The history, objects and achievements of the Georgia Bar Association : paper / by Walter B. Hill

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Beprinted from Report 10 Georgia Bar Association.]

THE HISTORY, OBJECTS AND ACHIEVE MENTS OF THE GEORGIA BAR ASSOCIATION

PAPER BY ; WALTEB, B: HlLL, LL.B. CHANCELLOR OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CfEOKGIA
. FRANK.LIN PRINTING A-Nti PUBLISHING CO,

THE HISTORY, OBJECTS AND ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE GEORGIA BAB ASSOCIATION.
PAPER BY
WALTER B. HILL, LL.D.,
CHANCELLOR OP THE UNIVERSITY OP GEORGIA.
The Executive Committee lias requested me to prepare a paper or, the history, objects and achievements of the Georgia Bar Asso ciation.
As to it5. history, may I not ask, in Biblical language, are not its acts and doings "written in the chronicle.s" of the secretary ? The only fact outside the record which I am able to supply by parol testimony relates to the first consultiation whitli led to the call men tioned in the minutes of the first meeting. It is1 stated in the minutes of August 1, 1883, that "pursuant to a call addressed to the members of the America-XL Bar Association, resident in Georgia, by Col. L. N. Whittle, vice-president o!f the Association for this Stale," certain, members of ihat organ!zation, .with others iiiviteki by them., assembled in Atlanta.
This call was the resTilt of an informal conference held at Macon, Georgia, during -lihe early part of 1883, in the chambers of Hon.
"Thomas J. Siminons, then Judge of the Superior Courts of the Ma con. Circuit.
Geii. A. R. Ijaiwton h.ad come to Mabon from Savannah for the purpose of arguing a motion for a new trial -in. some case against tho Central Railroad and Banking Comrpany of Georgia. He was one of the prime movers in the organization of the American Bar Association, and his belief in t!h:e utility of State Bar Associations
.led him to suggest at that time to various members of the Macon bar who were present, the formation of an Association in Georgia.

It was at that meeting determined to request Colonel Whittle toissue the call mentioned in. the minutes of the first meeting.
OBJECTS OF THE ASSOCIATION.
It may "be stated generally that the object o.f the Association is to organize tlie influence of tlie bar in its public relations. Outside of the service that a lawyer renders to his individual client, it is recognized that the bar sustains public relations to the people of the whole State. It discharges an indispensable funiction in1 the admin istration of justice; it holds in trust a mighty influence on public opinion; arid it is one o>f the securities of public liberty.
Before taking up in any detail the efforts o>f the Association to accomplish the purpose lor which it was formed, it affords genuine pleasure to be uble to say that in its activities the I3ar Association has had exclusive reference to these public relations. It would not ha;vc been illegitimate if the organized bar, like other associations of business men, had paid attention to private interests. It would not have been illegitimate to take up the question of the fee bill or to urge the right of !the bar to compensation for some services which they now render to the public without it. But it is a salient and gratifying fact, that no private or pecuniary interests of the legal profession have ever received any attention at any one of the eighteen annual meetings of this body. Altruism, not the promo tion of selfish aims, has been the inspiration! of the, Association throughout its entire history.
THE CHARTER.
The Association is entitled to be judged by its objects as declared in its charter and constitution. The language of the charter is "Its object is to advance the science of jurisprudence; promote the ad ministration of justice throughout the State; uphold the honor of the profession of law; and establish cordial intercourse among the niemtoers of the Bar of Georgia." These objects are carried out through, the organized work of the Association, upon the suggestion and report of various committees, whose purposes arc defined in the by-laws, and arc sufficiently indicated in the names of the com mittees, as follows:

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Committees on Jurisprudence and Law Reform; on Judicial Ad ministration and Remedial Procedure; on Legal Education and Admission to the Bar; on Grievances; 011 Memorials; on federal Legislation; on Interstate Law; on Legal Ethics; on Legislation; .and an Executive Coitmiittce, which prepares t-ne annual program.
THE UNIFORM PROCEDURE ACT.
Judge Andrew J. Cobb, in a report submitted in 189G (13 Rep., p. 256), says:
"The Uniform Procedure Act toad its origin in the Association, and it is being perfected from time to time by such aJneiidimeait.& as experience suggests."
At the llrst annual meeting (]st Rep., p. 29) this Subject was taken up. The Committee on Judicial Administration and Reme dial Procedure recommended the adoption of -a system of pleading known as the Code of Procedure, wliicH is in principle substantially the same as the Uniform Procedure Act.
It may be well to recall the state of the law as it existed at that time. Legal and equitable pleading had been partially merged; at least to the, extent that an. equitable defense might be interposed in an action at law, aiid it was no longer necessary to resort to the court oi! equaty to enjoin, a proceeding at law uS means of setting up a defense. The tribunals which administered the principles of law and equity wore the same the same judges and the same juries.
I.f, however, a suitor llletl a bill in equity w!hen he h-ad adequate reined v at KTW, he might be met by a demurrer on that ground alone. If the decision on the demurrer WAS adverse to: him, his case was dismissed and. lie must Ji.ceds submit to the delay of a re view by -the Supreme Court on the question of proper forum. If the decision was in his favor, he would have lost the time required to settle merely the preliminary question whether bis paper should have been, addressed to the Judge of the Superior Court as Chancel lor, or to the Superior Court. If the decision was against him, ho might set up substantially the same allegations in a petition at law, with a change in form, of beginning and end of the document, ,ind might thus proceed after BO much loss of time.

If the decision was in the suitors favor, the demurrer might re main a part of the record while the case proceeded to final deter mination, hut even, after final judgment, if it should be held that the suitor was not in the proper forum, the whole case migiht go out of court.
In those States where the Legislature had provided separate tri bunals at law and in chancery, this question oi! proper forum might reasonably be treated as important; but after the merger of forums, as above stated, it was a mere fiction to dismiss the. suitor from one court and send him to another court when in point of fact both courts were the same.
At the second annual meeting the committee was instructed to prepare a draft of a Procedure Aat, and said draft was presented at the third annual meeting (3d Rep., p. 197 et seq.). This report contains fhe substance of the Uniform Procedure Act as subse quently adopted,
Witlioiit depreciating the services of %he members of the bar out side of the Association Who labored for this reform, Judge Combs statement aibove qxioted is amply sustained by the facts.
It is prdbable that we have not yet fully re,alize:d the benefit of this reform. Every new system passes through the ordeal of pre liminary construction; but while we have not yet adopted in.s-oUdo the Code of Procedure as it has foeen enacted in many of the socalled Code States, our system is so nearly similar to their that, on questions of procedure and practice, we have the benefit of the labors of coarrts all over the country iwho are engaged in rendering legal procedure simple, certain, and rational. "The substance of right is more important than the science of statement."
LEGAL EDUCATION AND ADMISSION TO THE BAR.
The Association took up this subject at its first meeting. This is not surprising when we recall the extremely unsatisfactory con dition of the law at that time regulating admission to the bar.
It is proposed to give here a condensed history of the action of the Association on this subject during the entire period of its his tory. The reason whv this topic is treated at length is that a satis factory solution h!as not yet been reached, -an!d it is believed that a

history of the discussion may prove of value in the further discus
sion. The condition existing in 1884, when the subject was first taken
up, is thus described in- the report of. an able committee, submitted
by Hon. Joseph B. Gumming as chairman (1st Rep., p. 36) :
"The committee beg leave to report that, in their opinion, the existing provisions of the la-w of Georgia on the subject of admis sion to the bar are, as administered, a mere foam, establishing a purely imaginary line between the laity and the so-called learned in the laiw. Under the practical workings of these provisions of our law, the applicant -can be admitted to practice in the courts of Law and Equity without possessing the slightest legal knowledge. Apart from the stimulus of pride and the natural shrinking from a public exposure of gross ignorance, there is nothing to induce a candidate to qualify himself to answer correctly the questions pro pounded to him. His admission, accompanied by expressions of satisfaction from iJhe members of the Board of Examiners, and a congratulatory speech from the bench, is just as sure to follow a complete failure as a brilliant -success. w
The recommendations of this committee were as follows (1st "Rep., p. 37) :
"First. The requirement of a considerable period of study, say three years, devoted exclusively to the law, or to laiw and literature. This period to be spent in a lawyers office., or in attendance upon law lectures., or both.
"Second. A thorough and regular examination instead of the merely formal and perfunctory one now in vogue, and the attain ment of a certain prescribed average of proficiency as a condition precedent to admission.
"Third. The appointment of a board of four examiners for eaeh judicial circuit, ivnose duty it stra-11 be to -examine candiclates at stated periods, upon written questions, to which written answers are to be given. Such examiners to be appointed by the Supreme Court of the State, and to hold their positions dum Ijene se gessint."
In support of these propositions the committee submitted a
strong argument, and the Association voted, on. presentation of the report, that a committee should be appointed to frame a bill em
bodying the provisions of the report, and submit the same nt the
next meeting (1st Hep., p. 51).

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At tlie second anmial meeting, Mr. Gumming presented the bill, entitled "An Act to regulate admission in the courts of law and equity in. this Sfcaite" (3d Rep., p. IS). Tlio proposed period of three years was changed to thirty months, and it was farther pro vided that the lioard of Exaiiilners might supplement the written examination, by oral examination in their discretion. The bill proyoked an animated discussion. The following extracts from the re marks of Hon. George Dudley Thomas, then, professor in the Law School of the State University, will be of interest, especially in view of the questions still remaining unsettled:
"It has been said by the last gentleman who took his seat (Col. Uilrups), that the prescribed course: of study at the Law Sdhool of the University of Georgia is nine months. That is true, and in what I now say I speak for myself, not witih the authority of the trustees or other members of the faculty, but 1 do say that if this bill becomes a law oil Georgia, that the curriculum of the Uni versity will be raised to conform to the law expressed in that bill, and will be not less at the Law School than by another method of study. The rea-son why we have to confine it to nine months is ap parent. One oE the board of trustees, Judge Hall, asked me at the last commencement, if ifc woxild not be better for the University if the term was extended by the trustees from one year to two, and the answer I made to him was this: It seems to me conclusive, if the University of Georgia requires two years study in order to ob tain a diploma and be iadmitted to the bar, every student iu Geor gia who desires to become a lawyer will say, I can study in my room, read BJa.ckstone two weeks, and be admitted in any court in the State of Georgia. Why should I .spend two laborious years at a laiw school? Over five years experience in teaching applicants for admission to the bar, more than seventy of whom I have had the pleasiire (because it is a pleasure) to instruct, leads me to say that no man who has ever come within the circle oi* my acquaintance could lit himself for admission to the bar in one years stud}7."
"SECTION" 4. Be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That it is hereby made the duty of the Supreme Court, .and the said court is hereby authorized to appoint five lawyers in good

standing, who shall constitute a Commission of Examiners, whose duty it shall be to examine all applicants for admission to plead and" practice law hi this State, and who shall report the result of such examination 371. writing, under their signatures, to the Sup reme Court on the first day of the February term of said court, in each and every year. The candidates for admission, upon whom the said Commission of Examiners shall report favorably, shall, upon taking and subscribing the oath hereinafter set out, be admitted in the said Supreme Court to plead and practice law in all the courts of this State."
A motion was made (3d Rep., p. 44) to lay the bill on the table, arid a vote was taken to test the question whether the Association was satisfied, with the existing law. The motion to lay on the table was lost, and it is stated in a subsequent report (vol. 4-, p. 8) by the secretary, that this motion was lost by a vote of two to one. Upon the announcement of this result, General Lawton made a strong speech, which is \vell worth reading by any student of this subject.
He began by saying (2cl Rep., p. 46) :
"I do ask for a few moments. It is a serious question whether i rhe law is a valuable profession; it seems to be a question here. Is it valuable to the coiTiimnnitv ? If it is, it is worth protecting for the benefit of that community. (Applause.) Is it a privilege to him who is permitted to exercise its functions? If it is, then he should take some little pains to win that privilege." (Ap plause. )
In the course of this argument he antagonized the law permitting the students of law schools to be admitted to the bar upon diploma, quoting the action of Prof. Minor -of the I;aw Department of the University of Virginia, who bad1 in that State favored the exami nation of the law students by the State board. At this point Mr. George Dudley Thomas again said (2 Rep., p. 48) :
"Mr. President, I want to say that I am in favor, myself, -of re quiring the graduates of law schools to stand the same examination. It is -a good advertisement for a school."
Both hills were referred to a committee (2d Rep., p. 55), and the cornmJttec (2d. Rep., p. G2) reported back a bill which was sub stantially that of Mr. Dessau; biit after further discussion the
whole subject (3d Rep., p. 70) was laid on the table.

At the third annual meeting the suibject came up on a proposition which provided merely for written examinations under the existing law (3d Rep., p. 59). This, proposition, which was exceedingly mild in its nature, was adopted (3d Rep., p1. 61).
At the fourth annual meeting (4th "Rep., p. 180) the subject again came up on report of a comimittiee of which Hon. George A. Mercer was chairman. The report recommended that a period of one years study should be required, both for thioso who sought admission to the bar through a law school or through study in a lawyers office. The bill provided for a Board of Examiners and for written exami nations. The report of the committee was received, and the com mittee was requested to conifer with the Judiciary Committees of theSenate and House, with a vie>w of having embodied into a statute such suggestions and recommendations as said legislative committee anight approve. (4th Rep., p. 18.)
At the fifth annual meeting (the committee submitted a report providing for written examinations to be held bv a committee to beappointed by the judge of the superior court in each circuit. An other characteristic feature of (the bill was as follows:
"Satisfactory evidence that he has enjoyed a preliminary training and experience of at least one year, within a period of three ye.arsnext preceding his admission, in some approved law school or col lege, or in the office. o>f some practitioner of recognized standing and ability." (5th Rep., p. 233.)
In presenting- the report Judge Wmi. M. Reese said:
"I think that the limitations proposed by this .statute are very reasonable ones. It is not pressing the matter too far on the poor young men of our country who have to make a living, and it givesmuch more time to be: ready for the; great work of our lives."
At the sixth annual meeting (6th Rep., p. 69) the committee re ported that a bill embodying certain changes in the law had been introduced into the G-eneral Assembly.
At the seventh annual meeting (7th Rep., p. 86) the committee reported that the bill had boen defeated, and that the committee "has learned tihat the chief objection urged against it was that it required the applicants to submit to a written examination." The-

comimittee proposed a new bill, of which the characteristic feature was the requirement of examination by examining" boards or com mittees, to be appointed by the judges of the -superior courts. These would be standing boards or committees, and not merely temporary committees raised under the existing law for an examination. (7th Rep., pp. 87-8.)
At this meeting (7th Rep. 19) the Committee on Legal Educa tion and Admission to the; Bar jwas instructed "to lay before the next General Assembly the several bills which hare been offered on that subject .... and that they be requested to urge the passage of a bill which snail raise the standard of legal education and ad mission to the bar in this State."
At the eighth animal meeting no action was taken. At the ninth annual meeting Hon. W. H. Fleming, chairman of the committee, reported! that "the field of discussion had been gen erally covered in previous reports, and that the matter has been ex hausted." (9th Rep., p. 7.)
At the eleventh annual meeting (lltih Rep., p. 113) the com mittee reported, suggesting as a moderate change in the existing law, "written examinations to include also the subject of ethics, and also oral examination in open court.
At the twelfth annual meeting a valuable and elaborate report was submitted by a committee, of which. Hon. Henry R. Qoetehius was chairman. This report, however, did not suggest any specific changes in the law, and when brought before the Association the only action, taken was "thai" the report be printed and distributed to the members of the General Assembly, and that the present Com mittee on Legal Education be requested to bring !the matter to the attention of that body, and to endeavor to secure the passage of the best bill practicable and in conformity as near as may be to the re peated recommendations of the Association." (12th Rep., p 12.)
At the thirteenth annual meeting (13th Rep. 253) a. report was submitted by Hon. Andrew J. Oobb, chairman. This report re peated the statements in the report of the committee of 1895, that the subject of legal education and admission to the bar had received more attention and had been more largely discussed than any other

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subject before the Association; and the committee added that up to that time the agitation had been without result.
At the fourteenth annual meeting (14tJh Rep., p. 284) the report of the committee urged as an amendment to the existing law that the student be required1 to spend at least one year in preparing for the examination.
At the fifteenth annual meeting (15th Rep., pp. 37-8) Hon. John P. Ross, in ithe absence of the chairman Of the committee, reported to the Association the action of the American Bar Association in reference to the lengthening of courses of instruction in law schools and the requiremtent of a general education! equivalent, at least, to a high school course. In presenting the report, and in referring to the Act of 1897, Judge Ross said:
"I wish to &ay that we are about to enter upon a neiw method of admission to the bar in Georgia which, I think, if diligently carried oiit, will inure to the benefit of the profession. Of course, it is left to the Supreme Court of our State to fix the standard which must be attained after the first of next month, I believe it is, for admis sion to the bar. 1 think the standard ought to be so> fixed that it would require two yearsj study -to attain unto it. If that were the case, I would be in favor myself of a provision enacted into law that two years must be de.votcd to the atudv before admission to the bar: and if such an act as that were passed, if our schools of law in the State should not voluntarily extend their course to two years (which I am sure the one with which I have tHie (honor to be con nected would do*), then I would favor the enactmemt of a law that in order to obtain admission upon the diploma of those schools that they have a two-years course. I do not tihink it would be fair or Tight to tlie schools to compel them to have the two-years ccrarse -un less the enactment should apply to all students of law. I will say ^that from mjy Own! experience, Hjhe beftfer way for the sHmdent to1 do is to study law systematically under the direct eye of the instructor better, if possible, in a law school."
At the sixteenth annual meeting (16th Rep., p. 99) the committee made no reiport in view of the fact that a paper would be presented to the meeting by Hon. Washington Dessau, who had in the mean time, under the amendment to the Act of 1897, been appointed

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chairman of the Board of Examiners. This paper is an admirable treatise on the general subject.
At the seventeenth annual meeting (17th Kep., p. 104) a report signed by William P. Hill, chairman, was presented, recommending that the exception allowing graduates of law schools to foe licensed without standing an examination be repealed. So far as the index to the Proceedings discloses there was no discussion on this report.
At the eighteenth annual meeting (IStih Rep., p. 27) the follow ing report was presented by Hon. Spencer K. Atkinson, chairman., and was adopted:
"Save only as hereinafter recommended, your committee approves the present law of the State regulating the subject of Legal Educa tion and Admission to the Bar.
"It recommends, "First. That the provisions of the present law which enjoin upon the courts the duty of admitting to the bar graduates of law schools in. this State upon, presentation of their -diplomias be repealed. "Second. That the provisions of the present law be amended, so that the superior courts of this State shall be authorized to admit to the bar without further examination, upon proof of good moral character and presentation of their diplomas, the graduates of those law schools, the graduates of which have been heretofore specially authorized to he admitted to practice law upon presentation of their diplomas; provided such law schools shall reqxiire a two-years course under a curriculum jto be approved by the State Board of Legal Examiners/
The action of the nineteenth session is reported in the present volume and need not he here repeated.
It is not too much to claim that the reform accomplished by the Acts of 1897 and 1898 was due principally to the earnest agita tion which the Association had carried on since 1884; and it is not too much to expect that the contim-ied agitation will result in rais ing still higher the standard of legal education. As the subject is still pending, it will not be unprofitable to supplement the history of the movement in Georgia by -a statement of experience elsewhere.
In connection with the American B.ar Association, and as the out growth of the activity of its -Committee on Legal Education, there has been formed an Association of American Law Schools. The

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Association of American Medical Schools has teen accredited with accomplishing a great work in raising the standard of medical edu cation, by fixing a definition of a medical college, and in -weeding out unworthy institutions not coming up to the definition.
The four requirements necessary for membership in the Associa tion of Law Schools are as follows :
1. A ttwo-years course (as a minimum). 2. A requireiBient >of a high school education. 3. Ten hours per week (as a minimum of class-room work) . 4. A library containing at least the Keports of the State and of the United States Supreme Court. At the meeting of the American Bar Association in 1901, a report on Legal Education and Admission to the Bar was submitted by an able committee, consisting of Geo. M. Sharp (eminent in legal edu cation) ;, Henry Wade Rogers (eminent in law authorship) ; John M. Harlan (Justice of the Supreme Court) ; John E. Dillon (dis tinguished both as a judge and practitioner) ; and Henry E. Da^is. This report is replete with facts and figures covering the present state of the law on this subject throughout the Union. The report says on the subject of law schools:
"The conviction has been growing for years that the place to study law is in a school of law. This Association has again and again expressed its conviction to that effect, and its action upon the subject has made an impression upon those intending to enter the profession."
The report catalogues the schools that have a three-years course^ those that have a two-3ears course, and those (only five in number in the entire country) itihat have -a one-year course. On the latter point the comimittee said:
The comtmittoe can not but deplore greatly that any law schools in the United States still consent to confer the degree of B.L. upon the completion of a one-year coarse of study. A degree so ob tained can have little value, and it is strange that institutions will grant degrees upon such easy conditions. It is, in the opinion of the committee, an abuse of the degree-conferring power which col leges have, .and should receive the condemnation, not alone of aca demic bodies, but of the profession and of the public geneirallv."

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On the subject of period, of study, the committee shows that eighteen States require by law a three-years period of study (whether in a law school or otherwise) ; eleven Spates require a twoyears course of study in a law school or law office. A one-year course of study is nowhere prescribed.
After reviewing all the facts the committee says:
"We can not refrain from again declaring it to be our opinion that it is far better that some definite period should be established in each State; that the period ought not to be less than two years ; and that a period of three jre:ars is much to be desired."
On the subject of admission to the bar upon diploma, the com mittee says:
"Your committee has heretofore expressed the opinion that it is not advisable that the -diploma of law schools should admit to tne bar. ... It is not in the real interest of the schools, nor in that of their graduates;, that they should, be invested with any such power,"
It may not be unprofitable to summarize a few points in the. move ment for a higher standard of legal education in Georgia -and in the country at large.
1. When any period of time has been fixed as a requisite for the study of law, that period has been made the same, both, for tliose attending law schools and those preparing otherwise, for the State examination. Tims, in the propositions hereinbefore mentioned as submitted to the second, third, fourth and fourteenth annual meet ings, the period of study suggested by the able committees making the reports was intended to apply both to those studying privateljand to law school graduates.
2. In all the States that have legislated on the sulbjeat of prescrib ing a period of study, two years is the minimum time that has been so prescribed.
3. Representatives of law schools have always stood ready to ad vance their standard to the highest point practicable, recognizing, however, that their action was necessarily limited by the condition of the law in regard to the-State examination. Thus, alt ithe begin ning of the history above set forth, Mr. George Dudley Thomas, rep-

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resenting the Law School of the State University, indicated his readiness to surrender the right of ithat school to have its diplomas admit to the bar whenever a reform of the law in. other directions made this course reasonable.
The action of the trustees of the University in raising the law course to a two-years course antedated the action of the Association on that subject. Judge John P. >"iOSS, expressing the conviction that a two-years course of! study was necessary, whether in a law school or otherwise, indicated his -willingness, while a member of the faculty of Mercer University, to advance the standard of thai school to a two-years course whenever the Legislature prescribed such course forlhose coming to the bar by the other method.
4. The Association has committed itself by -action twice reptated to the proposition that a proper legal education, if sought in a law school, can not be obtained by less than, a two-years course of study.
Compare for a moment the situation of a student in a law school ij^cl a student in a lawyers office. I speak by way of illustration, of the Law school ol! the State University, beca-use I am familiar at present with that institution alone. The Dean. o.f the Law School meets each class two hours per da}^, in the morning and afternoon, and gives his entire time and attention to the "work oir the school. Another professor meets the classes the same number of hours, and gives almost his entire time and attention to the school. In addi tion, there are four other professors whom the students meet on special topics. The law scbool is an integral part of the Univer sity. An atmosphere of study surrounds it. The students have the benefit, not only of the University library, but of a law library, Moot courts are held; exercises in pleading are required; and the .students are given an opportunity to attend the sessions of the city court, the superior court, and the Federal court, at Athens. In ad dition to the daily quiz in the lecture-room, frequent written ex aminations are held covering the subjects of the course, which, by the way, is much broader than that prescribed by the law of the State, These numerous examinations are followed bv a final ex amination. All these surroundings constitute an environment for

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study which, is as favorable as it possibly can be. Xow, the Asso ciation is commitfeed to the proposition that under this favorable onvironment a two-years course of s>tiidy is necessary to legal edu<*ation.
Compare a student in a lawyers office. If he is in the office of a lawyer who is not busy, it will at once be admitted tlhat his loceution is ill-advisod. In fact, it may be presunxod that a lav student would not pursue the study of law except under some lawyer who is of ^ulflcient standing1 at the bar to bo a busy practitioner. If he is busy (and the more competent he is the busier he will be), he can give his student -only a hanried and occasional interview -on tlio subject of his studies. The student in the office is liable to the num erous interruptions of a busy lawyers office. He has not the class inspiration ; no atmosphere of study surrounds him.
Can it he said that if the law school environment requires two years for a legal education, the law office method can possibly suffice with less ? To ask the question is to give the answer. And. yet? the present law stipulates for no study period whatever as prerequisite to admission to the bar through the State examination.
All praise must be accorded to the able Board of Rxaminers, who nave administered, the law faithfully and efficiently, and who, al though the examinations can not be made public, have, according t<> common understanding, been gradually making them more and more adequate as tests of legal preparation; but the great inequality of the law as between the law school method and the statutory method was strikingly emphasized by the almost ludicrous incident whijh some time ago was published in. the press of the State, namely, that a young man had passed the examination after thirty days study. JTis admirers were go unaware of the bearing of this fact that it was published as evidence of exceptional ntness for the bar. jSTiimeroiLs instances are known where the applicant has passed the examination of the committee after studying during sis month-. or less.
The great value of the lengthened period of time as a prerequisite to admission to the bar is not simply its exaction of mental prepar ation, but the moral test which it imposes.

Many young men, attracted by what appear to be the rewards of the profession and the political distinction which its members win, rush to the bar without being really fitted in character or capacity for the profession. Having been once admitted, their pride is enlisted and the temptation is to continue at all hazards. The presence of men of this type tends to lower the standards of the pro fession. ]STow, a time limit is a moral test, a sifting process "which would eliminate from the ranks of the aspirants for the bar many .men who are not fitted for it. The probability is that if a two-year period was fixed, only those who were qualified by earnestness of character and otherwise, to enter the profession, would persist in their preparation.
What then, briefly, are the conclusions to which this review of the whole subject irresistibly leads?
In my judgment (without assuming to bind by tins expression of opinion any one but myself) they are these:
1. Requirement in all cases of a two-years period of study. 2. Upon this being done, the right to be admitted to the bar on diploma to be repealed. Admission by diploma should certainly be retained unless the first change is made; for legislation which aflected the law school and left the other method untouched would place the emphasis of the reform where it is least needed. The legislation embodying these conclusions might well prescribe specifically the terms of a legal education, both by the law school method and the law office method; in the former case prescribing at least a minimum number of hours for regular meetings of professors and their classes, and in the latter case a minimum number of con ferences between student and preceptor. The law schools should be those only which are connected wnth a chartered university or college. With legislation of this kind the -able Board of Examiners could safely raise the standard of the examination. Since, however, it is difficult for any examination to test the value of a two-years period of study, it would no longer be desirable to have the examination occupy a single day. To do this would make it not only an intellect-

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ual test, but a physical test, and in the latter aspect it would be unfair to some of the applicants. The examination might be con ducted day by day, the student not knowing until the second or third day the questions then to lie propounded.
LEGAL ETI-IIOS.
The committee reports on this subject have been received at almost every meeting of the Association. The result has been that the subject has been thoroughly canvassed, and the principles oi legal ethics have been very completely defined. A Code of Legal Ethics was prepared by the committee at the fifth meeting (o Re port, 99), and ordered to be printed and distributed to all the mcmber-s of the bar in the State. Perhaps the most valuable contribu tion on this subject wais Judge Bleckleys "Truth at the Bar," which is thought to *be tlie most philosophical statement of legal proced ure extant. The Association, ordered three thousand copies of this address printed for general distribution.
The only "grievance" that I have to urge against the Association is its inactivity through the Committee on Grievances, This com mittee is intended to make efficient the work of the Association in respect to legal ethics. The duties of the committee iarc defined in the fourth by-law, as follows:
"A Committee on Grievances, who shall be charged with the hear ing of fill complaints which may bo made in matters affecting the interest of the legal profession, or the professional conduct of any member of the bar, and the administration of justice, and to report the same to the Association with such recommendations as they may deem advisable; and said committee shall, in behalf of the Associa tion, institute a,nd carry on such proceedings against such, offenders and to such extent as the Association may order, the cost o>f such proceedings to be paid by the TCxecutivc Committee out of moneys subject to be appropriated by them."
There is no other committee in whose definition of duties then? is so distinct an imp]ication that the committeo is appointed, to do -something. It is entrnsted. with large power, its jurisdiction ex tends not only to members of the Association, but to any member of the bar, and generally to complaints affecting the administration

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of justice. The committee is also armed with the sinews- of war. and is, in fact, the only one to which the bv-laws make an appropria tion.
I^~ow, it can not he said that there has been no material that might have been, brought before this committee. It is notorious that during- the existence of the Association grand juries have dealt with matters coming within the scope above outlined. What has been done by similar committees in other States is set forth in the ad dress of the President of the Association for the year 1888, and what; has been more recently done has been mentioned in a valuable sum mary of work of the other Associations prepared })y the present sec retary.
Some activity on. the part of the Association through this com mittee would do more to establish the Association in. pitblic confi dence than any other work it could undertake.
REFORMS IN CRIMINAL LAW.
jSTot all the reforms advocated by the Association have been em bodied in legislation, but it is not among the least worthy * achieve ments- of the Association that it has attempted to remedy some of the most glaring defects in the administration e-f criminal law: and to that end has done all that the Association can do. It has pointed out these defects and. appointed commitfees to urge the passage of amendatory laws upon the General Assembly. The srtbject of mob law has received, due attention, especially in Judge Bleckleys ad dress, entitled ".Emotional Justice/ and in that of Judge Spencer 17. Atkinsoii, entitled. "Shall Jiistice be Judicially Administered?-"
The Association lias urged a change in the criminal, law so as to permit criminal pleadings to be amended, and so as to remove the inequality noAv existing between the State and the defendant in re gard to the challenges of jurors. The committees of the Association have prepared bills upon this subject and brought them, to the atten tion. O-C the General Assembly ; and -thus the Association has thrown squarely on the "Legislature the responsibility for some of those mis carriages of justice which arc pleaded as excuses for mob law.

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OTHER MATTERS.
In a single paragraph, must be condensed a brief reference to some additional lines of activity undertaken by the Association. Through the Committee oil Interstate Law efforts have been made, and are being contiiiued, to bring albout "unifoTinity of our statutes, with, those of other States, relating to matters of common interest, sucn as the mode of attestation, of deeds, etc. The, work of the Com mittee on Memorials, if prosecuted corrtinuously under the direction of the Executive Committee, will result in. securing the biographies and pictures o the distinguished lawyers of the past, the reputation, of some of whom is fast becoming a vanishing tradition. The ap pointment of a coiTLiiiittee to aid in securing relief for the Supreme Court concerns an iui.porta.nfc movement now in progress.
LITERATURE OF THE ASSOCIATION.
More important than any single utility of the Association has . been the creation of: a new species of legal literature. IsTo member of the Association can fail to contemplate with pride the eighteen volumes of the reports of its proceedings. These reports are most highly esteemed and are greatly songht in other States. Thev con tain monographs on legal topics, and valuable contributions to legal history, to the. discussion of public questions., arid to the literature of the law. The Association has established a library in the State Library at Atlanta, containing not OTily its own publications, but those o.f the American Bar Association, and, so far as the}- can TJO procured, of! the bar associations of the other States of the Union. These rich resources have been made available by means of the carefully compiled index prepared by the secretary. I trust that an annual resume^ and current index of ""What the Others are Doing will be a permanent feature of the anmial program.
pressed in. Brownings "Ben. Ezra:
; ]STot on the vulgar mass Called work must sentence pass,

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Things done, that took the eye and had the price;
But all, the worlds coarse thumb And Roger failed to plumb, 60 passed in making up the main account; All instincts immature, All purposes unsure. That weighed not as his work, yet swelled the mans amount. Thoughts hardly to be packed Into a narrow act, .Fancies that broke through language and escaped : All I could never be, All, men ignored in me. This, I was worth to God, whose wheel the pitcher shaped."
The thought so exquisitely expressed in these linca is as true of the corporate being as of the individual; and so, in conclusion, I would specify as the chief significance (if tlie Association the fact of its existence, its vitality, its purposes and. its influence.
Ik counts for much that the members of the bar do nob look npon their profession merely as a bread-winning occupation, content to cry "grpat is Diaim. of the Ephesians, for by this <?rafk we have our living.^ It counts for much that they turn, aside each year from, the current -of their busy affairs to attend the annual meetings; it founts for inuch that they labor with painstaking care upon ithc papers and reports which they bring before their brethren, thna ex%jcnding unsel^shly their Lime, which is the "lawyers capita?; it counts for much thatt in this vay they make ackn-owleJgnient of the public relations of the profession. T3y his services as a mem ber of the Asgociatioji, each one is endeavoring to pay his debt to his profession, and by their corporate ai-ntl aggregate labors, the Association is endeavoring to discharge its debt to ilic public for the large powers wliich are conferred upon it, a.n-d for that con tinued vote -of confidence which, the public bestows upon the pro fession by entrusting to its keeping not only the most importanft private intcrr^ts, but the weightiest ^^ublic concerns.