The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1907-08-26
PARKER PRESIDENT.
American Bar Association Assemblies
in Thirtieth Annual Session.

Portland. Maine, Aug. 26.-The thir-
tieth annual meeting of the American
Bar association opened today and will
continue through tomorrow and Wed
nesday, concluding with banquet We'd
nesday evening. Two hundred delegates
had arrived before the convention was
called to order and as many more were
expected today and tomorrow. City hall,
where the sessions of both the American
Bar association and the International
Law association, which meets the last
three days of this week are held was
filed when the association was called to
order by President Alton B. Parker.
One of the most important matters which
will be considered at the meetings will
be the report of the standing committee
on insurance law to be presented tomor-
row morning This committee has under
consideration a bill to set forward the
interests of life insurance companies
and the policy holders.
Judge Parker, in the course of his
annual address, said:
1.-The proper function of the legis-
lator is supplementary to that of the
Judge. He should strive to ascertain
the growing but imperfect customs
which spring from the effort of peo-
pie 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
ties. So many bills press upon his at
tention, that if he had the wisdom of
Solomon he could not master them in
one short session. Many such bills are
introduced by men, who do not under
stand them, merely that they may gain
the applause of the thoughtless or the
envious. Others are strike bills
pressed in the hope of unlawful gain.
Still others are presented from honest
motives, but with no appreciation that
1,-I- S,.~.x
while still more represent the effort of
unframed legislators to enact into law
what they mistakenly conceive to be
the will of the people.
More misehievous still. as a rule, are
the bills pressed for passage in the in
terests of a political organization. Ex-
perience teaches that comparatively
few of the many bills of a legislative
session are carefully considered by the
body as a whole. Such consideratio as
the average bill has is in committee, and
too often the majority of that COM
mittee is Influenced by party organiza-
tion, or by the governor, or by some
other leader who sees in it a party or
factiOnal advantage. And it's final en-
actment is secured by the same infiu-
ence that moved the majority to report
it. In other words, supposed advan-
tage, either for the party or individual
members of it, is often made the Occa-
sion for statutes which otherwise would
never appear on the statute books.
Thus it happens that every year many
statutes are passed which ought never
to have been heard of.
Every unnecessary and unwise
statute is blot upon the state escutch-
con and a burden upon the public.
This fact is so well appreciated in
some states, that the legislature is not
permitted to meet every year. An
of the opinion of a lawyer,
upon whom is governor rested the re-
Sponsibility of the exercise of the veto
power as to many bills passed only
this year by the legislature of the
state of New York, is found in the
fact that he vetoed thirty-seven
caused one hundred and ninety-seven
to be withdrawn, and permitted two
and fifty to die for lack of his
making a total of four hun
dred eighty-four bills which, after
passage through committees and both
houses, failed nevertheless to become
laws because of the governors action
While it is true that some wholesome
and necessary statutes come out of
such conditions like those have out
lined in more instances unnecessary
or positively bad ones spring from
them.
"One of the ideals of this associa-
ton is to elevate the standard of
statute making, and to stimulate har-
mony in legislation on the part of the
several states, for it is so provided by
the first and eighth articles of the
Stituti0n.'