EVENING' SESSION.

8:30 O'clock-Opera House.

Mr. Combs Ladies and gentlemen: The time for the resumption of our program has arrived. The next feature is the annual address. This is merely a continuation of the regular program of the association for this meet. Judge Ellsworth, will you kindly introduce the speaker?

Judge Ellsworth: Gentlemen of the association. On an evening like this when the temperature is soaring up into the 90s or above it is somewhat refreshing to have a cool subject. To those of us who are familiar with the many rapid changes of the present time it can hardly be other than refreshing to know that the principles upon which our line of work are based are not of the kind that change with the rapidly moving spirit of the times.

We have with us this evening an attorney of forty years or more experience, a text writer of note, a lecturer and instructor in the John Marshall Law School of Chicago, Illinois, and I take great pleasure in introducing to vou Mr. W. T. Hughes, of Chicago, who will speak upon the immutable principles of jurisprudence.

AUGUST 13, 1909.

Morning Session, 10 O'clock.

After the meeting was called to order Mr. Hughes resumed and concluded his address. (For address see appendix.)

Mr. Wright: I desire at this time to move that the unanimous thanks of this convention be extended to Judge Hughes for his scholarly and instructive lecture and that this expression be placed in more permanent form before this convention adjourns.

Mr. Thomas: Second the motion.

Mr. Combs: I suggest that the address be printed in the proceedings of our association.

(Motion is carried.)

Mr. Winterer: Mr. President.

The President: Mr. Winterer.

Mr. Winterer: Owing to the fact that there are a number of attorneys that seek to return this afternoon on the trains and there may be a lengthy discussion on the report we had under discussion yesterday, I believe it is advisable to dispense with the regular order of business at this time to give all an opportunity to participate in that discussion.

The President: I understand a motion will be made to refer this report to a committee to draft bills in accordance with the recommendations of the standing committee.

Mr. Greene: I move that the report of the committee on jurisprudence and law reform be referred to a standing committee which is to be appointed to draft bills in accordance with the recommendations of the committee and report at the next annual meeting such bills as may have been prepared.

Mr. Wright: I second the motion.

Mr. Greene: Inasmuch as the next annual session of this association will be held some months before the convening of the next legislative assembly and owing to the fact we have so many things still to do and the time is so short, I believe we will all profit more by this action for the reason that we will have such bills as may be framed by this standing committee then for discussion, and in the meantime those interested in the subject can refer to such committee and can give suggestions and we will be in better position to discuss and determine at that time what shall be done.

Motion is carried.

The President: The next order of business is the election of officers.

Mr. Greene: Mr. President, I desire to place in nomination for the office of president of this association for the ensuing year a gentleman who is known to every member of the bar of this state, a man of ability and integrity and a man who will lend distinction and credit to the office. I take great pleasure in nominating the gentleman because of his unwavering lovalty and his labors in the interests of the Bar Association of North Dakota, and the man whom I name is Lee Combs of Valley City.

The nomination is seconded and the motion carried and Mr. Lee Combs is declared unanimously elected.

Mr. Wright: In choosing a vice president (which I suppose is the next thing in order) if we pursue the practice which has been followed heretofore including the action just taken by this association, we are likewise choosing the president for the year which is to succeed the one we are now entering.

We must therefore take into consideration the qualifications of our proposed vice president for the chief executive position of the association. I desire to place in nomination one whose interest in the affairs of this body has not been less than that of the man we have just elected to the highest office, and without further comment because his qualifications are known not merely to the members of this association present but to every lawyer in the state, I want to present the name of Andrew A. Bruce of Grand Forks.

The nomination is seconded and Mr. Andrew A. Bruce is declared elected after the motion was carried unanimously.

Mr. Combs: Mr. President.

The President: Mr. Combs.

I suppose the next thing in order is the election of secretary and treasurer. Gentlemen of the association, I think perhaps none of you

are better able to speak of the work and services of our present secretary and treasurer than I am.

I fortunately was reared in the same bailiwick in which he was brought up. I know him to have been a boy of good standing and character and no little ability. Since he has been with us here in North Dakota you have learned to know as well as I knew him and can endorse what I said touching his character and ability. No person could be selected in my judgment from among our members who could better fill during the ensuing year the offices of secretary and treasurer. In view of the fact that it was rumored or suggested by him that he might not be able to be with us another year I sought him out and discussed the matter with him. He said that he was a 'Barkis' and while he may not be with us the entire year, nevertheless, if this association in the teeth of what he has said touching his possible removal from this state sees fit to elect him he will accept the office and perform the duties during the time he is here, and if he determines to leave he will announce his departure early enough to enable the executive committee to fill his place during the time to elapse before the next meeting.

I therefore with great pleasure and with the hope that you will endorse the nomination place before you the name of Mr. W. H. Thomas for secretary and treasurer of this association for the ensuing year.

Mr. Lambert: Mr. President, I expect to vote for Mr. Thomas, but we have heard a good deal about choked conventions and I think it would not be out of place to ask whether there is anybody else to be nominated.

Mr. Bronson: I move that the nominations be closed.

Motion is seconded and carried.

Motion is put upon the nomination of Mr. Thomas for secretary and treasurer and is carried and Mr. Thomas is declared unanimously elected.

Mr. Christianson: There is a matter I have been thinking of in connection with the duties of the secretary of this association. We heard the secretary's report yesterday and I believe we realize all of us the extraordinary amount of work there is for the secretary to perform. It hardly seems to me that this association can afford to ask Mr. Thomas to continue to do the work he has done at the inadequate conpensation he has been paid.

I therefore move you, Mr. President, that the secretary's salary for the ensuing year be raised to $500.

Mr. Lambert: Second the motion.

Mr. Wright: I believe that $500 would be a small enough compensation for the secretary but we must have regard for our resources. It seems to me that we had better not make it quite so high at this time. The secretary and treasurer will be charged with the duty of collecting his own salary and we don't want to add any burdens to what he has already to perform.

I offer an amendment to this motion that the salary of the secretary and treasurer be increased $100, that will make it $350—no, raise it to $400.

Mr. Christianson: I will consent to the amendment.

Motion as amended is carried.

Mr. Knauf: In view of some of the remarks that have been made I want to move that insofar as the constitution and by-laws of the association conflict with the motion I am about to make they be declared of no effect and that the executive committee of this association be empowered to fill any vacancy in any office that may occur during the next year. I will make that as a motion.

Motion is seconded and carried.

The President: Mr. Thomas calls my attention to the matter of the appointment of a committee on resolutions. How shall it be appointed?

Mr. Thomas: By the chair.

The President: How many shall it consist of?

Mr. Greene: Of three members.

The President: I will appoint on that committee the following: Senator Koffel, Mr. Stutsman and Mr. Wartner.

Mr. Combs: I suggest to the committee appointed on resolutions they bear in mind the propriety and advisability of reporting back a resolution concerning the hospitable manner in which the Ward County Bar has entertained and proposes to entertain us.

The President: I think they ought to refer to that especially. Mr. Wright: I suppose they will cover all those matters and also the matter mentioned this morning with reference to Mr. Hughes. Mr. Thomas then announced that arrangements had been made with a photographer to have a group picture taken of the members present at this meeting.

Mr. Greene: I want to move that it be made the duty of each member of the new executive committee by correspondence and by other means diligently to communicate with each of the attorneys within his district to the end that they become members of this association.

The motion is seconded and carried.

Mr. Bronson: Under the head of unfinished business if it is in order I wish again to refer to the subject matter of my remarks yesterday and that is the recognition by this association of the necessity of a legislative bureau. I think the proper manner in which to take it up is to refer it to the standing committee on jurisprudence and law reform to report at the next meeting.

Senator Koffel had a bill at the last legislature covering the matter to some extent which passed both houses and was vetoed by the governor. It is of immense importance and after hearing Mr. Hughes on the trilogy of procedure and the necessity of going back to fundamentals we can readily see in the manner in which many

enactments are presented to us a lack of fundamental principles. The legislative bureau is today being recognized throughout the country as a proper instrumentality for effecting code reformation and code simplification.

I therefore move you, Mr. Chairman, that the feasibility of drafting a bill for providing for a legislative bureau be referred to the committee on jurisprudence and law reform to report at the next annual meeting.

Motion is seconded and carried.

Mr. Wright: This association had already disposed of the report of the committee on jurisprudence and law reform for the time being but the suggestion I am about to make it seems to me to be necessary if one part of this report is to be given any effect in time to be of service to the next legislative assembly.

I refer to section 2 of the recommendations coming under the head of the political code which recommends the appointment of a special committee to be carefully selected of those members who are sufficiently interested in the subject to give to it the requisite time and attention, to prepare an appropriate measure for submission to this body at its next annual meeting.

On this subject this committee has suggested that the committee should carefully investigate similar laws of other states and observe the effects of their operation in those cities where they are in force. These should be considered with special reference to the provisions of our own constitution. We believe that the committee should freely cooperate with citizens and with committees of other voluntary organizations having similar objects, to the end that the bill which they shall propose may embody the results of the best thought and experience of the country upon this important subject. The necessary expenses of the committee should be allowed by the association and provision should be made for their payment from time to time as they

accrue.

This is already referred to a committee whose duties are almost entirely ministerial, that is to say, to draft bills. With the multitude of subjects they will have to consider I do not think they can do the work. I move that subdivision 2 be adopted and that a committee be appointed for that specific purpose.

The motion is seconded and carried.

Mr. Wright: I think we better have five members of this committee.

The President: In view of the fact that Mr. Combs has been elected president of this association for the ensuing year, I think he had better appoint the members of the committee.

Mr. Combs: In view of the fact that the report of the committee on Jurisprudence and Law Reform has been presented to us in such an able, comprehensive and intelligible manner, I want to call your special attention to the same. I mention this because I believe it is