ADDRESS OF HON. C. A. WOODS, President of the Association LAWLESSNESS AND PATRIOTISM Gentlemen of the Bar Association: To the people of our State, 1902 was a year of prosperity and progress. Harvests were abundant, prices good, and great impetus was given to industrial enterprise. Best of all, the increase in intellectual endeavor and of patriotic effort by our people for higher standards and broader views has more than kept pace with the well earned increment of their material wealth. Unless all precedents have failed, it is safe to assume that you, my brethren of the Bar, have not been despoiled of at least your just share of this material prosperity and abundance. And it is certain that true to all history of your profession from the earliest times to the present, as you were in the forefront of battle in the dreary days still fresh in our memory, you are now advancing with the foremost of those who are striving for broader life and better citizenship in our State and country. Laying aside the cares of life and coming to this delightful professional communion, we may well rejoice that we meet in the midst of an advancing and happy people. For happiest of all peoples are those who are rising from adversity and darkness, which came without dishonor, into prosperity and light, which they have won with their own right arms. The growth of this Association in numbers and interest is a striking evidence of the improved conditions under which we live. I trust that after you have heard the address of your distinguished annual orator, the reports of your Committees, and the discussions |