The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-01-25
FLOOD OF LAWS IN STATE AND NATION Ambassador Bryce Comments
 Upon Lawmaking BETTER SYSTEM IS NEEDED British Statesman Declares That Cur. rent of Legislation Is Irresistible.
 Mr. Choate Defends Work
 at The Hague.
BETTER SYSTEM IS NEEDED

New York. January 24-Many delegates were present today at the opening ses- sion of the thirty-irst annual meeting of the New York State Bar association. Joseph II. Choate, the president of the as- sociation. presided. Among the resolu- tions adopted by the association was one asking the committee on law to prepare and to be presented for adoption by the legislature amendments to the corporation laws permitting the formation of eorpor- ations having capital stock divided into shares without assignment thereto of any value in money and issuing stock certiti- eates for proportionate interests in the entire capital stock without expressing any nominal or par value in money.
 British Ambassador James Bryce ad- dressed the association at meeting in Carnegie hall tonight. The ambassador dwelt upon the form and substance or the r-increasing volume of legislation. Ambassador Bryce said in part:
 sThe immense increase in the volume of legislation during the last half century Is one of the salient features of our times, said MT. Bryce.
 y in the United States, where, besides Con gress 46 state legislatures are busily at work turning out laws on all imaginable subjects with faith in the power of law to bless mankind which few historians or philosophers and few experienced law yers will be found to share. The current is at least, for the moment, irresistible, as appears from the fact that 1t prevails alike in western Europe, in England, in the British colonies and in the United States. The demand for a profuson of legislation is inevitable
 MT. Bryce said conditions made it de- sirabe to have some organized system for the gathering and eXamlnatlon or materials for legislation and especially for collecting the laws passed in other countries on subjects of current import ance. To secure the pushing forward of measures needed in the public in terest there should be in every legis- lature arrangements by which some deh- nite persons or body of persons become responsible for the conduct of legislation. To secure sufficient time for the meas ures of general and permanent applica- hility, such matters as those relating to the details of administration or in the nature of executive orders, should be left 10 be dealt with by the administrative department of government under deleeat- ed power, possibly with the right to disapprove reserved to the legislature. Similarly, the more detailed rules of le- gal procedure ought to be left to the judicial department or some body com missioned by it, instead of being regu- lated by statute. Bills of general applica- bility should be dealt with in a quasi judicial way.
 1 In his annual address this afternoon President Choate said there was a dis position on the part of the public to be- little the work done by The Hague con- ference Because everything had not been accomplished the newspapers tried to claim that nothing had been accom- plished. He emphasized the statement that it was a conference, not a parlia- ment and said that while there was great deal of discussion there was very little contest in the assemblage. It was an assembly of earnest. able. cultivated men. even the smallest nations being represented by men of high attachments and for the first time in history had brought together all the civilized nations i of the world in the interest of inter- national peace.
 1 On several important questions sub stantia1 progress had been made, and l positive and unanimous action taken on two or three matters of great importance.