&FICE OFTHE A’ITORNEY GENERAL• FTEXAB 

AUSTIN 

Hon. Joe IWneahik, Commlaeloner 

Bureau or Labor Statlatlos 

Auetln, Tesae 

Dear 8lrt 

nature and 

be made., /i\ 1, ,v 

rriae rfth your 

t4nng desoribed 

1999, ia a 

deted September 7, 1939, 

, above quoted, merely 

or September 6, 1939, 

in, pertainin(J to the 

II &vain, were state business pUrpoee8, 

aocordanowwlth the provision Oz Senate 

lar ~e88ion, 45th bgiektture. ‘fhe QU~Snot the meeting to be attended by eueh 

at that tlme* 

*oonvention* wee not submitted by you 

henae your inquiry of %vember 15, 2939, 

quoted above. 

Prseumably, your request is prompted by the provleione oi the rlder to the departmental appropriation bill, 

or the 48th L@elature, whloh reeds: 

“No moniee herein appropriated shall ever 

_..~ . --. 

_ __ ,. _.. . __ _ __ _-- 

__... ~. -. .- 

---” . . . . . ..-. -+...-*------ 

--..-- .- 

_-__ - . . ..-.. 
428 

Ron. Joe Kunsabik, Comml~sion8r, Page 2 

be spent to pay the traveling expense of any 

State employee to any type of convention within the State or without the State." 

AeoonWtgly, our answer to the question propounded by you Is in the light of suah enaotment. 

The meeting attended by kr. Swain, the subject 

matter or your Inquiry, had the rollowlng oharaoterfstics: 

(1) It was th annual meeting of the National 

Boxlng Assooiation and the Wational Wm& l~ngAssociatiou, 

and oonvened in WashIngton, p. C., Septein % er 11, 12 and 

13, 19%; (2) it was attauQ8Q by the membem and repmsentatives or these assooldtlons; (3) the a sociations were 

existing organizations prior to the mee *\ lng; (4) such a 

meetingwas annually held by the asaoolatfon; (5) the 

purposes of the neeting were ocnmnon to the members of the 

assooiations; (6) ssssldns and seminars wem helQ, at 

which xnattera oowuonto the associations and to the members thereof, nem QlscusseQ) (71 proposals brought before 

the meeting worn subjeot to being voted upon by the mpmsedatives In~attendanae. 

The popular meaning of the word voonvention* via 

that, generally, or a meeting or members or representatives 

or delegates of.private orga&zations,.pa~les, olubs; 

sooietles, assoulations, and the like, for the aaocmplishnmnt or objeotlves oonmon to all, Indeed, Webster's New 

International Dictionary defines ~a *oonventlon" to be: 

"A body or assembly of persons meeting 

for 80~18 oommon purpos19.n 

Likewise, "a 'oonvention' is an organized body 

of delegates or representatives assembled for some speairied purp0se.i.. The word *oonventlon* as employed in 

thla country in coauaon usage in statutes, political history, 

and oiril government, means and laplies a representative 

gathering or ,assemblage...." Stete vs. Giitord, 126 Pao. 

1060, 1064. 
429 

Eon. Joe Kunschlk, Commlssloner, Page 3 

WIthout doubt, in our opinion, the annual 

n!,eetlng of the national Boxing Asswiation an8 the 

%tional Treatllng Uaoelatlon, whloh convened in 

Washington, D., C., September 11, 12 ant¶ 13, 1939 was 

a naonvention*, withia the punier or the legislative 

snsotment set out above. It matters not ii suoh snnusl 

gathering was aalled a meeting, or a oonferenoe, or an 

asserably, or words or like wage, the distlngulshfng 

aharaot8ristios of a ?lonventionw wera present and oonalusively resolve the question. 

very truly yours