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The Green Bag

dangerous weapons or high explosives without a government license. He de clared the change in our institutions indicated by the "initiative, referendum and recall" as undesirable, because likely to impair the efficiency of repre sentative government and the inde pendence of the judiciary. He asserted, also, that lawyers and their clients are to a large extent responsible for delays in litigation, rather than the courts. Cyrus G. Derr of Reading read a paper entitled "The Best of our Knowl edge, Information and Belief," a dis cussion of the grounds upon which we may reasonably rely upon the testimony of others. Henry Budd of Philadelphia read a paper entitled "Decisions, Reports and some Reporters," in which he criticized the tendency of judicial legislation, and pointed out the inferiority of the modern reports to those of ancient times. The Committee on Law Reform sub mitted four proposed acts, providing for the direction of special verdicts on specific questions submitted in civil cases, for the operation of admission to the Supreme Court as admitting to practice in every other court of the state, for the abolition of appeals based on technical errors, and for the con tinuance of writs for the beginning of actions in force for one year from this date. All these proposed acts were approved with minor or immaterial amendments. The suggestion made by Judge John Marshall Gest in a recent paper entitled "Suggestions for the Amendment of the Law of Decedents' Estates in Pennsyl vania," that a commission be appointed to codify the statutes on the subject, was adopted by the Association. The report of the Committee on Uniform State Laws, recommending the approval of the act relating to desertion

and non-support and the act regulating marriage and marriage licenses, was referred back to the committee for further consideration, at the request of its chairman. The recommendation of a committee that a commission be created to revise and unify the statutory laws of the Commonwealth and report certain parts thereof to the legislature of 1915, was adopted, and the act submitted by the committee for the appointment of such a commission approved. The association adopted a recom mendation that one of its committees co-operate with a committee of the Law Association of Philadelphia in securing relief for the municipal courts of Philadelphia by furthering such legislation as may seem desirable. The report of a committee on the judiciary was unfavorably acted upon the Association deciding that it pre ferred an elective to an appointive judiciary, and the continued granting of liquor licenses by the courts. The report of the Special Committee on the Initiative, Referendum and Re call was referred back, at the request of the committee for further considera tion. The following officers were elected: presidents, Hon. George B. Orlady; vicepresidents, John J. Henderson, Crawford; Charles E. Terry, Wyoming; J. McF. Carpenter, Allegheny; N. H. Larzelere, Montgomery; Edward H. Bonsall, Phila delphia: Secretary, William H. Staake, Philadelphia; treasurer, Samuel E. Basehore, Cumberland. Iowa State!Bar Association The eighteenth annual meeting of the Iowa State Bar Association was held at Cedar Rapids, la., June 27-28. The president's address, by Senator C. G. Saunders of Council Bluffs, dealt with