The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1920-03-19

4 action, no two laws drawn ay differ
! ent persons upon the same subject
| for the same purpose, will be express
ed in the same language. And then tC
make the matter still worse, forty
| eight supreme courts are constituting
these laws enacted for the same pur-
pose in as many different ways as
the inadequacy of human language
permits.
! 1T thus becomes clear, that with :
out organized effort, statutory laws
tend 10 a diversification rather than
a unification To overcome this ten
dency, we'll recognized evil, the
national conference was organized in
the year 1892 by members of the
American Bar association. The or
ganization is composed of three com
missioners from the state, appointed
by the governor. In about half of the
states they are appointed under legis-
lative authority. ~.
| THE conference meets every year
the week before and in connection
with. the American Bar association
and frames such laws as seem most
the states. The American Bar assoc
iation has thus far Endorsed, and
l,pledged their $4,000 members to sup
port in the state legislature, all uni
orm acts drafted by the conference.
Many uuiform Acts.
up to this time the conference
has put out some thirty uniform acts
Among these in which you will be
especially interested are the follow
| ing:
THE Uniform Marriage Act.
''The Uniform Divorce Act.
THE Uniform Family Desertion
Act.
The Uniform Child Labor Law.
THE Uniform Cold Storage Act.
THE Uniform Act for the Extra
ditiOn of Persons of Unsound Mind.
These are commonly spoken of as
the social acts as distinguished from
the commercial acts.
THE progress OF the enactment OF
1.-THE Uniform state laws in the states.
is slow as the cause appeals to no
| class or special interest-the present
all compelling force in legislation.
| However, considerable progress has
! already been made. number of the
states having adopted nearly all of
the most important acts, Illinois,
Wisconsin and Maryland being in the
| lead. Only forty uniform acts were
adopted by the forty seven legislative
sessions of 1919.
The question has been asked, will
all the states ever adopt the same
uniform act? This question may now
be unanswered in the affirmative. The
Uniform Negotiable Instruments Act.
more used than any other act in the
country, has been enacted in all the
/ inertia of enacting uniform state laws
| is oppressive. Only forty were adopted
in the 1919 legislatures. And this is
states except Georgia. But still the
! where we need your help, League of
Women Voters. We need more than
the lack of opposition of voters, which
we already have. We need your or
ganized voters enthusiasm for a cause
worthy of you. We need more than
the good will of such legislators as
may have heard OF uniform state
laws. This also we already have. We
need just DYNAMIC women energy in
pushing legislature for the last four
sessions, which, has wrested from a
.disinterested legislature the women's
presidential suffrage bill, and finally
the approval Of the national consti-
tutional suffrage.
Some Suggestions Made.
Il will make few suggestions as
to how you may bring about better
laws for women and also help the
cause of Uniform, state laws. There
are three principal ways in which
these laws improve conditions. OF
which you will be more interested in
the third. These are:
"One. In standardizing the laws
throughout all the states business
efficiency is enormously increased
The bank clerk in California knows
the laws applicable to negotiable pa
per in Maine or any other state, bet
ter than the lawyer knew it before
the Uniform Act was generally adop-
ted. Through the Uniform Warehouse
Receipts Act billions of dollars worth
of goods in the warehouses become
liquid and serve as safe securities all
over the country.
Two. By the use of the same terms,
phrases and language, uniform con-
struction follows and the law is made
certain to all. The cost of settling a
doubtful legal point by court decis-
ion is thousands OF dollars all of
which is tax upon society.
Three. They furnish machinery for
progressive legislation and reforms
by concerted action through publicity
and centralizing political effort.
Pick out your simplest and most
important reform, such as the parent
al custody OF children, and ask the
national conference to draft the law
as you want it. There is a reason whv
IL should not do so. Any act agreed
upon by the women of this country
could be made a law in every state
III the Union within few years. This
you would do by having your organ
lZatlons go with ii to the legislature
IN each state with the prestige of
uniform act and the political dynamics
OF League of Women Voters. The re-
suit would be certain.
Further calling your attention to
this act, you will observe that the title
Is In the nature of trade mark which
labels the act That the short name
Identifies not only the subject but the
very wording OF the act. That the
provision for uniform construction bv
the courts, insures the same con- ,,
struction in Maine as in California At !,
present there is no way of comparine
statute OF one state with that of an.