The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1890-10-30
RICHMOND LAWYERS.
ANNUAL MEETING OF THE BAR
ASSOCIATION.

lbe hlchnOnu bar As-OclatlOn uclu al
important meeting at their rooms, over the
Merchants National Bank, at O'Clock last
evening.
After trsnsacting the usual routine bust.
ness and hearing the reports of the stand
ing committees, the Association, with deep
interest, heard the annual address Of the
president, Preston Cooke, Esq.
ADDRESS OF THE PRESIDENT.
Following is the complete text Of the adj
dress Of the president;
Gentlemen, members Of the Bar Associa-
ton Of the city Of Richmond;
One of the bylaws Of this Association d.
reefs Chat it shall be the duty OF the presi
lent AT the stated meeting in May Of each
year 10 deliver an address to the Associa-
lion. giving a resume Of the legislation OF
general character passed by the General
Assembly Of Virginia within the next pre-
cedng twelve months, together with such
comment thereon as shall be Of interest to
the profession"
In pursuance OF this bylaw, will now
attempt to give you this resume OF the acts
Of general character passed by the Legs
AZURE Of Virginia during the session OF
1SS9-'e0.
CARLYLE has somewhere said in speaking
OF a certain historian, that he was an ar
tlsan and not an artist. Fortunately, gen
tlemen, for you. as well as FOR myself, the
work imposed upon me is that Of an artisan
and not of an artist, for am 10 compile and
not 10 create.
A LARGE VOLUME.
will first glance briefly at the work done
bv the last Legislature in its entirety, ana
then consider the several acts separately.
The volume containing the Acts OF As
semblyv for $500 consists Of about l,4VJ
pages, the largest volume Of acts ever
passed at a single session of the Legislature
Of Virginia. And il legislation is good
thing. then the Commonwealth has been
greatly blessed In the last twelve months;
Or, to paraphrase the language OF General
Dick Taylor in summing up the character
Of StOnewall Jackson, "It legislation be
| golden, then the Legislature Of leo9'9O has
given to Virginia bonanza"
only one-fith Of this enormous volume Is
devoted 70 Public Acts and Joint Resolu-
| tiOns.r while the remaining four iliths is
| giyen up 10 "Private Acts and Joint ResOlu-
| TONS" But az over fifty OF the acts pub
| ished under the head Of Public Acts are
! Of "A private nature and for the benefit OF in
| dyiduals, really less than One-iith OF
| the whole volume is devoted TO public
| legislaiatiOn. Hence, if the space Occu-
| pied by the public acts and private
acts, respectively, is any indication OF the
| time devoted TO these two classes OF Ieglsla-
| ton. the Virginia Legislature, at its last
session, gave only One-ffth of its time and
labor 70 the public at large, and four-iilths
| to individuals and corporations.
| The Code Of 1887 is considered master
| piece Of legislation; and though this Code
! had been in operation less than two years
when the last Legislature was in session,
| that Legislature saw fit TO pass ninety-tWO
| acts (almOst One-half Of the public acts
| passed by IT'D amending and repeating over
| 100 sections Of the Code. Some OF these
| amendments are triiling, and therefore use
| less: some make radical changes, which
might be easily dipensed with; some are
absolutely vicious; while some are actually
good.
| Ii is but fair to the Legislature Of lSS9-9O
| to state that the above criticism applies prin-
| cipallv TO such amendments of the Code as re-
| late 10 the practice of our profession; for
| have not examined carefully the amend
| ments to those general laws with which the
| members OF the bar have little or nothing TO
do.
| Besides the amendments TO the Code Of
| 1887, could not find more than two or
| three general laws, passed as original stat
utes by the last Legislature, which are Of
| any interest TO the legal profession. And
these are by no means Of an important
character
But the Legislature has not only ''done
! those things which it ought not to have
done; it has also left undOne those things
which it ought to have DONE"
IMPORTANT OMISSION.
| The most important omission on the part
of the Legislature, and the only one to
which deem it advisable to call attention,
is its failure even 10 consider the question
Of the enactment Of a "COde of Pleadings
and Procedure" as suggested by Judge
| William j. Robertson, in his very able
address before the Bar Association Of
| Virginia in 1889. This is question
Of so much Importance both TO
the public and to the bar, that trust that
| this Association will take such steps TO pre-
sent it TO the next Legislature that It's con-
| sideratiOn cannot be escaped or eyaded.
| As to the four-iiths OF the acts of Assem-
bly, which is given up TO "private acts and
Joint resolutions it is only necessary TO
| say that very large portion of these "pri
| Yate acts consist OF charters TO corpora
| tons whose object is not "tO construct
| turnpike beyond the limits of the county, or
a railroad or canal, or TO establish a bank
Of circulation" And these charters to pri-
yate corporations, all or Il large portion Of
which might have been granted, under sec
ton ll45. Code of 1887, by the Circuit Courts
or the Judges thereof in vacation, have
| been granted by the lie gislatu'e, nOtwith-
standing the fact that section l1ij, Code
| 1887, provides that lit shall not be lawful
| for the General Assembly to incorporate
| any company, or 10 alter or amend the
| charter Of any corporation" where the
same could be granted or amended by
the Circuit Courts or the Judges
thereof, unless application has been first
made 10 the Circuit Courts, or judges thereof,
and refused. From these facts, it will be
seen that large portion Of the legislation
OF the session of lSS9-'9O was not only
utterly useless, but was in direct contra
Nention TO the statute law of the State.
The Index 10 the Public Acts" under
the letter &C" is the most defective | have
| ever seen in any law book. The first word
indeXed under &C" is Code" while the
last word is Clerk" Between these two
subjects all the other subjects commencing
! with &C" are jumbled together in such a
confused mass that IL is necessary to read
tue whole index &C" in order to lind any
subject commencing with that letter.
Having glanced at the acts of lSS9-'9O as
a whole, | will now ask your attention to
the separate acts, commenting. as occasion
requires. on their probable effect. And in
considering these acts separately, Will not
attempt any cOllOcati0n, according to the
subject matter, or attempt TO follow the
numerical order of the sections Of the Code,
bat Will follow the order in which the several
acts now stand in the published "Acts Of
Assembly"
Section 1867, Code 1887, amended by
chapter I, page Q, Acts lSS9]90.
Section 1866 of the Code requires every
foreign insurance company doing business
in Virginia 10 appoint citizen of Virginia
residing in Richmond as its agent, upon
whom all process may be served.
Section 1861 of the Code provides that UNI
Ill said agent is appointed, or during his
absence after appointment, process may b.
served on the Auditor of Virginia.
The amendment allows process TO be
served on the Auditor OF Virginia in tie
event "no such agent be appointed as pre-
scribed by the preceding section"
Chapterl %, page %, Acts lSS9-'9O, is not
an amendment TO the Code of 1887, but an
original statute.
This act provides that judgments and de-
crees rendered in a Circuit or District Court
of the United States, within this State may
be docketed or indexed in the clerks offices of
courts in this State, in the same manner
and under the same rules and requirements