Mexico weekly ledger., 1899-11-16
Mexico Audran County Missouri Thursday 49,

address enables its members to keep
pace with the legal progress Of the
different States Of the Union without
q great expenditure of money, for the
different publications of the new laws
and the greater time involved In their
examination, In this way the mem
bers Of this association and reader OF
its reports are able to keep up with
all the advancements made by the
many legisIatives bodies OF the Union.
A study Of the history OF the asso-
citation demonstrates that 1t has been
powerful factor In the creation of
the different courts and commissions
of this State with view of enabling
the courts to transact the business of
the State and keep up with their
dockets. Its achievements have been
the creation of the Supreme Court
Commission, the two Courts of APP
peals at Kansas City and st. Louis,
and the constitutional amendment
adopted In 1890, rearranging and in
creasing the number OF Judges of the
Supreme Court, and it was largely
due to the efforts Of Henry Hitchcock,
of St. Louis, and other delegates
from this association to the American
Bar Association, that fually Congress
was Induced to pass a law creating
the intermediate United States Courts
Of Appeal, thereby relieving the
crowded docket Of the Supreme Court
of the United States. These are some
of the achievements in which the
members of this association have par
ticipated sud Of which they may well
feel proud.
II lie also due to the efforts OF this
association that the law OF this State
has been changed, requiring higher
standard for admission to the Bar. 1t
is confidently expected that by the
next annual meeting the Committee
on Legal Education and Admission to
the Bar will have prepared plan to
be urged upon the next Legislature, by
which the standard of admission will
be made still higher and better
qualified class will gain admission to
practice.
When the Bar Association began
the agitation Of higher standard of
education and moral fitness, 1t wae
too often the case that mere smart
ness, sptnees and chicanery were by
many deemed the prime qualities for
admission. The Bar of Missouri was
never without its standard of educa-
tional and moral fitness, but there
was much laxity in ascertaining quail
ification for admission and in deport-
ment after admission OF late years,
however, by the efforts of the Bar of
this State, through its association,
and by it's action upon the Legislature,
much OF this laxity has been removed.
There is much yet to be done, how
ever, for there are many members Of
our profession now that do not COM
mand that respect, either in point Of
learning or morals, as the high calling
to which they belong should COM
mand. Such laws should be enacted,
governing the admission to the Bar,
as win mako the way into the pro-
fession dread TO the undeserving
and pride to the worthy.
Without exalting one paper read by
the members of the association above
another, that by Judge Black, OF Kan
cas- City, upon the "Property Rights
of Married Women in Missouri" in
1882, probably had more to do with
quickening the legal conscience upon
the then unsatisfactory condition of
that subject of the law than anything |
else that has ever been said or done In |
the state and finally eliminated In the
act of 1889, which conferred upon
married women the same property
rights as had been enjoyed by "feme
sole," thereby taking her from the
class of legal incompetents, infants,
idiots and lunatics, to which she was
bound by the rules of common law,
and gave to her all the rights and
privileges possessed by other persons
OF equal capacity, intelligence and re-
sponsibility. In this connection de-
serving mention lie the debate between
e. 8. Scarrett and ]. A. Harrison on
this subject had before the association |
In 1887.
Another paper of extraordinary
value to the legal profession of Mis-
souri, is 'The Remedy by Injunction in |
Missouri" by Adiel Sherwood, at the |
Springfield meeting in 1895. He treats
Of the subject as touched upon by the |
various decisions of the Appellate |
Courts OF this State. 1t is a complete |
epitome of the law of Injunction as |
applied In Missouri, as regards plead
ing and the particular subjects of liti'
cation to which 1t may be applied.
This paper will serve as an excellent |
text book upon the subject of iniunc-
tions to the practicing lawyers of this |
State.
Worthy OF particular mention and |
ranking with the legal classics OF
this and past generations are the pa
pers, Trial by Jury, ,"by Amos Thayer;
"The Lawyers of the Roman Repub- |
lic," by F. w. Lehman; Mandatory |
Iniunctions," by Jacob Klein; Soon
stitutionsl Law In Ancient Greece -
by q. O. Tichenor, and "The Power of
the State to Regulate Prices and
Charges" by G. A. FinkeInberg.
Chief among the objects of the as
sociation are the promotion OF the |
administration of justice and the up
holding of the honor of the profession |
of the practice of the law. Every
lawyer in this State, when admitted |
to practice, is required to take an
oath to support the Constitution of
the United States, the Constitution of
Missouri, and faithfully demean him
self In his practice to the best of his
knowledge and ability. This means
great deal--that he will obey the laws