AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION JOURNAL devoted to the purposes of its bulletin as heretofore. and as further provided for in the By-Laws of the Section.

Burt E. Barlow then offered the Section and handed to the Secretary a draft for one hundred dollars as his contribution to a fund of one thousand dollars to be subscribed for the purposes of securing the publication of the translation of Las Siete Partidas, as made by S. P. Scott of Hillsboro, Ohio, the contributions to the said fund to be repaid out of the profits of the publication of that translation. The offer of Mr. Barlow was accepted.

The translation of the Civil Code of Brazil into English by Joseph Wheless was discussed. Mr. Wheless offered the translation to the Section for adoption by it as one of its translations of foreign civil codes. This matter was referred to the Chairman, Wm. W. Smithers, with power to him to act in the matter. The Chairman thereafter arranged for the adoption of this translation of the Civil Code of Brazil by the Comparative Law Section, it being agreed that proper insert should be made in the book. The matter of the publication of the translation was then discussed. Mr. Wheless suggested that the Thomas Law Book Company of St. Louis, Mo., or perhaps Phemister & Company, law book publishers at 42 Broadway, New York City, could be interested in the publication of this work.

It was unanimously agreed that the matter of the publication of this translation of Las Siete Partidas be referred to a committee to be appointed by the Chairman, including himself and two others with power to act in the premises. The Chairman reported his appointment of a committee, composed of himself and Messrs. Shick and Wheless.

Walter S. Penfield, of Washington, D. C., then read a paper on "Central American Constitutions."

(The paper follows these minutes, page 349.)

The paper of Phanor J. Eder, of New York, on "Pan Americanism and the Bar" was then presented and ordered printed in the proceedings of the Section.

(The paper follows these minutes, page 340.)

The Treasurer's Report from Eugene C. Massie, Treasurer, showed the following:

Jan. 30, 1919, Balance on hand from preceding year.. $925.52 Expenditures during the year as follows:

Aug. 12, 1919, Jos. Wheless for subscription to

Mexican publications

$14.00

Sept. 10, 1919, Boston Book Co. for balance of
manufacturing cost of Visogothic Code...... 545.50
Sept. 10, 1919, E. B. Conant for revision of trans-

lation of Las Siete Partidas...

May 25, 1920, R. P. Shick, Petty Expenses. Leaving a balance on hand June 1, 1920....

250.00

6.36

$109.66

The Treasurer's report was duly vouched and approved by

the Section:·

On motion adjourned.

ROBERT P. SHICK, Secretary.

PAN-AMERICANISM AND THE BAR.

BY

PHANOR JAMES EDER,

OF NEW YORK.

Pan-Americanism is now an established policy of the governments of the United States and other republics of the new world. Among lawyers, no justification is needed for avoiding a definition. Suffice it to say that Pan-Americanism is but one phase, with a special geographical application, of the policy to maintain peace by fostering friendly relations with all nations of the world. Broadly speaking, it embraces all movements for the creation of better feeling among the independent republics of this hemisphere, and specifically between the United States and the Latin-American countries. Beyond this, it is based on the belief that there is a certain community of interests between the American Republics-that their own welfare and the welfare of the world will be promoted by a closer understanding and a more highly developed interplay of beneficial political, economic and intellectual forces.

The purpose of this paper is, not to argue that this is a wise policy for the American nations to pursue, but, taking that for granted, to indicate briefly the part the Bar can and should play in such a movement and some of the many advantages that would accrue from its cooperation.

A closer understanding and sincerer friendship between the three Americas can be brought about by daily contacts, of the right kind, in business, finance, travel, education, etc., than merely by official Pan-American conferences and the utterances of Governmental authorities. In business and finance, these contacts are increasing with the growth of international trade. Whether they shall bear good or evil fruit depends on the spirit and manner in which they are handled. With this growth of business between North and South America, the necessity for more frequent contacts between lawyers arises. Shall their intercourse be left haphazard, or shall some concerted action be

taken so that these professional relations, prefaced by mutual understanding and respect, will successfully and without friction accomplish results for the client in each particular instance, and at the same time will as a by-product help to establish harmonious relations between nations? In final analysis, it is these individual contacts between man and man, multiplied a thousand fold, that will make or mar Pan-Americanism, and of these individual contacts, few will be as important as those between lawyers.

In moulding public opinion in the Latin-American countries, the Bar plays a preponderating rôle, far greater than in our own country. Yet no effort has been made either to enlist the cooperation of the Bar for Pan-Americanism or to bring together the lawyers of the two hemispheres. On the contrary, antiAmerican propagandists in South America have retained the services of prominent lawyers for systematic campaigns against the United States and to deride and attack the whole idea of Pan-Americanism.

The American lawyer for his part will be derelict in his professional duty to his client if he does not prepare himself at once to cope with the expansion of our foreign trade and our new position in the world. In the field of investments and banking, especially, a wholly new era has dawned for the United States. From a debtor nation, we have become a creditor nation. From provincial bankers, dependent in the foreign field on Europe's banking system, we have become world bankers. Unprepared as we have been in these fields of foreign trade and foreign banking, still more unprepared are we for foreign law. The horizons of American business and public affairs have enlarged. The horizon of the American lawyer still lies within our own country. Expanded it must be, if he is to adequately serve his clients and his country.

The first essential of preparation is an acquaintance with the Modern Roman or Civil Law. Everyone will agree, on theoretical lines, that education in this branch of the law should form part of the curriculum of our institutions of learning, but the temper of our law schools and of our law students is such that no real headway can be made in this direction until and unless the firm conviction is reached that the course will have

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