Judge William H. Fish, the Chief Justice of our Supreme Court, has requested that announcement be made of his sincere regret at not being able to be present at this meeting. He had expected to be present, but at the last moment he was prevented from being here on account of the serious illness of his wife. Col. A. R. Lawton, of Savannah: What are the hours of the meeting, and by what time? Judge Powell: Eastern time will be observed. The Committee decided that we would follow Savannah time which is one hour faster than Georgia time. (Laughter.) This afternoon the Association will meet at 4.00 o'clock by Savannah time, which is 3.00 o'clock by the time of the rest of the world. (Laughter.) The President: Following the program as outlined by the Chairman of your Executive Committee the next in order is the President's Address. I will ask your indulgence for a few moments. (For the Address of President Owens, see page 63.) The President: I think that completes the program, as outlined by your Executive Committee, with the exception of having our beauty struck at the hotel. However, Mr. Alston wishes to hold the meeting in session for a moment. Mr. R. C. Alston, of Atlanta: I move the adoption of the following resolution: "BE IT RESOLVED by the Georgia Bar Association in meeting assembled that the Legislature of the State of Georgia be, and it hereby is, respectfully requested to enact such laws as may be necessary to enable women to be admitted to practice law upon the same terms and conditions as apply to men.' (Applause.) Mr. L. Z. Rosser, of Atlanta: We have been afflicted with that every year. Mr. Alston: If I may, I would like to speak a word to that resolution. Mr. Rosser: Wait till everybody gets here, Bob. Let's not have any "gag" law, even on the woman question. The President: As the resolution was seconded, the matter is open for discussion. Mr. Rosser: Why not wait till to-morrow? I move we lay it on the table till to-morrow, and take it up to-morrow. Judge S. B. Adams, of Savannah: I second the motion. Mr. Alston: A motion to lay on the table till a definite time is debatable. Mr. Rosser: Well, I'll put it on the table indefinitely, if you want me to. Mr. Alston: If this will be deferred until a time certain, I will be very glad to yield to the suggestion; but the first matter on the program to-morrow morning is the address of the visitor. Suppose we put it for this afternoon. Mr. Rosser: Wait till any time to-morrow. Judge Adams: We will have a larger attendance to morrow. Mr. Alston: We have an attendance here now that is sufficient. I have been asked to introduce the like of this resolution by the Equal Suffrage party of Georgia. Mr. Rosser: Oh, my God, it's getting worse and worse! Mr. Alston: There are only three States of the Union, which withhold this law. They are Georgia, Arkansas, and West Virginia. Mr. Rosser: Well, they belong to an honor roll. Mr. Alston: I do not think that is very good company for Georgia. I think the greatest State East of the Mississippi River deserves a better classification than that. Mr. Rosser: I understand that, while the motion to table is debatable, the idea is to debate the question of putting it on the table. It is not to debate the question, and I call him to order. Mr. Alston: I do not know how you can debate the question of putting it on the table without discussing whether or not the matter is meritorious. The President: The merits of the original motion cannot be debated on the question of laying on the table. Mr. Alston: I do not concede that, because I do not see how we can come to a fair conclusion on the question of tabling to a time certain without considering the merits of it. Mr. Rosser: And he is a lawyer, too. Mr. Roland Ellis, of Macon: Do not the rules provide for the commitment of resolutions: Mr. John M. Slaton, of Atlanta: I should think we could commit. Mr. Alston: There is a motion before the house to table it until to-morrow morning. Mr. Ellis: You cannot table a motion to a time certain. I move we commit this to the Executive Committee with the request for the appointment of some stated time and place. for its discussion and action. Judge A. G. Powell, of Atlanta: To-morrow morning the address of Mr. Carson will in all probability be the last thing for the morning session. That would give us some time tomorrow morning which we might devote to this purpose. The attendance will undoubtedly be larger to-morrow than it is to-day. I merely make that as a suggestion. We will be glad to put it on as a special order to-morrow morning at 11.00 o'clock. Mr. Alston: I rise to a point of order on Mr. Ellis' motion: there was a motion already before the house. Mr. Ellis: That motion was entirely out of order because under no sort of parliamentary practice can you table a motion to a time certain; and you cannot table the resolution until to-morrow morning. Mr. Slaton: Mr. Alston has no right to bring that motion before this body at this time at all, because the program has been arranged. The Executive Committee has arranged what is to be done this morning, and he has no right to bring a matter before this body without the body being informed in advance of what is coming up. We might as well bring the matter of where we are going to meet next year. This up not being under the head of general business, or new business, or unfinished business, is out of order. Mr. Alston: Suppose we wanted to now determine when and where we would meet next time, why should we not do it now? Mr. Slaton: Because the Executive Committee has the power to Mr. N. L. Hutchins, Jr., of Lawrenceville, interrupting: The business of the morning session having been completed, I move that we do now adjourn until 4.00 o'clock, Savannah time, this afternoon. This motion was seconded and put to a vote. The Chair was in doubt as to the result. Division was called for, and the motion was declared carried by a vote of 42 to 24. The morning session was then adjourned. AFTERNOON SESSION, JUNE 1, 1916. The afternoon session was called to order at 4.00 o'clock, Savannah time, President Owens in the Chair. The President: The meeting will please come to order. Judge A. G. Powell, of Atlanta: The Executive Committee presents to the Association for election to membership the names of W. A. Dodson_ _Americus. R. L. Maynard ._Americus. It is necessary that they shall be elected by ballot of the Association, as they are recommended by the Executive Committee while the Association is in session. Mr. T. M. Cunningham, of Savannah: I move that the rules be suspended, and that the Secretary be instructed to cast the ballot of the Association for these applicants. This motion was seconded and carried, and the Secretary cast the ballot of the Association electing the applicants. Judge A. G. Powell, of Atlanta: The next order of business for this afternoon is the report of Treasurer Harrison This report has been audited by the Executive Committee, and there are one or two things we would like further information about. We notice a small bill for near-beer. We wish to know if that is still on hand. We notice also an item of expense for the relief of the "Spring Court." We want to know if that means "Spring Chicken Court." The Treasurer, Mr. Z. D. Harrison, of Atlanta: It is quite evident that the interest of the Chairman of the Executive Committee in this report depends entirely upon the transcript in the report of sundry matters of incidental expense. From this report it appears that the balance on hand on June 3, 1915, was $1,502.69; collected since that date, $1,905.00; disbursements, $1,843.61. Unless some one else other than the Chairman of the Executive Committee calls for the specification of those disbursements, I will omit the reading. The balance on hand June 1, 1916, is $1,564.08, which is ample to give the Chairman of the Executive Committee and his friends all the pleasure that I hope they will expect. (Laughter.) Mr. Robert W. Barnes, of Macon: I move that the report be accepted. The motion was seconded and carried. Judge Powell: It is expected to spend some part of that balance on the pleasure of this body before the week is over. (For the Treasurer's report, see page 370.) Judge Powell: The by-laws provide for the appointment at this time of a Nominating Committee consisting of five members. Mr. President, we might get through with that before we take up the papers. The President: The Chair appoints on that Committee: L. Z. Rosser, Chairman_ Sam S. Bennet_. T. M. Cunningham_ Roland Ellis S. H. Sibley_. _Atlanta. Albany. __Savannah. Macon. Union Point. |