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AMERICAN JUDICATURE SOCIETY

making the proposals and of their manifest In the intrinsic absence merits. of any institution so

AT a time when the largest scientific undertakings of the age are so largely committed to the care of privately endowed agencies, it is surprising that we should have had to wait till the year 1913 for the establishment of a founda tion devoted to the cause of scientific reform of judicial organization and procedure. It seems that a great debt of gratitude is due Mr. Herbert Harley for bringing about the creation of such a foundation — a debt the greater be cause he has not only possessed the initiative to establish it on a basis that promises effectiveness and success, but has also, with admirable discernment, formulated a working program which should command the unqualified endorse ment of every thoughtful and candid member of the legal profession. The American Judicature Society is based on the idea that the most effective preliminary to law reform is a consensus of the best expert opinion on the defects of procedure and the remedies to be applied. Once these expert recommen dations have been obtained, in the shape of concrete proposals emanating from the best qualified observers, their adop tion and fulfillment may be left to take care of itself, for the proposals need no higher sponsorship than that of the best expert opinion, and may be trusted to exert sufficient influence upon the bar, the public, and the legislatures by virtue of the personnel of the body

well fitted to undertake this task, the American Judicature Society can accom plish what no other body could hope to do. The undertaking requires a high degree of specialization and is in its nature highly laborious. The American Bar Association would be an appropriate agency, but neither it nor any law school faculty could possibly provide itself with the requisite facilities for the accomplishment of an enterprise of such magnitude. Nor could the work be carried out under government auspices. An undertaking which demands such large resources of talent, time and money can be performed only by some private organization specially constituted to take charge of it, and the plan of Mr. Harley's organization has been so care fully studied in its details that it is hard to see how it could have been improved upon. It is of course not to be supposed that experts will be in agreement upon every point. But they are likely to be in agreement on most of the cardinal matters, and experience has shown on more than one occasion that the best way to solidify expert opinion on any subject is to prepare a joint draft em bodying concrete proposals. Such drafts, through their submission to a council of three hundred of the fore most lawyers of the country for criticism, will be certain to express the ripest con