trict of Columbia and the insular possessions for enactment. A copy of this act is hereunto attached as Exhibit "A."* 2. That the American Bar Association approve the Uniform Business Corporation Act which has been finally approved by the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws, and by it recommended to the various states, territories, the District of Columbia, and the insular possessions for enactment. A copy of said act is hereunto attached as Exhibit " B." * 3. That the American Bar Association approve the Uniform Reciprocal Transfer Tax Act which has been approved by the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws and by it recommended to the various states, territories, the District of Columbia, and the insular possessions for the District of Columbia, and the insular possessions for enactment. A copy of said act is hereunto attached as Exhibit "C."* 4. That the American Bar Association approve the Uniform Veterans' Guardianship Act which has been approved by the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws and by it recommended to the various states, territories, the District of Columbia, and the insular possessions for enactment. A copy of said act is hereunto attached as Exhibit "D."* REPORT. The Uniform Public Utilities Act and the Uniform Business Corporation Act have each had very careful consideration by the National Conference. Each subject has been before that body for a number of years and a year ago these acts were tentatively adopted by the National Conference but held over until this year that they might be further examined, scrutinized, and studied, so that if any errors appeared, typographical or otherwise, they might be corrected by the Conference this year. The Uniform Reciprocal Transfer Tax Act is an exceptionally short act, but meets a long-felt need. Acts of this character have already been adopted in a number of the states. These acts should be uniform and it is to this end that this act was prepared for adoption by the states. *Copies of the Uniform Public Utilities Act, the Uniform Business Corporation Act, the Uniform Reciprocal Transfer Tax Act, and the Uniform Veterans' Guardianship Act can be secured upon application to the American Bar Association, 209 S. La Salle St., Chicago, Ill. The subject of the Uniform Veterans' Guardianship Act was taken up by the National Conference at the instance of the United States Veterans' Bureau. The Federal Government pays large sums of money each year for the benefit of incompetent veterans and the minor children of veterans, and this act provides for uniformity in the appointment of guardians for such veterans and such minor children. The act also provides for the commitment of incompetents of the class named. The Veterans' Bureau is very anxious to obtain the enactment of this law so that the procedure in the various states may be uniform. The Conference has also considered, section by section, uniform acts on the following subjects: Mechanics' liens, child labor, divorce, acknowledgment of instruments, fire arms, the apportionment of income and principal among tenants and remaindermen; securing compulsory attendance of non-resident witnesses in criminal cases; amendments to the uniform negotiable instruments act, and a state air licensing act. Though uniform acts on these various subjects were considered, section by section, the acts have not been perfected and the subjects were re-referred to the committees having them in charge for further study and with directions to again report proposed uniform acts on these subjects at the next annual meeting of the National Conference. The motion which I will make should not meet with opposition. The National Conference was in session for a week. Some of these acts have been under consideration as long as ten years. They have been adopted and re-adopted by the men that your governors have sent to the National Conference for the purpose of considering them. Thirty-nine states were represented in that conference during the past week, and there were 79 commissioners present, and I ask you to take their judgment, for each of the acts was adopted by a vote of more than 30 states, and there was only one act that had any negative votes and that had but one. I ask that the Association give its approval to what the National Conference has done. Mr. President, I move that the Association approve the four acts named which have been adopted by the National Conference which are to be sent to the legislatures of the various states during the coming winter. The motion was duly seconded. W. F. Mason, of South Dakota: Does that uniform business corporation act provide for the corporation having common stock or no par stock? Mr. Miller: It provides for both. And I will say in regard to that particular act that Washington, California and Arkansas took the tentative draft we adopted last year, and they are as I understand it, going to adopt it as a new act for their state, and during the last five days I have received word from Louisiana that the act has been adopted by the Legislature of Louisiana. The motion was duly carried and the acts submitted were approved. (See list of Commissioners, acts adopted and States adopting, pp. 804 to 816, infra.) The Association thereupon adjourned until 2 P. M. FIFTH SESSION. Thursday, July 26, 1928. The fifth session convened in the Metropolitan Theatre, at 2 P. M., Past President Charles S. Whitman presiding. Chairman Whitman: Next on the program is the report of the Section on Public Utility Law, which will be presented by Mr. Edward A. Armstrong, of New Jersey. Mr. Armstrong: Mr. President, Judge MacLane, our Chairman, had to be away and asked me if I would present this report. (Reading.) The Public Utility Section of the American Bar Association. held its annual sessions on the afternoon of July 23, the morning of July 24, and concluding with an informal dinner on the evening of July 24. Formal papers and addresses were presented by J. W. Jamison, Esq., of St. Louis, Missouri, Commissioner Curtis of Nebraska, Professor Harry G. Brown of the University of Missouri, and Hance H. Cleland, Esq., of Olympia, Washington. The subjects discussed included a survey of legal and economic principles governing the regulation of public utilities, the conflicts between Federal and State Regulation, and proposed Federal Regulation of Interstate Motor Bus Carriers. Particular attention was given in the informal discussion to the various proposed amendments of Section 266 of the Judicial Code by which it is sought to exclude from the jurisdiction of the Federal District Courts controversies arising over alleged confiscatory rates fixed by state authority for public utility service. It was suggested that proposed legislation of this nature might properly receive attention of the American Bar Association. The Section noted with satisfaction the completion of the labors of the Commissioners on Uniform State Laws with respect. to a proposed Uniform Public Utilities Act. J. W. Jamison, Esq., of St. Louis, was elected Chairman of the Section for the ensuing year and Carl D. Jackson, Esq., of New York, Secretary. Regret is expressed at the retirement from the Secretary's office of E. A. Armstrong, Esq., of New Jersey, who has long served the Section as its Secretary and executive officer. (See Proceedings, p. 677, infra.) Chairman Whitman: The Committee on Publicity. The report is to be presented by Mr. Walter H. Eckert, of Chicago, as Chairman. Mr. Eckert: Your Publicity Committee has the honor to report substantial progress in the matter of the friendly relations between this Association and the press. Advance copies of all committee reports and of many of the speeches delivered during the meeting were furnished to the principal newspapers throughout the United States and Canada. These reports and speeches reflect the studied thought of leaders of the Bar upon subjects not only legal in nature but social and economic as well and have received serious consideration by the press which has come to realize that there is to be found therein the origin of future legislation upon the difficult subjects relating to the ever increasing problems presented by the development of the radio, the aeroplane, the automobile and other recent inventions and the more familiar but no less important subject of improvements in the administration of justice. Your committee extends to the press and especially to the local newspapers in Seattle the appreciation of the American Bar Association for the generous columns that have been devoted to the Association's activities. As Chairman of the committee, I desire to thank Mr. William G. Long, of Seattle, who is the local member of our committee, for his most valuable assistance. Chairman Whitman: I will ask the members to rise while the Chairman of the Committee on Memorials reads his report. Secretary MacCracken then read the report of the Committee on Memorials. (See infra, p. 465.) Chairman Whitman: The report of the Comparative Law Bureau. Secretary MacCracken: The report in writing is submitted by Robert P. Shick, the Secretary, who says that the Bureau has been doing its work in the usual way, that there is nothing particular to report to the Association outside of the material which will be submitted in time for publication in the annual volume. (See infra, p. 514.) Chairman Whitman: The report of the Committee on Membership will be presented by its Chairman, Mr. Edward A. Zimmerman, of Chicago. Mr. Zimmerman : Your Membership Committee began its activities about the first of September, 1927. It had no foundation upon which to build. No previous lists of prospective members were available. There was no organization existing or operating in any of the states. State directors were appointed in all states, these being selected with the cooperation of members of the General Council and members of the Executive Committee. Lists of prospective members were prepared, checked in the various states and checked against membership lists at National Headquarters. Since June 30, 1927, 3252 new members have been elected. |