Los Angeles herald., 1910-01-18

has ever seen.
The distance already gained toward a
general uniformity of legislation on
important subjects is greater than the
average individual is aware. The meet
ing together of the interstate commerce
commission and the railway commits
sions of the various states, together
with the railway managers associa-
tions and the associations of shippers
has resulted in the establishment of
certain lines which state legislation
should take, and it is probable that all
new railroad legislation by the states
will be in accordance with these recon-
mendations. There is perhaps no other
instance in American history whore all
interests in a given kind of legislation
have been brought so closely together
and where they have considered a sub
iect from every viewpoint with the care
that has characterized these meetings
of the varied interests which are af-
fected by the railroads
Uniformity of legislation has pro-
gressed so far that at least two i'm
portant subjects of business law are
now covered by uniform laws in thirty
six of the states This has been accom-
plished by the untiring work of the
American Bar association, which may
be said to be the pioneer in advocacy
of uniform legislation. Judge Alton b.
Parker, the Democratic candidate for
president in 1904. who is regarded as
one of the best lawyers in the country,
is at the head of the American Bar
association committee which is work
ing to have a model divorce statute
framed for the guidance of all the
states. Under the marriage laws as
they now stand a child may be legiti-
mate in one state, but illegitimate in
another. Likewise, man may so man
1pulate his marriage relations by
change of residence as to be the hus-
band of two wives and not a bigamist
mist.
Few subjects have had a text book
made in such a remarkable way as
that of conservation. When President
Roosevelt called together his now
historical conference of the governors
the literature ON the subject of con
servation was limited to stray dis
cussions in technical journals and
oyerdrawn statements in the maga-
zines. But one of the outcomes of
that conference was the publication of
the proceedings of the meetings, to
which the cOnferees seem to have
brought everything that is known
about conservation. Everything is dis
cussed from the preservation of
health to the conservation of scenic
JCttutSs II jill llit IuSDdllulll& OIL IIe
coal supply to the saving of trees
Practically everything that is worth
while in the new science is to be found
in one volume. Yet it is not for sale
at the bookstores. The White House
is the publisher and the distributing
agent. 1t is presumed that arrange
ments will be made for the publica-
tton of the proceedings of this years
conference, and when they are pub
liGhpH the world will 1ho TO
see how far knowledge pertaining to
the subject of conservation has ad-
vanced in the biennium.
There will be marked change In
the personnel of the house of gov
ernors this year as compared with two
years ago. The president of the United
States will be a different person, and
twenty-seven of the forty-six states
have changed administrations in the
two years. At the 1908 meeting one
of the governors remarked that many
of those who participated then would
not do so again, but he was hardly pre-
pared for the great number of changes
that have occurred This year the
meeting will be held with the conspicu-
GUS absence of Governor John A.
Johnson, who was a favorite with
many for the Democratic nomination
for president. In this particular his
place will be filed by Governor Judson
Harmon.
One of the subjects which will be dis
cussed by the governors is the con-
tention or the Pinchot-Ballinge forces
in the conservation world. Pinchot
claims that there is the spirit of the
law which maketh alive, while Balm
ger contends that the letter of the
law must be his sole guide, and that
if congress meant anything else than
the letter it would have said so. The
differences of opinion between Secre-
tary Ballinger and Mr.. Pinchot are
shared by the governors, and the
whole matter is likely to be fully
threshed out.
There will be abundant work for the
house of governors and the Civic fed
Grafton. The harmony they hope to
create among the states is in keeping
with the spirit of cooperation that is
even reaching out toward a world al
lianceS Recently an account was given
in one of these articles of an interna-
tional conference on heroic drugs
There are international treaties for
the detection and eXtradition of Grim
inals, and dozens of other agreements
which indicate that the Federation of
the World may not always remain
poetic dream.