PROCEEDINGS. pressing and important, and then to employ all proper means to have the voice of the bar of the State, speaking through us, make that measure or those measures the law or practice of our courts. By this is not meant to exclude consideration of whatever subject any member may desire to bring before us. The fullest freedom in this respect should be welcomed, especially as it is to be remembered that any considerable reform ordinarily requires more than a single year for its accomplishment. But, after all this is done, this Association should decide upon what to concentrate its influence and labors; that the most pressing public needs may, as far as in us lies, be met. The utmost freedom of debate is requisite; but if we stop with that, small substantial benefit ensues. It is as true of a body of men as of each individual that, "The man who seeks one thing in life, and but one, May hope to achieve it before life be done; But he who seeks all things, wherever he goes, Only reaps from the hopes which around him he sows, PRESIDENT HARKER: The question is now open for discussion, and the discussion may embrace suggestions as to how best to secure a larger attendance and needed legislation. MR. MATHENY: In pursuing further the subject under discussion, it may be of interest to state who we are. The Association comprises in its active membership three hundred and fifty in round numbers, of the members of the bar of the State of Illinois. It includes three judges of the Supreme Court, about one-third of the judges of the Appellate Court, and, I think, a little over half the circuit judges of the State. Its membership is about half the membership of the Bar Association of the State of New York. Next after the association in New York, the largest and most influential association in the country, I think, is that of the State of Virginia, which has a membership of about four hundred and fifty. I think next in order, comes the association of Illinois. MR. PAYNE: (Reading.) "Albany, N. Y., Jan. 21."Lawyers of greater and lesser prominence, in numbers exceed"ing a thousand, are here to take part in the annual meeting "of the State Bar Association, which opened this afternoon at "the State Capitol. The annual address will be delivered to"night by Chauncey M. Depew." PROCEEDINGS. The New York Bar Association is a vital entity. It has led one or more successful fights and has succeeded in defeating, before the people of that State, a judge who was a candidate for re-election. The trouble with this Bar Association is that it does not assert itself. It has not stood for a living principle. There are not enough young men in it. It has not determined what it wanted to do, and not having known what it desired to do, it has not been able to do anything much. We ought to adopt Davy Crockett's idea-determine upon something, as has been suggested by the last paper, and do that. It is true that we have not impressed ourselves on the history of the State. I have been present at our meetings. when we have had men here to whom I would take off my hat anywhere; such men as Trumbull, Caton, Blodgett-I could name many of them. I was proud to be here. Those men have come here and helped us. We have had active, largeminded men among the officers of our Association; for instance, Callahan, who has been present in the legislature as a member; and has been on the commission appointed for the purpose of classifying the laws. We are regarded by some as a set of impractical theorists, the chief purpose and mission of whom is to come here and read a lot of learned papers, send them out to each other, perhaps have them bound and put on the shelves. I arose to make this suggestion: First, that we have a legislative committee; second, that we take SO many of the recommendations of the President's address as we may agree upon and endeavor to secure their adoption by the legislature; not discuss or fuss about such a radical proposition as I introduced here, and for which I stand absolutely, but which is not practical. If the consensus of the opinion of the bar of this state ever comes to that proposition, then well and good. But I am nothing if not practical. MR. CREIGHTON: We have spent too much time already on impractical things. That is what is the matter with us. MR. PAYNE: That's right. We all have a lot of good things to suggest, but they all "die a-bornin'." I want to stop right here and speak on two or three concrete propostions. The next suggestion that I wish to make is that the PROCEEDINGS. judges largely compose the legislative committee, and that we take the judges who are willing to help us. The trouble about the Bar Association is, that when we approach the legislature the legislature think, and not unnaturally, that we have some axe to grind. It is made the duty of the Supreme Court to suggest such amendments as may be deemed wise. Now, if we could get a committee composed of one or two members of the Supreme Court, one or two members of the Appellate Court, and then an active practitioner, we might get something done. That is my suggestion. MR. Gross: Mr. President, I had not thought of speaking on this question. I entirely agree with the gentleman who has just taken his seat that, by reason of our position in the community, by reason of our close connection with the courts, and from the fact of our greater familiarity with the Constitution and laws of this State than any other body of men of like number, we ought to be able to exert a more powerful influence than we have exercised. I am ready to admit that this Association, in the nineteen years of its existence, has not accomplished as much as ought to have been accomplished by a State association of lawyers, when the State is the State of Illinois and the lawyers are the lawyers of Illinois. But I am not prepared to admit indeed I must antagonize the proposition advanced by the gentleman-that this Association has accomplished nothing. We have done quite a number of things, not the least of which is the education of public opinion in respect of certain reforms. The system of intermediate courts of appeal had its birth in this Association; and its crystalization into law is the direct and immediate result of the active operations of this Association through its appointed committees. Stick a pin down there. The Torrens land law, from which so much is expected, at least in Chicago, was a matter of discussion in this Association for session after session; and while, perhaps, it was not crystalized into law through the immediate instrumentality of any one or more of the committees of this Association, I undertake to say that the seed from which sprang that growth was planted here in this Association. And so I might go on and mention other matters. We have from time to time called the public attention, in the only ways in which we thought we could do it by public meetings, by PROCEEDINGS. public discussions, by formal reports from committees, by treatises from eminent members of our profession MR. PAYNE: Did we ever recommend the Torrens land law? MR. GROSS: Yes, sir. MR. PAYNE: When? If you MR. GROSS: Well, I cannot name the session. will look over the reports of this Association you will find that that proposition was born here in this Association, in the form of a report of the Committee on Law Reform. MR. PAYNE: It is not an easy task to look through the reports. MR. GROSS: I am not responsible for the ignorance of the gentlemen. Our proceedings have been published, and they have been laid on his table, as they have been laid on the tables of all of you. MR. PAYNE: I do not mean to say that Judge Hurd did not recommend it here; but there has never been any discussion on the Torrens law, and the Association has never committed itself to the Torrens law. MR. GROSS: The history of that movement is this: It had its inception here in the report of our Standing Committee on Law Reform. It was here considered and discussed, to what extent you gentlemen can remember as well as I. That was followed by the appointment of a special commission by the Governor, and that commission made its report, and so the movement went on progressing and spreading and widening until it permeated the State and affected the legislature. I do not undertake to say, nor did I when I first referred to the subject, that this Association is directly responsible for that law; indeed I qualified my statement by saying that I did not claim that that act was brought about by the direct interposition of a committee of this Association. What I claim is this: That that movement had its inception here; and whatever there is in it that is good-and I hope it will prove as beneficent as its most ardent adherents expectwe are entitled to the credit for; and it ill-becomes a member PROCEEDINGS. of this Association to belittle the earnest efforts that have been from year to year on the part of other members. I know what the trouble is, and so do you. The trouble is this that in order to impress ourselves upon the legislature and shape legislation requires constant attention and persistent pushing. No single gentleman takes such a labor as that upon his shoulders of his own motion. This Association has never said to its committees: "Go and do this thing. Here are the funds to defray your expenses." In my judg ment, if we had a fund, a treasury, to draw upon, we might to-day impress ourselves upon the legislature as we never have done before. You gentlemen in Chicago, with your immense population, with your great aggregation of wealth, with your powerful influences, are able to touch the springs that will put money into the hands of your committees; you can send them down to the legislature; you can pay their traveling expenses, their hotel bills and their current expenses. I am not speaking of corruption funds; I am speaking of the legitimate expenses of gentlemen who cannot afford to give up their time for the public good. You are able to come down here and accomplish much. We can do it if we put ourselves in the same position. I ask gentlemen who belittle what we have done I ask gentlemen who claim to be "practical" mento mark on a sheet of paper a program that will produce re sults. The gentleman says this Association is an association of theorists and idealists; that what we lack is practicability. I ask the gentleman, or any other gentleman on this floor, to mark out a program that is practicable, and see how quick we will adopt it. MR. PAYNE Judge Gross, I did not say what you have attributed to me. MR. WILLIAMS: I wish there would not be so much interruption of the speaker. MR. GROSS: It does not disturb me; I have practiced law too long to be disturbed in that way. MR. PAYNE: I said we were regarded as impractical. MR. GROSS: I must do the gentleman justice. He has stated what he said. I accept that statement. I understood the position he occupied at the moment he was speaking to |