The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-04-19
UNIFORMLY " MOVEMENT
B Flsd..;s J. H..la

.iarsely m the complstion Of the pro-
 posed me9ures relating to partner. ahips ana Aock certfncatea
 The comntssion oh uniform laws is
 not alone q the broad field of work in
 which 1t tl laboring. It has given
 such a won<srfui impetus to the move ment that thsre are dozens of other orr ganizations enlisted in the same cause.
 When the conmittee on vital statistics set about to -sonsdder that matter they
 found that thS American Medical Asso-
 ciation. and ESQ the American Public
 Health Assochtion, had a committee
 working to tkt same end. In addition to these the dnsus Bureau was con
 sidering the 4me subject; between
 them all they were able to report q
 measure which net the approval of all the organixatiohs concerned.
 Governor Curqb Guild has called
 meeting of the Nv England Governors to consider uniform laws on i've sub jects. The House,of Governors and the conference called together by President
 Roosevelt met ta consider uniform conservation lawsi The National Civic Federation hss cretted committee on uniform State lays. and Governor HuEhes has initiatsd . movement fo- uniform Automobiie laws in the terri tory contiguous to- New York. The Governor of Louistaha has called
 conference for the purpose of securing uniform laws on theAquestion of child tabor. In addition td all these move ments the IntsrnatioAal Tax Assocta- ton meets In Louisville during the late summer to consider sthe question of uniform tax laws.
 That the movement fSr uniform state laws Ia an important oAs, all bear wit ness who have investitated the mat- ter. That 1t is a growing movement which will work great Manages in the policies of the various legislative bod ies of the country. Is pfsin. But even
 with everything that is desired of the Legislatures granted. there will still be q serious difficulty Ito overcome which 1t Is agreed there will be much trouble. Judge w. O. Hart, of Louis- Publicity of the Commission, referred to that phase of the mattsr indirectly in an address before the Mississippi Bar Association. There fare many States which have statufes pn a given subject that are alike word for word. Yet when the courts come D interpret these statutes their constrdetion Is so different that In a few yearsathere is line of decisions in each StAte which several States sas different aal If there had been no original uniformfty. The American Bar Association is laborlng as assis1uousiy to solve thfs problem as the Commission on Uniform Laws is laboring for uniformity of legislation.
 Legislatures are often imposed up- on. and there is scarcely session of any legislative body which does not al- low some rjoker' 70 steal through. to try to pass ofr a joker" Ion an American legislative assembly He wanted 60 establish q banking Hisiness In New York. and the LegislatAie re- fused him the charter he desired. Fi- nally an apparently harmless bin with reference to the New York wate4 sup ply was introduced and passed. It was afterward found to contain the very bank charter Burr had been seeking. agafn a near-victlm of even a more dangerous "joker" than the one Burr had enacted. A meek looking little bill was offered granting q certain pow CT corporation time to commence work and otherwise" It was afterward found that the bill extended to the power company the right of eminent domain In every city and county of the State. the same to be irrevocable and in perpetuity, the free use of every public street and highway. and use of the waters of Niagara Falls M M
 Perhaps the most widely advertised effort for uniformity of leglslation re- lates to the divorce question. There are almost as many kinds of law on this subject as there are States in the Union, and some of them are so framed as to permit the divorce laws of other States virtually to be set aside. Tn some States the period of residence re- quired is so brief and the doctrine of what constitutes residence so liberal that almost any one can get his case into the courts of that State. and the grounds for divorce are so numerous that the divorce comes more on the ground of ability to pay for the pro- ceedings than from any real cause. It Is true that the Supreme Court de clared not long ago that New York did not have to recognize Cpnnecticut divorce decree in case where the latter State did not acquire jurisdic- tiouai control over the defendant: but none of the States hast sought to over turn the action of the divorce courts of other States because of this decis- ion. The model divorce law which was drawn upon lines laid down by the Na- tionai Divorce Congress has not been meeting with the approbatton of State Legislafurss chat was expected. New Jersey and Delaware are the only states which have as yet enacted 1t into law.
 Copyright. 1908. by Frederic J. Has,
 kin.)