The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1920-08-31
ALL FLORIDA REJoIcEs.

ALL FLORIDA REJOICES.
1t is with a keen sense of pride
that Pensacolians, and West Flor
idians in general. view the expressions
of the press of the country. and pra-
ticuIarly Of Florida, which are almost
unanimous in the congratulatory tone
Of comment on the election of the
Hon. w. A. Blount to the presidency
of the American Bar Association.
This high honor conferred upon Mr..
BIount was not unexpected, and al
ready The Journal, among other state
papers. had predicted the success Of
his candidacy. The honor was due
and the entire state is joining with
Pensacola in its sense of qualification
that the honor was not withheld nor
delayed.
The Tampa Tribune. on it's editorial
page, carries the following well de-
served tribute.
THE American Bar Association, in
annual meeting at St Louis, yesterday
elected Hon. w. A. Blount, of Pensa-
cola, president of the association
This is a high honor for Florida,
because it means that one of it's law
yers has been selected to head one of
the most important professional assoc
citation, also, to be headed by a man
as brainy. and as big in every way
as w. A. Blount.
"a scholarly gentleman, well ground
ed in the law, will probably best de-
secribed w. A. Blount- For years he
has been growing more and more of
national caliber, and every year has
seen him recognized nationally as a
bigger man.
"The Florida lawyer and counsellor.
who is general counsel for the Florida
East Coast Railway, and general coun-
sci for the trustees under the will of
the late Henry M. Flagler, as well as
one of the three trustees under that
will for the Flagler estate, the man
who has been one of the committee
named by the American Bar Associa-
ton to draft and report back a pro-
posed law governing titles to property
and the recording of them, is not
stepping out of his class when he
stands where the ablest jurists of the
country have stood before him since
the organization of the American Bar
Association in 1878. He is thoroughly
at home in that membership of APP
tive big men in the legal profession
of the country"
The Times Union, no less eager to
express its appreciation of the honor,
says:
THE election of Col. Blount to the
presidency of the American Bar Assoc
citation may be regarded as compli
ment to that able Floridian in the
sense that additional recognition of
widely known ability is a compliment.
1t is certainly gratifying to the people
of Florida to have this recognition ex-
tended to a life long resident of the
state. Florida is one of the smallest
states in the Union If measured by
population. When the census Of 1910
was taken it contained less than one
per cent of the people of the country
and even now contains only about one
per cent. Then Florida is the Jump
ing off place geogra phically. 1t is at
the very corner of the country and fur
Their than almost any other state from
the centers of influence. A New
Yorker or Bostonian of given ability is
better known over the country than a
man of equal ability living anywhere
else and q Floridian would not have
selected for this high position if he
had not been known to rank higher
as a lawyer than the average man who
has filled it. 1t IS the very top posi-
ton so far as one profession is con-
cerned, and that profession is much
more influential than any other.
'Floridians for many. years have
known Col. Blount as a lawyer of the
greatest ability and a man of the
highest character but his reputation
has for many years extended far be-
yond his state. His election to the
presidency of the American Bar Asso-I
citation shows that in his profession it
is national if not international"