USA > Indiana > Courts and lawyers of Indiana, Volume II > Part 7
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INDIANA STATE BAR ASSOCIATION
Samuel P. Pickens, Indianapolis. W. L. Penfield, Auburn. H. M. Logsden, Evansville. Jacob D. Early, Terre Haute. R. B. Beauchamp, Greensburg, Frank E. Gavin, Greensburg. George E. Ross. Logansport. Orlando J. Lotz. Muncie. Robert W. McBride, Indianpolis. Allen Zollars, Ft. Wayne. Robert Lowry. Ft. Wayne. J. G. Ibach, Hammond G. V. Menzies, Mt. Vernon. Alexander Gilchrist, Evansville. Phillip W Frey, Evansville. John W. Spencer, Evansville. Frank B. Burke. Indianapolis. Charles E. Korbly, Indianapolis. Charles E. Barrett, Indianapolis. M. F. Stannard, Jeffersonille. Charles B. Stuart, Lafayette. Hiram Teter, Indianapolis. William H. Dye, Indianapolis. E. K. Strong, Columbia City. David A. Myers, Greensburg. Flavins J. Van Vorhis, Indianapolis. Edwin Taylor, Evansville. J. G. Winfrey, Evansville. J. L. Clark Danville. G. W. Brill, Danville. Rufus Magee, Logansport. I. H. Fowler, Spencer. James W. Sansberry, Anderson. William S. Diven. Anderson. Frank P. Foster, Anderson. Jesse H. Blair, Indianapolis. Will E. Colerick, Ft. Wayne. M. J. Clancy, Elwood. George H. Voigt, Jeffersonville. James W. Morrison, Frankfort. William R. Hough, Greenfield. Jobn V. Hadley, Danville, Levi P. Harlan. Indianapolis. W. N. Harding, Indianapolis. Oliver Bogue, Wabash. Jay A. Hindman, Hartford City. T. E. Ellison, Ft. Wayne.
Walpole G. Colerick. Ft. Wayne. Charles A. Dryer, Indianpolis. Ralph Applewhite, Seymour. Terence B. Cunningham, Kentland. John S. Duncan, Indianapolis. Addison C. Ilarris, Indianapolis. Willard New. Vernon. Quincy A. Myers, Logansport. Otis L. Ballou, Lagrange. Charles E. Shively, Richmond. A. C. Ayres, Indianapolis. Samnel Parker, Plymouth. William A. Pickens, Indianapolis. K. M. Hord, Shelbyville. Noble C. Butler, Indianapolis. Lafayette Perkins, Indianapolis. John R. Wilson, Indianpolis. Silas A. Hays, Greencastle.
John T. Beasley. Terre Haute. William C. Smith, Delphi. Albert Rabb. Indianapolis. W. L. Taylor, Indianapolis. Charles L. Jewett. New Albany. Charles F. Remy. Columbus. William Cummings, Kentland. William Darroch, Kentland. Samuel Ashby, Indianapolis. Frank McCray, Indianapolis. J. H. Louden, Bloomington. Charles W. Moores, Indianapolis. Smiley N. Chambers, Indianapolis. William P. Fishback, Indianapolis. William P. Kappes, Indianapolis. Ephraim Marsh, Greenfield. Daniel W. Sims, Covington. John C. Nelson, Logansport. Edward K. Adams, Shelbyville.
Charles Martindale, Indianapolis. Benjamin Harrison, Indianapolis. Ferdinand Winter, Indianapolis. Nathan Morris, Indianpolis. N. O. Ross, Logansport. John K. Thompson. Lawrenceburg. Robert H. Colt, Indianapolis. John A. Finch, Indianapolis. W. S. Shirley, Martinsville. J. W. Headington, Portland.
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COURTS AND LAWYERS OF INDIANA
Frank A. Comparet, Kentland Sidney B. Davis, Terre Haute.
John S. Bays, Sullivan.
Frank A. Kelley, Terre Haute.
Frank M. Powers, Angola.
Frank S. Roby, Angola.
John G. Williams, Indianapolis.
The first regular meeting of the State Bar Association was held on the anniversary of its organization, June 23, 1897, at Indianapolis, Benjamin Harrison being president. His remarks on that occasion set forth the aims of the associa- tion better than the writer could hope to do. It is also fitting that the vision of Indiana's greatest lawyer as described by himself on this occasion should be preserved in this con- nection.
One of the purposes of the Association is to promote the administration of justice. We gather here this morning in one of the halls of the Legis- lature of Indiana. It is a proper place for our assembling. The Legis- lature makes a great deal of work for the lawyers. I cannot but think that if a committee of the Bar Association-as a committee, not on policies, but on expression-could sit in connection with the Legislature, that the convenience and comfort of the courts, and the directness and exactness of public laws, would be promoted. I do sincerely hope-and I make, in this large representative assembling of the bar this morning, a prediction that it may be so-that we have organized an association of the profession in Indiana that is to be permanent, one that shall enlist the enthusiastic support and co-operation of all the members of the bar of the state. I do believe that this Association, pursuing its natural and proper purposes expressed in its constitution, may contribute very greatly to the good of the commonwealth of which we are citizens. I hope, there- fore, that the interest in this Association may not be temporary or luke- warm, but that it may be permanent and enthusiastic.
We are associated in part to promote the administration of justice, and there are many ways in which this Association, co-operating with legal associations, may greatly contribute to this end. If our courts are to retain the veneration and respect which is due to them, and which is not only their due, but the preservation of which, in the public estima- tion, is essential to settled, stable, orderly public and social life, the bar of the state must do its duty to itself and to the courts. It will discharge that dnty, I think, in the first place, by throwing its influence as an asso- ciation and the influence of every individual member of it, to the selection for judicial places under our state government of those men who are fit and fitted for the discharge of judicial duties. No other considerations but those of integrity, address and legal acquirements should enter into the selection of a judicial officer.
It may be that, in the constitution of some of our great Appellate courts, especially the Supreme court at Washington, there are party
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divisions upon the lines of great constitutional questions, such as those that arose during the war, that may fairly enter into the consideration of the appointing power. Perhaps the President may rightly consider whether the person suggested for a place upon the bench of the Supreme court has a right opinion upon questions of the supremacy of the national govern- ment in all national affairs; but when we come to the lower and more subordinate and more temporary matters of politics, matters that are of business expediency and consideration, then I hold that it is unworthy, especially of members of the bar. to give their ballots for a man simply because he is of this party or that party, if in doing so they vote for the less worthy and the less competent man.
Amid all these tumults and divisions, these agitating social questions. these distracting and exciting questions that arise between capital and labor, that agitate our people, that sway our assemblies-in the midst of these, the hope of our country is in a clean, high-minded judiciary, and we should contribute every effort to secure men of character for these judicial places. Not only that, but the bar should stand against these vindictive, malicious and unfounded assaults that are so often made upon our judges. Anything that tends to diminish the respect of the public for a judge tends to the public injury. If he is guilty of malfeasance or misconduct in office, if he is corrupt, let the Bar Association be his accuser and bring him not only to the judgment of the tribunal of the public, but to that judgment which our constitution provides. Let us set ourselves against these malignant, inconsiderate, unfounded imputations against the impartiality and integrity of our judges. It is essential, again. that the relations hetweeu the har and the court should be placed upon the highest level of courtesy and mutual respect.
It is an unseemly thing that law causes should be conducted in the midst of wrangling and angry exchanges between court and counsel or between counsel. There should be that mutual respect in which the judge does not insult or invade the just province of the lawyer, and in which the lawyer stands as a model of courtesy and deference to the judge who presides. Trials thus conducted dignify the court and give to judicial proceedings, in the opinion of the public, a decency and sanction that they cannot afford to lose.
I suggest that we take into consideration, each for himself, whether he has erred in these particulars, and that we bring into our practice and into our relations to the courts and to each other some of that old-time courtliness and dignity which characterized the bar.
Now, gentlemen, this introduction opens up many avenues of thought and suggestion, but I forbear. Let us assembled. as we are, as lawyers, members of a great profession, renew our allegiance to the high principles upon which the law rests, and our allegiance to those exchanges of courtesy and kindliness between bench and har, that so much tend to dignify the profession, to give power and sanction to the judgment of the courts. Our judges will have no trouble in maintaining their temper. I hope, because of all men, they have little excuse when they get mad, unless
-
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COURTS AND LAWYERS OF INDIANA
the lawyer has practiced some fraud upon them, because I have observed in all my practice that a case always goes-almost always goes, unless a jury intervenes to thwart it-almost always goes the judge's way in his court. The man who can say to his clerk: "Mr. Clerk, enter up this order or that order." ought not to lose his temper at the lawyers who are wrangling over the order on the floor. He can afford to smile benignly through the whole proceeding.
The association did not hesitate to take up the work sug- gested by its first president. The so-called "Lawyers' Amend- ment," giving the Legislature power to prescribe qualifica- tions for admission to the bar, had been passed for the first time, March 8, 1897. It would come up for a second hearing before the Legislature of 1899 and the State Bar Association in its June (1897) session, went on record as being favorable to the amendment. The committee to which the amendment was referred reported that "The reasons for this amendment are so obvious that we deem it unnecessary to explain them."
It might be mentioned, in passing, that the 1899 Legis- lature again passed the Lawyers' Amendment and that it was submitted to the voters of the state on November 6, 1900, when it was lost by a vote of 144,072 to 240,031. Although the amendment received a majority of the votes cast for it by those voting on the question, yet it failed to receive a majority of all the votes cast, which total amounted to 655,965. The Lawyers' Amendment was passed by the Legislatures of 1903 and 1905 and was again lost in the election of 1906. For a third time an effort was made to secure the passage of the amendment, but the election of 1910, which followed the passage of the amendment by the Legislatures of 1907 and 1909, resulted in the defeat of the amendment for the third time.
Another amendment to the Constitution relative to an in- crease in the number of Supreme Judges from five to eleven had been passed by the 1897 Legislature. The Bar Associa- tion in its meeting in the summer of that year did not favor the amendment as passed by the Legislature. An amend- ment was then prepared in harmony with the views of the Bar Association, and the committee in charge of its prepara- tion were authorized to present it to the next Legislature for their consideration. The amendment as prepared by the association was as follows :
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INDIANA STATE BAR ASSOCIATION
The Supreme court shall consist of a Chief Justice and an even number of Associate Justices of not less than eight nor more than twelve, who shall hold their offices for ten years, if they so long behave well. The Chief Justice shall be elected by the voters of the entire state, and the state shall be divided into as many judicial divisions, to be composed of contiguous territory and of as nearly equal population as may be prac- ticable, as there are Associate Justices, and one Associate Justice shall be elected by the voters in each of said divisions. The Associate Justices shall be distributed into two equal divisions upon assignment from time to time, by the Chief Justice, who shall be a member and the presiding judge of each division. Each division shall separately hear and determine all causes assigned to it by the Chief Justice, and its decision shall be final, unless in the event one or more of such judges should dissent, in which case, such cause shall be reheard and determined by the full bench. All causes involving the constitutionality of any statute, and such other causes as by reason of importance or difficulty may be assigned for such hearing by the Chief Justice, shall be heard and determined by the full bench in the first instance. In case of vacancy in the office of ('hief Jus- tice, by death or disability to act, the Associate Justices shall select one of their own number to act as Chief Justice during the vacancy occasioned by death or disability.
At the meeting in 1898 the question of a constitutional amendment concerning the Supreme court was again prom- inent. The committee submitted a tentative amendment in- cluding two principal features. One of these was an increase in the number of judges from five to eleven; the other in- creasing the term of the judges to ten years. The report was adopted only after long discussion and a rising vote. The chief objection was the lengthening of the term.
It would be an unprofitable task to follow the career of the State Bar Association through its twenty years of history. It has had brought before it many questions of wide import to the profession. At first the efforts of the association seemed to be centered on achieving reforms by legislation. A great many members now regard the better way of improving the profession and practice to be by way of educating the mem- bers. More and more the association has taken on a cultural and social atmosphere.
All phases of the field of law are of interest to the asso- ciation. In order to accomplish definite results the associa- tion has a number of committees, each composed of thirteen members representing each Congressional district, which com-
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COURTS AND LAWYERS OF INDIANA
mittees are given charge of special fields of investigation. A committee of thirteen looks after jurisprudence and law reform. This is sometimes done by way of resolutions brought before the association for indorsement, and sometimes by a lecture.
Another committee of thirteen has to deal with questions of judicial administration and remedial procedure. This com- mittee studies especially the relation of judge and lawyers in the court room and the general conduct of the court and lawyers, as well as the influence of the laws themselves.
A third committee of thirteen has the question of legal education and admission to the bar. This is one of the most distressing questions which now confronts the bar. The mem- bers feel that their profession is handicapped by an anti- quated constitutional provision which leaves them defenseless against quacks and mountebanks. The association has made heroic efforts to remove this obstacle by a constitutional amendment, but so far has failed.
A fourth committee of thirteen has for its field of opera- tion the general subject of grievances. Any irregularity, any unprofessional conduct, any shortcoming anywhere, that works a hardship, is fit matter for the attention of this com- mittee.
A fifth and last committee of thirteen looks after the pub- lications. Little has been done along this line except the pub- lication of an annual volume containing the proceedings of the annual meeting, together with the addresses and papers. In 1912 the Journal of the Constitutional Convention of 1816 was reprinted in the annual volume.
Besides these, there are committees on membership, obit- uary notices, entertainment, by-laws, and other subjects. Each year there is also usually a special committee to study and report on some new question of general interest to the bar. The last of these committees, the one for 1915, reported on the new legislation along the line of employers' liability and workmen's compensation.
The annual program has come to have some regular fea- tures. Of the most notable are the president's address, the annual address (usually by some lawyer of national reputa- tion) and the annual banquet. Besides these, there are the
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discussions of the committee reports and the papers read by members of the association on assigned subjects. These last are valuable features of the proceedings from a historical standpoint. They show the difficulties which from time to time have confronted the profession as well as the general sentiment of the members. The following table of officers is given for reference:
Presidents.
1897-Benjamin Harrison 1908 -- Merrill Moores
1898-Benjamin Harrison
1909-Dan W. Simms
1899-John R. Wilson 1910-John T. Dye
1900-Robert S. Taylor
1911-William A. Ketcham
1901-Edwin P. Hammond 1912-Samuel Parker
1902-Theodore P. Davis 1913-Frank E. Gavin
1903-Truman F. Palmer 1914-John L. Rupe
1904-William P. Breen 1915-Thomas E. Davidson
1905-Addison C. Harris
1916-Robert W. McBride
1906-Charles L. Jewett
1907-Daniel Fraser
1917-William A. Hough.
Vice-Presidents.
1897-John G. Williams 1908-Dan W. Simms
1898-John G. Williams
1909-John T. Dye
1899-Leander J. Monks
1910-Enoch D. Hogate
1900-Timothy E. Howard
1911-Thomas E. Davidson
1901-William A. Ketcham 1902-George L. Reinhard
1903-William P. Breen
1913-John L. Rupe 1914-Thomas E. Davidson.
1915-Robert W. McBride
1916-William A. Hough.
1917-Inman H. Fowler.
Secretaries.
1897-John R. Wilson 1898-John R. Wilson 1899-Noble C. Butler 1900-Merrill Moores 1901-Merrill Moores (30)
1902-Merrill Moores
1903-Merrill Moores
1904-Merrill Moores
1905-Merrill Moores
1906-Merrill Moores
1904-Oscar H. Montgomery
1905-Daniel Fraser
1906-Daniel Fraser
1907-Dan W. Simms
1912-John W. Hanan
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COURTS AND LAWYERS OF INDIANA
1907-Merrill Moores 1912-George H. Batchelor
1908-George H. Batchelor 1913-George H. Batchelor
1909-George H. Batchelor
1914-George H. Batchelor
1910-George H. Batchelor 1915-George H. Batchelor
1911-George H. Batchelor 1916-George H. Batchelor.
Treasurers.
1897-Noble C. Butler 1907-Frank E. Gavin
1898-Noble C. Butler
1908-Frank E. Gavin
1899-Theodore P. Davis 1909-Frank E. Gavin
1900-Theodore P. Davis 1910-Frank E. Gavin
1901-Theodore P. Davis 1911-Frank E. Gavin
1902-Frank E. Gavin 1912-Frank E. Gavin
1903-Frank E. Gavin 1913-Elias D. Salsbury
1904-Frank E. Gavin
1914-Elias D. Salsbury
1905-Frank E. Gavin 1915-Elias D. Salsbury
1906-Frank E. Gavin 1916-Elias D. Salsbury.
The papers and addresses published in the proceedings of the association form the only considerable body of literature dealing in a professional way with the courts of the state. The list covers almost the whole field, though the papers are of very unequal value. The list is given below for its biblio- graphical value. Copies of the proceedings can be had in almost every public library.
1807-Benjamin Harrison. "Promoting the Administration of Justice." 1898-The president of the Association. Benjamin Harrison, being absent, the vice-president, Jolin G. Williams, presided and talked on "Our Association."
1899-John R. Wilson. "The Origin of the Power of Courts to Declare Legislative Acts Unconstitutional."
1000-Robert S. Taylor, "Judges."
1901-Edwin P. Hammond. "Evidence."
1902-Theodore P. Davis, "Upholling the Honor of the Profession."
1903-Truman F. Palmer. "Circuit Courts of Indiana."
1904-William P. Breen, "Divoree."
1905-Addison C. Harris, "Procedure Abroad and at Home."
1906-Charles L. Jewett. "Our Code of Criminal Procedure."
1907-Daniel Fraser, "The Courts and the Legislature."
1908-Merrill Moores, "The Enforcement of the Law."
1909-Dan W. Simms, "The Law and the Lawyer."
1910-John T. Dye, "The Work of the Bar Association."
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INDIANA STATE BAR ASSOCIATION
1911-William A. Ketcham, "Organic Law."
1912-Samuel Parker, "The Courts of Indiana and Progressive Legislation."
1913-Frank E. Gavin, "The Mutability of Social Institutions."
1914-John L. Rupe, "Taxation Under Indiana Laws."
1915-Thomas E. Davidson, "Respect for the Law."
Annual Addresses.
1897-Lawrence Maxwell, Jr., "The Law as a Science."
1898-Wm. B. Hornblower, "Fifty Years of Reform Procedure."
1899-William Wirt Howe, "Legal Ethics."
1900-William Lindsay. "The Pacification of Cuba In Its Legal Consti- tutional Aspects."
1901-Observed as John Marshall day, and an oration on "The Chief Justice," delivered by Hon. William A. Ketcham, listed in the special addresses.
1901-William 1. Ketcham, "The Chief Justice ( John Marshall)."
1902-Burton Smith. "Why Seek Ye the Living Among the Dead."
1903 -- Walter S. Logan. "Legal or Legislative Remedies for Trust Evils."
1904 -- Henry St. George Tucker, "Civil Liberty."
1905-Jolm F. Simmons. "The Territorial Expansion of The Common Law Ideal."
1906 -- Horace H. Lurton. "The Evolution of the Right of Trial."
1907-Merritt Starr, "Legislative and Judicial Development of the Law Concerning Competition Contrasted."
1008-William L. Putnam, "The Reform of the Law."
1909- Alexander P. Humphreys, "The Last Year With the United States Supreme Court."
1910 -- Frederic J. Stimson. "The Law of Combined Action and Possession." 1911-Peter W. Meldrim. "Master and Servant."
1912-Stephen S. Gregory, "A Historic Judicial Controversy and Some Reflections Suggested By It."
1913-William J. Calboun. "Our Relations With China."
1914 -- Rome H. Brown. "Mockraking the Constitution." "
1015-Andrew J. Montague. "The Monroe Doctrine."
Special Addresses.
1900 -- William Hoynes. "The Law as An Educational Factor." 1001-William A. Ketcham. "The Chief Justice ( John Marshall)."
1908 -- Frederick N. Judson. "Congressional Regulation of Employer's Liability."
1908-Will II. Whittaker, "A Closer Relation Between Prison and Re- formatory Officials and the Criminal Courts."
1909-William Dudley Foulke, "The Trouble With the Law."
1912-Crystal Eastman Benedict, "Political Recognition of Women the Next Step in the Development of Democracy."
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COURTS AND LAWYERS OF INDIANA
1914-Clinton Rogers Woodruff, "Constitutional Develpoment and Muni- cipal Life."
1915-James H. Wilkerson, "The Next Step in National Control of Corporations."
Papers.
1897-John G. Williams, "Life and Character of Daniel W. Voorhees." 1897-Robert S. Taylor, "The Inherent Function of Growth in the Common Law."
1898-Leonard J. Hackney, "A Case on Appeal."
1898-W. P. Rogers, "Government by Injunction."
1898-Addison C. Harris, "The Pending Amendments."
1899-William A. Ketcham, "The Bench and Bar."
1899-John T. Dye, "Legislative Control Over Freedom of Contract."
1899-Timothy E. Howard, "According to Law."
1899-Daniel W. Comstock, "Evidence in Criminal Cases on Appeal."
1900-Frank S. Roby, "The Legal Right of the Next Generation."
1900-Evans Woollen, "The Law and the Striker."
1901-Observed as John Marshall day and an oration on "The Chief Justice," delivered by Hon. William A. Ketcham, listed in the special addresses.
1902-William L. Penfield, "Some Difficulties of Pan-American Arbitration."
1902-George L. Reinhard, "The Right to Practice Law."
1902-William W. Thornton, "The Constitutional Convention of 1850."
1903-Allen Zollars, "International Arbitration."
1903-John L. Rupe, "The Verdict of the Jury."
1903-Frank S. Roby, "Indiana Courts of Appeal."
1904-Charles S. Baker, "The Ethics of the Profession."
1904-Samuel Parker, "Criticisms of Judges."
1904-Charles W. Smith, "The Jury System."
1905-Lucius C. Embree, "Cases and Case Lawyers."
1905-Thomas R. Marshall, "The Lawyer's Conscience."
1905-Arthur W. Brady, "Some Phases of Historical Jurisprudence."
1906-John W. Kern, "Reminiscences of Some Great Indiana Lawyers."
1906-Solomon H. Esarey, "Suggestions as to Recent Criminal Statutes."
1906-Sidney B. Davis, "Some Needed Judicial Reforms."
1906-Joseph M. Rabb, "The Trials of the Trial Judge."
1906-Jesse S. Reeves, "Jeremy Bentham and American Jurisprudence."
1907-Charles W. Miller, "Our Practice."
1907-Charles Kellison, "The Value of Expert Testimony."
1907-Andrew A. Adams, "Legal Ethics."
1907-Harry B. Tuthill, "Are Corporations Ill-Treated? And Why?"
1908-James L. Clark, "A Mixed Question of Law and Fact."
1908- George Shirts, "Should Township Government Be Abolished?"
1908-John T. Dye, "Changes In the Constitution."
1909-James S. Dodge, "Indiana Courts."
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INDIANA STATE BAR ASSOCIATION
1909-Addison C. Harris, "Modern Views of Compensation for Personal Injuries."
1909-Emory B. Sellers, "The State Bar Association of Indiana."
1909-Cassius C. Hadley, "Lawyers and Courts."
1910-George H. Gifford, "Crude Legislation."
1910-Charles W. Smith, "Some Current Criticisms of Courts and Lawyers."
1910-Conrad Wolf. "The Spirit of Legalism in Indiana Practice."
1910-George A. Cunningham, "The Everyday Lawyer."
1911-Timothy E. Howard, "Our Charters."
1911-Linn D. Hay, "Making and Amending Constitutions."
1911-Enoch G. Hogate, "Is There a Law's Delay?"
1912-W. W. Thornton, "The Constitutional Convention of 1816."
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