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APPENDIX.

THE PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS,

BY

CHARLES F. MANDERSON,

PRESIDENT,

OF OMAHA, NEBRASKA.

Gentlemen of the American Bar Association:

The dawning of the twentieth century sees this organization of lawyers enter upon the twenty-third year of its existence.

In August, 1878, a few members of our noble profession met in conference and, acting on the belief that much of good would, and no evil could, result from forming a National Association, akin to those that had been created in districts and states, they framed a Constitution that without material change has guided us since its adoption.

The first President, Hon. James O. Broadhead, declared, with prophetic ken, that the Association would not be ephemeral and should address itself honestly and earnestly to the great objects properly within its scope, watch the progress of events as they occur and be ready to act upon all matters of importance when the need arrives, seeking to avoid becoming an agitator and aiming rather to codify and harmonize than to revolutionize or reform the law.

The high purpose and lofty aim of the founders is well expressed in its constitution. It declared the object to be “to advance the science of jurisprudence, promote the administration of justice and uniformity of legislation throughout the Union, uphold the honor of the profession of law and encourage cordial intercourse among the members of the American Bar."

It has justified its existence by its accomplishments. The persistent industry and acknowledged ability of its members, whether exerted in private capacity, on its committees, or at

its annual meetings, has accomplished many of the ends in view and been productive of good to the general public.

The twenty-two volumes of its reports embody the best legal literature of the Nineteenth Century. The addresses made and the papers read cover a vast range of subjects, are the result of professional experience based upon years of activity in practice and are prepared out of love for our calling and due regard for its lofty mission. They inculcate the highest degree of ethics and move in advance of many needed reformatory changes.

The addresses of its Presidents contain, besides other matters of "great pith and moment," the most noteworthy changes. in statute law, year after year, on points of general interest, made in the several states and by the Congress. Emanating from such guiding lights of the profession as Broadhead,. Bristow, Phelps, Potter, Lawton, Parker, Stevenson, Butler, Semmes, Wright, Field, Hitchcock, Baldwin, Dillon, Tucker, Cooley, Carter, Storey, Woolworth, and Howe, representing all sections of the Republic and famous in every part of it, these articles form an invaluable contribution to our legal literature and constitute the truthful record of events, the interesting progress of legislation and the onward march of jurisprudence.

The annual addresses cover subjects of intense interest to the student of law and the practitioner, giving both to the office and at the bar of the court the knowledge that means substantial achievement. The law makers of the Republic find a mine of wealth in Storey on the American Legislature, Griggs on Law Making, Semmes on Civil Law, Hoadly on Codification, Carter on The Ideal and the Actual in the Law, and Hitchcock on General Corporation Laws. The statesman receives guiding light from Lord Russell on International Law and Arbitration, Dillon on American Institutions, Tucker on British Institutions and American Constitutions, Lindsay on Acquiring and Governing Foreign Territory, Baldwin on the Centenary of Modern Government, and Brown on the Dis

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