The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1907-08-27

ilS Iindl enactment Is secured Dy the
same influence that moved the ma
Jority TO report it. In other words,
supposed advantage either for the
party or individual members Of it, as
often made the occasion 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.
Example of New York.
Every unnecessary and unwise stat
ute is a blot upon the state escutcheon
and a burden upon the public. This
fact is so well appreciated in some
states that the legislature is not per
mitted to meet every year An illus
tratiOn Of the opinion of a LAWYER.
upon whom as 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 1877 to be
withdrawn and permitted $50 to die for
lack of his signature, making a total
Of 4S4 bills which. after passage
through committees and both houses.
failed nevertheless to become laws be-
cause OF the governors action. While
1t is true that some wholesome and
SuCh
conditions like those have outlined, in
more instances unnecessary or posi-
lively bad ones spring from them.
Harmony In Legislation.
One of the ideals of This association
is to elevate the standard of statute
making and II stimulate harmony in
legislation on the part of the several
states. for it is so provided by the
stitution.
The first article declares the object
of our association to be "to advance
the science of Jurisprudence, promote
the administration OF justice and uni
formity of legislation throughout the
union. uphold the honor of the profess
sion Of the law and encourage cordial
intercourse among the members of
the American bar" OF this statement
of the purposes of the association.
James c. Carter in his presidents ad-
dress happily said: TT recognizes the
fact that though we are citizens of
different states in some degree SOW
ereign, We are yet one people, one
immense human society with common
interests, common hopes and a common
destiny; that among the several con-
Germs Of that, as Of every society, are
it's Jurisprudence and legislation; that
that great interest is. in a large de-
gree, under the care and control Of the
members of the legal profession; that
II is their duty to reduce it to
science, to develop it's usefulness, to
simplify IL into uniformity, to correct
any evil tendencies which may beset
IT, and to these ends to uphold the
honor of the profession and inspire
Its members with a just conception of
their high office"
II,
president the duty to communicate in
the address. with which he is charged
10 open each annual meeting. the
most noteworthy changes in statute
law and points of general interest
made in the several states and by
congress during the preceding year"
An impossible Task.
The length of the sessions of several
state legislatures, and the delay in
printing the laws, has rendered il
simply impossible to perform the task
as thoroughly as it otherwise would
have been done. In some instances
1t became necessary at a late hour to
ask for copies of acts deemed the most
notable in order to make as full a
presentation as the conditions would
admit The result shows a degree of
legislative activity hitherto unsur-
passed. Nor is II surprising that it is
so.
For a goodly number of years our
people enjoyed great prosperity. Near
ly every individual and certainly every
calling has participated in It in some
degree. Opportunities for improve
ment and advancement were enioved
by all. The food supply had become
more widely diversified. The houses,
apartments or tenements in which
people lived on the average improved
and largely so. Thus it happened that
nearly all not only realized that the
country was making tremendous
strides in material development, but
also that each individual had some
part in II. They knew, at least most
of them did, that very large fortunes
were being realized by some individ-
uals-fortunes more colossal than had
been accumulated during a like period
at any other time in the worlds his
tory. However, they were not en-
Vious, because the majority supposed
them 10 have been honestly earned. 1t
had been no part Of American spirit
or the American education to envy
those who had been the more sue
cessful.
Revelations in High Finance.
At time when our prosperity seem
~ anu JUL enjoyment OF the
material things Of life was most GEN
eral, suddenly the righteous wrath of
the people became stirred, and Justly
stirred, by the unwelcome discovery
that at least some OF the large for |
tunes had not been fairly gained. Rev
elation followed revelation in quick |
succession of transactions in the DO |
main of high finance by which a few
had been enabled 10 add to their store /
at the expense of the many.
The occasion thus presented called /
for careful study OF the situation nv /
those engaged in statecraft. Many
there were doubtless who ATTEMPTED 70
perform this duty. Their purpose was
to ascertain how wrongdoing became
possible, and whether due in some mart
to direct legislation improperly pro
cured, to inadequate legislation, or to |
failure to enforce existing law on the
part Of those charged with the duty
OF it's enforcement. The cause or |
causes being first ascertained, the next
step in orderly procedure was to ascer- |
tain the needed remedies-remedies /
having for their purpose the punish |
ment of the violators OF the law and /
the prevention Of similar abuses of the /