Los Angeles herald., 1910-12-08


Passage of a recommendation for the
adoption of the uniform negotiable in
struments act which would place Cali
fornia on an equal footing in this re-
spect with thirty-eight other states and
the defeat of six important recommen-
dations for changes in the civil CODE
constituted the chief features OF the
closing session Of the second day s
meeting of the California Bar associa-
ton in Blanchard hall yesterday after
noon, which terminated with the cleo
ton of Lynn Helm Of Los Angeles,
president of the association for the en-
suing year, and the selection of Sacra-
mento as the meeting place for the next
annual convention.
The adoption of the negotiable in
struments act by California and the
few remaining states out of the fold
will make this law practically uniform
throughout the English speaking world.
Similar statutes have been adopted by
Great Britain and forty English col
onies.
William Denman OF San Francisco
surprised some members of the conven-
tion at the opening of the morning ses-
sion by declaring that the remedy 1or
bad judiciary was not by taking the
right of choice from the voters but by
making the judiciary ticket non-partl-
san. He took squarely opposite ground
from that taken by oscar F. Trippett
of Los Angeles, who advocated the for
nation of a state judicial committee to
have power to name all judges, thus
removing the judiciary effectively from
the domain Of popular influence.
ADVISE VOTERS. HE SAYS
Mr.. Denman recommended that the
o1 "a
each city as to the fitness of candidates,
and with a proper non-partisan Ju-
dietary election law, he said, he pc
lieved the judiciary would be brought
to a high plane of efficiency. In the
Los Angeles superior court election re-
Gently 80 per cent of the voters went
to the polls without knowing the can
didates, he said. This, he declared, was
because the bar association did not
follow up it's Endorsement of candidates
by active advocacy in their behalf.
Charles T. Wheeler of San Francisco
said that too many lawyers have for
gotten their manners and the nlgn
rectitude of living expected of them, IN
an address on the distinctive Charac-
ter of the Ethical Obligations Of the
American Lawyer" The greatness
which dismayS accuserS is often packed
up by wealth, he said, but sometimes
it takes repose behind great labor or
ganizations. 1t Is the duty of the
lawyer to observe the highest ethics
of the profession in dealing with cases
Of either class.
at is the duty of the bar to set itself
against the modern tendency to sordld-
ness and the prevailing spirit of COM
mercialism,' said John E. Richards of
San Jose in a paper on 'Oratory, the
Lost Art of Our Profession" Mr..
Richards admitted that forensic ora
tory was on the decline and said the
tendency of the times was to make
office lawyers instead of advocates at
the bar.
RECOMMENDATION DEFEATED
The convention defeated the recon-
mendation of the executive committee
to require the defendant to pay the
cost of transcription of evidence for ap-
peal except where the trial judge held
there was reason for such action.
After lively debate the convention also
voted down the proposal to amend the
civil code to make specific denials un-
necessary, so that general denial
might be made in every case. The pro-
posal to make it incumbent upon a de-
fendant to demur and answer at the
same time, along with four other pro-
posals relating to civil procedure, were
ments designed to shorten the time OF
cases and eliminate a large amount
of red tape in civil actions were passed.
The report of J. w. Knox of Merced
and Charles S. Wheeler and jesse w.
Iilienthal of San Francisco to adopt
the code of ethics recently approved
by the San Francisco Bar association
was adopted.
A recommendation was adopted ia
IL Nf csfa tINfp
mating the so-called "pay check sys-
tenn, regulating the payment of wages
of unskilled workmen and prohibiting
the assignment of future wages.
COMMITTEES ARE NAMED
The following committees were ap-
pointed:
Bar primary-William Denman, San
Francisco William ]. Hunsaker, Los
Angeles, with power to add more mem
bers.
To confer with District Attorney
Fickert of San Francisco in regard to
the meeting of public prosecutors OF the
state-R. S. Gray, San Francisco; II.
A. Torchiana, San Jose, and others TO
be>selected by them.
President Helm named the following,
legislative council, after when the con-
vention adjourned:
r. M. Fitzgerald, Alameda county; 0.
X. Grau, Alpine; A. Caminetti, Anna
dor; A. F. Jones, Butte; James Keith,
Calaveras; c. II. Swisler, Ell Dorado:
Frank Fl. Short, Fresno; Claude f.
Purkitt, Glenn; George Fl. p. Shaw
Imperial; G. j. Denis, Los Angeles;
Francis A. Fee, MADEIRA; j. w. Knox,
Merced; Fred P. Ellis, Monterey; Fred
Searls, Nevada; John M. Fulweiler
Placer: Grove L. Johnson, Sacramento;
w. p. Johnson, San Francisco; H. Ash
ley, San Joaquin; George c. Ross, San
Mateo; Victor A. Scheller, Santa
Clara H. A. Torchiana, Santa Cruz; j.
j. Wells, Tehama; E. w. Holland,e
Tuolumne; w. II. Barnes, Ventura; w.
j. Curtis, San Bernardino; Judge
Haynes, San Diego.
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