Birmingham age-herald., 1895-07-11
INT EXISTING AND VALUABLE President Webb's Address Be- fore the Bar Association. STATE AND NATIONAL LAWS Of Recent Anactment Are Sammerized- Infer nation Which Layman as Well as
 Lawyer Will Prize.

Montgomery. July 1o.-(special)- Following is the text of the address of President Webb delivered before the State Bar association today:
 Gentlemen of the Alabama State Bar As
 sociation:
 I am glad to greet you on this the eigh- teenth annual session of your association.
 For eighteen consecutive years the members of this body have assembled and unselfshly spent some of the best et- forts of mind ill shaping the legislation of our state; and l am glad to be able to say to you that the statutes of the state on many subjects are witnesses or what this body have done. That annual re- ports of this association are replete With interesting and valuable papers read be- fore you each year. But l think l may say without fear of mistake 1t was Tn 1891 that the most practical steps were taken to produce legislation from these suggestions and discussions It was at the session of 1891, on the Sth day or June, that your bylaws were amended in accordance with the recommendation made by the report of your committee on legislation, that section Of article of the bylaws was amended, materiaily enlarging it's duties, and section num- bered was added to article 8. creating your committee on legislative enact ment. From that date we can trace most of the practical results which you have accomplished. The duties of these two committees, the one on Legislation and the other On legislative enactment, suggest the idea that no law should be al lowed to be placed on our statute DOCK until after due deliberation and dis cussion. The corollary from this last proposition is that when a law IS once deliberately enacted it should not be hastily altered. Upon this point the great and wise Solon, lawgiver Of Ath-
 fttr 1ico on1 a pla of his wisdom, in that after having framed A code of laws for that city ana people he bound the Athenians by an oath to keep his statutes unchangeo for ten yeras; and then to avoid being importuned to make alterauohs Weh' abroad for travel
 However pleasant 1t would be to me either to pursue these rambling thoughts or to select some subject or interest to the legal profession for discussion anu pursue it, I am reminded that d poull9- ary has been set to your presidents $ ad- dress and it's lines marked out by section 12 of our constitution. By that clause l am required to communicate to you at this time noteworthy changes Tn our statute laws of general interest made by acts of congress and the legislatures of Alabama and other sister states during the last twelve months.
 Acts of Congress.
 Since the last session of this body in July, 1894, two sessions of the Flfty-thlrd congress of the United States have been engaged in making laws. Looking over the printed volumes of statutes passed at the second and third sessions of the Fifty-third congress, but few laws Of general character and which are of gem eral interest are to be found. But call your attention to the following: By an act of congress which was approved August IS, 1894, to be found on page 279 Statutes at Large, congress makes pro- vision authorizing officers of court in all the courts of the United States to ac- cept security companies as surety in place of personal sureties on all bonds and recognizances in all judicial proceed ings in these courts.
 The wisdom of this statute I would especially commend for your consdera Nion. l dare say that there is not an at torney present who has not at some time-and some who have oftentmes-- in the practice of the profession felt the urgent need of such a law to enable his nonresident client to furnish the re- quired security. In nearly all business voca tions, when bonds are to be given by clerks and officers, it has now generally