SUMMARY OF THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE THIRTYFIRST ANNUAL CONFERENCE. The Thirty-first Annual Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws was held in Cincinnati, Ohio, August 24 to 30, 1921. Forty-one jurisdictions were represented. The names of these jurisdictions and of the Commissioners representing them are given on page 703. The Conference was called to order by President Stockbridge. The following program, with some modifications, was carried out and completed on Monday, August 29, thirteen sessions being held. At six o'clock on Saturday, August 27, the Commissioners were entertained at a complimentary dinner given by the Cincinnati Bar Association, and in the evening attended a theatre party as guests of this Association. PROGRAM. WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 24. 10.00 A. M. Meeting of the Executive Committee. 2.00 P. M. FIRST SESSION. Address of Welcome. Response of the President. Roll Call. Reading of the Minutes of the Last Meeting. Address by President Henry Stockbridge. Report of the Secretary. Report of the Treasurer. Report of the Executive Committee. Appointment of Nominating Committee. Appointment of Auditing Committee. 8.00 P. M. SECOND SESSION. Reports of Standing Committees: Scope and Program Committee. Publicity Committee. Legislative Committee. Committee on Appointment of and Attendance by Commissioners. Presentation and consideration of the reports of the following special committees not presenting drafts of Acts: Insurance. Prohibition. Drug Law. Securing Compulsory Attendance of Non-Resident Witnesses in Automobile Legislation. One Day's Rest in Seven. Depositions and Proof of Statutes. Tribunal to Settle Industrial Disputes. Cooperation with the American Judicature Society. Cooperation with the American Institute of Criminal Law and Uniformity of Judicial Decisions. Occupational Diseases. Registration of Title to Land. Primary Law for Federal Officers. Marking and Labeling. Marriage and Divorce. Report of Nominating Committee. THURSDAY, AUGUST 25. 9.30 A. M. THIRD SESSION. Consideration of Eighth Tentative Draft of a Uniform Incorporation Act. 2.00 P. M. FOURTH SESSION. Consideration of Eighth Tentative Draft of a Uniform Incorporation Act. 8.00 P. M. FIFTH SESSION. Consideration of Eighth Tentative Draft of a Uniform Incorporation Act. Report of Commercial Law Committee on amendments to the Report of Commercial Law Committee on a Blue Sky Law. FRIDAY, AUGUST 26. 9.30 A. M. SIXTH SESSION. Consideration of First Tentative Draft of a Uniform Fiduciaries Act. 2.00 P. M. SEVENTH SESSION. Consideration of First Tentative Draft of a Uniform Fiduciaries Act. 8.00 P. M. EIGHTH SESSION. Consideration of First Tentative Draft of an Act relating to the Status and Protection of Illegitimate Children. SATURDAY, AUgust 27. 9.30 A. M. NINTH SESSION. Consideration of Second Tentative Draft of a Uniform Declaratory Judgments Act. 2.00 P. M. TENTH SESSION. Consideration of Second Tentative Draft of a Uniform Declaratory Judgments Act. MONDAY, AUGUST 29. 9.30 A. M. ELEVENTH SESSION. Consideration of First Tentative Draft of a Uniform Mortgage Act. 2.00 P. M. TWELFTH SESSION. Consideration of First Tentative Draft of a Uniform Aviation Act. 8.00 P. M. THIRTEENTH SESSION. Consideration of Report of the Committee on Compacts Between States. TUESDAY, AUGUST 30. 9.30 A. M. FOURTEENTH SESSION. Unfinished Business. Reports were received from the Secretary, the Treasurer, and the several standing committees. The report of the Committee on the Appointment of and Attendance by Commissioners, showed a change in the personnel of the Conference since the last meeting. These changes are indicated in the table on page 704. According to the report of the Legislative Committee, there were twenty-four adoptions of the Uniform Acts in 1921 as follows: ARIZONA.-Warehouse Receipts Act; Bills of Lading Act; Foreign Deposi- MICHIGAN.-Proof of Statutes Act; Foreign Depositions Act. NEVADA. Foreign Depositions Act; Proof of Statutes Act. PENNSYLVANIA.-Proof of Statutes Act; Foreign Depositions Act; Fraudulent Conveyances Act. SOUTH DAKOTA.-Sales Act; Stock Transfer Act; Extradition Act; Foreign Depositions Act. TENNESSEE.-Foreign Acknowledgments Act. UTAH.-Partnership Act; Limited Partnership Act. WEST VIRGINIA.-Conditional Sales Act. A complete table showing all the acts promulgated by the Conference and the extent to which they have been adopted in in the various states is shown on page 713. The Committee on Scope and Program reported that a very large number of subjects had been submitted to it by various persons and organizations urging that these subjects be recommended to the Conference for action. The Committee, however, after considering all these subjects and submitting a list of them to the Conference, recommended that only one new matter be taken up at this time, namely, a uniform law of procedure governing the requisition of persons charged with crime. The following drafts of acts were presented by the committees having these subjects in charge: First Tentative Draft of an Act relating to the Status and Protection of Illegitimate Children. First Tentative Draft of a Uniform Fiduciaries Act. Second Tenative Draft of a Uniform Declaratory Judgments Act. Eighth Tentative Draft of a Uniform Incorporation Act. First Tentative Draft of a Uniform Aviation Act. These drafts were fully discussed, section by section, and after such discussion were, with various amendments and suggestions, referred back to the respective committees for further consideration and report. The Conference did not finally approve any act. The Committee on Commercial Law reported on the need of harmonizing certain inconsistent provisions in regard to the extent of the negotiability of warehouse receipts, bills of lading, stock receipts, and other documents of title in the various uniform acts. The committee recommended that in view of the fact that in the Uniform Bills of Lading Act and the Uniform Stock Transfer Act complete negotiability is given to bills of lading and stock certificates, the principle of complete negotiability should be adopted for documents of title dealt with in the Uniform Sales Act and in the Uniform Warehouse Receipts Act. The recommendation was discussed at length and referred back to the committee for further consideration and report. Likewise the recommendation of the committee that the Warehouse Receipts Act be amended so as to make the act consistent with the Bills of Lading Act as to the liability of the principal for bills of lading or warehouse receipts issued by an agent where no goods were received was discussed and referred back to the committee for further consideration and report. The Committee on Commercial Law also recommended that inasmuch as thirty-eight states now have blue sky laws the committee should be authorized to draft and submit to the Conference a uniform act on that subject. This recommendation was approved. The Committee on Interstate Compacts presented an extensive report discussing the following matters: 1. Practical need of interstate compacts as a means of promoting uniformity. 2. Constitutionality of interstate compacts. 3. Specific modes of making use of interstate compacts. 4. Proposed forms of interstate compacts. 5. Proposed action by the Conference to give effect to its views. The following recommendations of the committee were approved and the general subject referred back to the committee for further investigation and report: First. That each State Commission be directed to present copies of this Report to the Governor of the State with the request that the attention of the Attorney-General and of the Legislature's Committees on Uniform State Laws be given to the practical possibilities of the use of State Compacts for securing harmony and uniformity of action between states. Second. That the President of the Conference be directed to present copies of this Report to the President of the United States, to the Secretary of State of the United States, and to the Committees on Foreign Affairs and on Interstate and Foreign Commerce of the U. S. Senate and House of Representatives, with the request that in future international conferences and negotiations affecting commercial interests, arrangements be made for securing the cooperation and assent of the several states in matters not exclusively within the specific federal powers under the Constitution. Third. That two thousand copies of this Report be printed and distributed to such associations of national scope as may be |