Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-06-05
SPECIAL MEETING CALLED
LOCAL BAR ASSOCIATION TO AS
sEMBLE TauRsDAY NEXT.
Statement by Meinbern who Signed
Call and Another by the Reg
fster'of Wills.

issued a call fora special meeting OF the
association to be held at o'clock next
Thursday afternoon. The object or the
meeting, as heretofore stated in The Star.
Is to discuss the advisa bility of urging Con-
gress to delay action as regards the pro-
posed code of law for the District OF Co
lumbia. Those who requested the Issuing
of the call. it seems, are opposed to the
adoption of the proposed code in Its present
form without its further consideration by
the bar.
Mr.. Charles w. Darr and Mr.. D. W.
Baker have issued a statement In regard
to the published statement that a meeting
or the members of the association, to be
held at the request of a number of the
members OF the bar. including themselves,
Is for the purpose of taking action to de-
feat the CODE and also condemning the &C
ton of the register of wills in the general
conduct of his office, and that it is the In
tentiOn of the members to defeat the code
upon the ground that it retains the office
of register of wills
The object In View.
Their statement says:
Permit us to say that the only object
for which the meeting was called. as is
stated In the petition to President Brown.
is to consider the ACCESSIBILITY of urging
the Congress of the United States to post
pone further action upon the code
1T was not intended to defeat the code,
but the poStponement was to be asked for
simply to allow the Bar Association and
Its members an opportunity to read and act
upon 1t In its amended form before 1t Is
put upon Its final passage, without refer
ence TO the register of wills or his office;
and we certainly did not and would not
sign any petition intended to condemn or
critlcise public officer engaged in the con-
scientious discharge of his duties as he I'M
no y1,.yr hoy no
been pointed out to him by the court
You can feel sure that the retention or
adjustment of the Office of register OF wills
did not In any way influence us, and we
are sure that 1t did not affect the minds of
the other signers of the petition. as it has
been pretty generally settled in the minds
of the members of the bar that the office
OF register of wills is here to stay during
the present adminiStra ton in either branch
of Congress at least
Again. 1t is absurd to charge the mem
bers of the bar with the desire to defeat
a measure. claimed by its friends to be of
so much value to the District of Columbia,
simply because an unimportant change has
been made therein by striking out the pro-
vision relating to the adjustment of the
office of register of Wills.
Mr.. Dents Views.
Mr.. Louis A. Dent. register of Wills. made
a statement to a Star reporter relative to
the proposed meeting He said: up to the
present time I have consistently avoided any
discussion in the press of the attacks that
had been made upon me since my entry into
office. but as they have become so malicious
/ deem 1t time to make some statement for
the public, The announcement that the
movement is personal is correct. 1t was
in the beginning by personal
friends of the late register and his deputy.
call attention to the admission in an in
terview last week by the removed deputy.
DR.. Griffith, that he had remained neutral,
an admission which in itself convicted him
of passive disloyalty, even If his active dis
loyalty could not be proved.
1T is true that have largely increased
the fees of the office by insisting upon the
payment of the fees prescribed by statute,
some of which had previously been allowed
to go by default. / have. in addition. I'M
dertaken to collect hundreds of fee bills
which were not only due upon my entry
into office, but had not even been taxed.
This I considered my duty to do as a
bonded officer. accountable to the govern
ment of the United States
Characterized as Malicious.
Il declare emphatically that the most
malicious and false statement of all was
that the public had been delayed in the
of business by my discharge of
the old force. Almost the entire force of
the Office not only in sympathy with
my enemies but plainly hostile and openly
necessitating the changes
made. The changes have been made grad
ually during the nine months past, and
while when l took charge of the office the
were months behind / have sue
ceeded by earnest efforts in getting the
work current. that at the present time
the work of each day is complete at the
close of office and the records and indexes
up to date. condition which had never be-
fore existed in the office. and 1t is generally
by many members of the bar, If. in
deed, by not majority. that the present
service OF the office is the best they have
ever had. To bring the office to this con-
dition 1 have been compelled to increase
the force of the office, notwithstanding
which 1 will turn into the treasury a sum
of money vastly in excess of any return
previously made
Republicans Preferred.
II do not deny that in the making of APP
pointments l have given preference to re-
publicans. My experience had been that
men who talk about taking public offices
out of politics generally are men of oppo-
site political beliefs to the incumbent as
in the present case: that their beliefs are
most strenuously asserted and their efforts
the strongest in that direction when the
incumbent Is pronounced in his political
faith, and that generally 1t is not to take
the office out of politics. but to change the
control of it from one party to another.
Public officers are generally expected to
have under them persons in sympathy with
them, and SO long as public officer facin-
tates the business Of the public and full
fills his obligations under the law outside
with the internal administra-
ton of his office Is unwarranted.
. THE present movement is not as assert
ed-that the object of the men behind 1t is
to have the code considered generally be-
cause they are opposed to certain provi-
sions in it. and have been so opposed all
along The assertion that it was because
of the amendments relative to the office
of register of wills is untrue. That asser-
ton is a cloak on the part of some of the
Signers.
Asked to Assist.
After those amendments were adopted by
the House committee. and at the time 1t
was thought likely opposition to the code
would be developed in the House. and l
had some strength there, l was approached
by members of the bar and asked to help
organize a movement to defeat the CODE
the gentlemen alleging that the majority of
the bar did not want the code and had
never had an opportunity to examine and
discuss it. l advised this gentleman that
l had been left alone to make my fight
and these gentlemen had not had the cour-
age of their convictions then; that l did
not propose to incur the enmity of promi-
nent men of the community by opposing
the code; that. besides, l had no interest
in opposing the code, 1t having been amend
ed with respect to this office; that, there
fore, far from opposing the CODE l pro-
posed to do what1 could to aid in its pas
sage. 1 averred that IN pursuance of that
intention | have done everything.