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tribute to him all the time, because I am prouder and prouder of that Louisiana Purchase; and for that reason, if for no other, notwithstanding I live in a common-law state, if I understand the resolution I shall oppose it. The source of the common law of England, as Blackstone once said, is as impossible to discover as it is to discover the source of the Nile. The source of the Nile has long since been discovered.

The President (interposing):

He was quoting from Sir Matthew Hale. That was not his own view.

D. L. King:

The question is, Shall we stick to those old things that were born in the babyhood of the world, and pass a resolution here adopting the English code virtually? I realize the fact that we live under the English law, but we are curtailing the English law as rapidly as possible. To be plain about it, I am in favor of taking all the good that the English law has, and all the good that the French law has, and incorporating them and calling them American law.

What we want is an American law that is applicable and enforceable all over this union. The Louisiana law is patterned after the Napoleon code, as you all know.

The motion was then put and carried.

(For Report, see July Journal, page 420.)

Levi Cooke, of the District of Columbia:

Mr. President, I have a matter which I wish to lay before the Association. It is in the form of the following resolution:

"Resolved, That it is the sense of the American Bar Association that the Congress of the United States should increase the compensation and allowance for travel of grand and petit jurors of the District Courts of the United States, in order that they may meet the present increased cost of travel, subsistence and lodging."

This is a matter which is going to be of very vital importance. The present allowance for federal jurors, serving either as members of the Grand Jury or as members of the petit jury, is $3 a

day. That was fixed by the Act of June 21, 1902, and then the pay was increased from $2 a day to $3 a day. But we all know that is entirely inadequate at the present time.

The President:

As presiding officer of the Executive Committee I think I ought to say that many meritorious suggestions are made from time to time, which the Executive Committee on reflection consider that they cannot treat as being within their province. Here is a matter which affects legislation that Congress is called upon to pass, a fee bill. I think we will be getting into a wide field of detail. This matter, as it strikes me, without giving it very profound consideration, is a matter for the federal judges themselves to take cognizance of. Of course, grand and petit juries are absolutely essential to the administration of justice, and without their presence the court cannot function. Whether it is wise for this Association, which represents the entire union, to recommend as an expression of our opinion, that legislation should be passed by Congress on a subject matter of detail, I am in doubt about. However, I am not expressing any view either for or against it, and I will put the question if the resolution is pressed.

Frederick E. Wadhams:

Would not the proper place for the resolution be the Committee on Jurisprudence and Law Reform?

The President:

I think it would, sir.

William L. January, of Michigan:

I move that the resolution be referred to the Committee on Jurisprudence and Law Reform.

Levi Cooke:

I should deplore that any resolution of mine should cause any embarrassment to the Association. You have suggested that this is a matter which the courts may well take up. I have been told by three or four of the United States district judges that unless the Bar does something about this the condition would continue to be more aggravated even than it is now. The

judges are disinclined to address Congress on any subject; they would almost starve to death if the lawyers did not take up the matter of an increase in their salaries. Now, the present increase in railroad fares is going to cause more and more embarrassment to jurors every day for the next 12 months, and Congress should. act and act at once. If the American Bar Association cannot make this a matter of preference and consideration, why, Congress may well say, if the lawyers of the country do not see the necessity of this, what is the use of our bothering with it?

Edward Q. Keasby:

May I ask if there is any difference in principle between this matter and the legislation by this Association for the increase of pay for the federal judges?

Hollis R. Bailey:

I rise to a point of order and suggest that under the Constitution and By-Laws of this Association the resolution must of necessity be referred to the Executive Committee; then they, in their discretion may refer it to the proper committee. I make that point of order, Mr. President.

The President:

The Chair sustains the point of order, and the resolution is referred to the Executive Committee.

There being no further business, I declare the meeting adjourned, and the forty-third annual gathering of our Association will come to an end with the banquet this evening.

Adjourned sine die.

W. THOMAS KEMP,

Secretary.

SECRETARY'S REPORT

ST. LOUIS, MO., August 25, 1920.

To the American Bar Association:

The Report of the Proceedings of the last annual meeting of the Association has been printed and distributed to all members, to all state bar associations and to legal journals and libraries, both in the United States and abroad.

There were 11,243 active and 14 honorary members at the date of publication of the 1919 Report. There have since been 277 deaths and resignations, and the proposal of 778 new active members and one honorary member, all of whom have been elected by the Executive Committee.

The membership includes representatives of all the states, of the District of Columbia, and of the insular possessions of Hawaii, Porto Rico and the Philippines.

There are now in existence 47 state bar associations, and also the Bar Association of the District of Columbia, and the Bar Association of Hawaii. In addition there are more than 900 local bar associations of which we have record.

The Secretary has endeavored to keep in close touch with the state organizations during the year. In lieu of invitations as formerly issued to state bar associations for appointment of three delegates to the annual meeting, invitations are now issued by the Committee on Co-operation among state and local bar associations to each state association to send three delegates and to each local association to send two delegates to the Conference of Delegates from bar associations, the delegates also to represent their respective associations at the meeting of the Association.

The Secretary has continued to supply, upon request, copies of the Canons of Professional Ethics; 1315 copies have been distributed since the last annual meeting.

Notices were duly sent by the Secretary to all standing and special committees, requesting attention to matters particularly referred to them.

The order of exercises for the meeting and the reports of certain committees for the year 1919-1920 were printed in the July number of the JOURNAL of the Association, which issued to members more than thirty days in advance of the meeting. The reports are as follows:

Standing Committees.-Admiralty and Maritime Law, Commerce, Trade and Commercial Law, Insurance Law, International Law, Jurisprudence and Law Reform, and Publicity.

Special Committees.-Change of Date of Presidential Inauguration, Classification and Restatement of the Law, Finance, Legislative Drafting, and Uniform Judicial Procedure.

Sections, Allied Bodies, etc.-Section of Patent, Trade-Mark and Copyright Law, and Uniform State Laws.

In addition to the foregoing the report of the Committee on Professional Ethics and Grievances has been filed since the issuance of the JOURNAL; this report has been printed and copies may be had at the office of the Secretary, Statler Hotel.

The report of the Committee on Jurisprudence and Law Reform has been revised since its publication in the JOURNAL, and copies of the revised report may also be had at the Secretary's office.

The quarterly JOURNAL has now issued three numbers in its sixth year. The Secretary's office has had charge of the details of the printing and issuance of the JOURNAL, and has co-operated with the Chairman of the Committee on Publications. The JOURNAL exchange list is growing, and more than 60 libraries now subscribe through the Association, a number of others receiving the JOURNAL through the Section of Comparative Law.

In response to a growing demand, and by direction of the Executive Committee, the Secretary has re-arranged the geographical list of members by cities and counties, instead of merely by states as formerly, and has inserted opposite the name of each member the date of his election. Proofs of the new list may be seen at the Secretary's office. The new list will appear in the next annual volume of the Association Reports.

The Secretary has received during the year reports of the various state bar associations, and a number of other books, all of which have been acknowledged through the JOURNAL.

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