The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-08-27
Judge 4, B Parker Discusses Making and Breaking
 of Laws
NORTH CAROLINA CASE
 QUOTED IN HIS ADDRESS
Judge Parker Declares That the Com mon People Make the Law and 1t Is Supreme-Federal Encroach-
 ment Upon States Rights.

Portland. Me- August 26-The thirtieth
 annual meeting of the American Bar as-
 socation was opened here today and will continue through tomorrow and Wednos- day concluding with a banquet Wednes-
 day evening. Two hundred delegates
 haG arrived before the convention was
 called to order and as many more were expected today and tomorrow
 An executive session of the general council was held at the headquarters pre- eeding the formal opening of the con
 ventlon. President Alton B. Parker of NJ York presided and the officers and committee were present.
 Final arrangements for the convention
 were perfected. City hall. where the ses- sions of both the American Bar associa-
 tion and the International Law associa-
 ton. which meets the last three days of
 tnls week, will be held was well filled
 when the convention was called to order by President Parker.
 One of the most important matters which will be considered at the meeting will be the report to the standing com-
 mittee on insurance law, to be presented
 tomorrow morning. 1t undoubtedly will
 De followed by a lively and lengthy dis
 cussion. This committee has under con
 sideration a bill to set forward the in- terests of life insurance companies 2lS
 the policy holders.
 Judge Alton B. Parker, president of the | association, delivered his annual address,
 in part as follows;
 People Make Laws.
 l It has often and truly been said, out
 never so we'll as In the address of James 1 C. Carter before this association, that
 the people make the common law, be-
 cause i've find it to spring from and rest 1 upon the habits. customs and thoughts 1 of people and from these standard
 of justice is derived by which doubtful
 cases are determined. The office of the
 judge is not to make it, but to find it,
 and when it is found, to afhx to it his
 official mark by which it becomes more
 certainly known and authenticated While this is so, yet the announcement
 of the law comes first from the bench. And for the most part 1t comes only after the court has had the benefit of the learn ing of counsel. which to be eomprehen- slye and useful must embrace knowledge
 of the people and their customs, as well | as knowledge of principles established by prior decisions In this way our unwrit-
 ten law, better known as the common
 law, has been so developed IS to meet
 the exgencles of our wonderful growth
 and expansion. and Of our complicated business and social conditions.
 Judges who are inspired by the highest patriotism and who love justice seem to
 play the leading part in this procedure,
 because upon the bench Is charged the duty of announcing the law and render ing judgment It may we'll be doubted.
 however, whether the public spirit, learn
 ing and ability of counsel contributes less than tLat of the court toward the just settlement of a majority of disputes. Be that az 1t may. there is no reason to
 doubt that our profession has contribut-
 ed in large degree toward that liberal
 measure of justice which we as a people enjoy today l do not mean that the ideal has yet been reached. Far from it.
 But we can say. that many long steps
 towarl it nave been taken, since that pe-
 rIod in Englands s history when eontro- versiei were decided by wager of battel"
 Moreover we can claim, and that. too without fear of contradiction, that our peoples habits and customs bring the common law much nearer 10 the ideal
 than the statutes made and provided so plentifully. The reason for this is plain The common law is expanded slowly and carefully by judicial decisions based on
 standard of justice derived from the hab- It's customs and thoughts Of q people. Aud lest the judge at nisi prius may make mistake, appeal is allowed to a
 court composed of a number of experi- enced and learned judges. These again have the assistance of the printed or oral
 arguments Of counsel, or both, And they. free from prejudice and partisan bias.
 and animated by that love of justice
 which grows stronger and more all-per- vadng with its daily ministration, seek with diligence and earnestness the true rule So far as it Is given us to realize an ideal method of building the law of a people. we possess 1t.
 Lawmakers Active.
 The proper function of the legislator is suppletory to that of the judge He should strive 10 ascertain the growing but imperfect customs which spring from
 the efforts of people to correct errors, , and give to them the dignity and force
 of law. This he often attempts to do. and frequently succeeds. But the task
 of even the wise legislator Is beset with
 difficulties. So many bills press upon his attention, that if he had the wis
 dom of Solomon he could not master
 them in one short session. Many such
 bills are introduced by men who do not
 understand them. merely that they may
 gain the applause of the thoughtless or
 the envious. Others re strike bills in he of IT others are presented fom honest mo- tives, but with no appreciation that their
 enactment will work injury. while still
 more represent the effort of untrained legislators to enact into law what they
 mistakenly conceive to be the will of the people.
 Now. he who surveys the action Of the legislative and executive departments of | the state governments during the last few