Mr. Old: Mr. President, I have a resolution here to offer, which I have no doubt will meet with hearty response from every member of the Association: The Virginia State Bar Association has heard with profound sorrow of the death of George Keith Taylor, for twenty-eight years the efficient and courteous clerk of our Supreme Court of Appeals, and hereby desires to express its high regard for him as a most faithful officer and its esteem for him as a man, always true to the traditions he inherited from his distinguished ancestors. Therefore, be it resolved, that this memorial be made a part of the records, and that a copy thereof be sent to his family. Unanimously carried. The President: I have received the following telegram: "Judge S. C. GRAHAM, "ST. LOUIS, Mo., August 22, 1903. President Virginia Bar Association, Hot Springs, Va. "In behalf of the Exposition management, I extend to Virginia Bar Association cordial invitation to hold annual session, 1904, at World's Fair, St. Louis. Universal Congress of Lawyers will assemble during Fair. Occasion offers inviting opportunity to Virginia Bar Association to meet at same time. "DAVID R. FRANCIS, President." I will take it as the sense of the Association, unless there is objection, that the Secretary be requested to answer this telegram appropriately. The Chair appoints the following gentlemen as the Committee on Hospitality to the American Bar Association: A. W. Patterson, Chairman of the Executive Committee, ex officio Chairman; Alexander Hamilton, President, ex officio member; S. S. P. Patteson, R. T. Barton, W. B. Pettit, R. S. Thomas, George G. Grattan, Joseph E. Willard, A. W. Wallace, John G. Williams, Willis B. Smith, W. J. Kilby, H. D. Flood, Eppa Hunton, Jr., Claggett B. Jones, A. C. Braxton, W. A. Glasgow, Jr., S. V. Fulkerson, John S. Barbour, John T. Harris, W. A. Jones, E. E. Montague, George S. Shackelford, John H. Lewis, A. A. Phlegar, J. R. Caton; and Mr. A. C. Braxton is appointed to deliver the 'address of welcome to the American Bar Association. Mr. Massie then read the Standing Committees for the ensuing year. (See Appendix.) The President: Ladies and Gentlemen, the historic Electoral Commission constitutes the subject of the address to-day by the Honorable John Goode. (Applause.) In evolving the perfection of civil liberty, this government has received many a shock which has stunned mankind, and is destined to receive many more. The event of which the honorable gentleman will speak to-day put the patriotism and the peace-loving character of the American people to the severest and sublimest test-a test which will never again be repeated with like peaceful results. No man is better fitted to treat this great subject than is Colonel John Goode. He has seen much—he knows much. For many a long year he has been intimately connected with the political history of this Government. He is a sage gifted with immortal youth (applause), on whose gentle tongue forever hangs the honeydew of eloquence. (Applause.) In the early days of his manhood he was a member of that famous Convention which led us into another Republic; a Republic which withstood, it is true, the storms of only four eventful years, yet which shines to-day the brightest star in the galaxy of the nations of the past. But a few days ago he was the President of another Convention, whose work, in my opinion, has again placed us in the forefront of the Republics of this Republic. But, dearer than all of this, to my good and gentle friend, is the fact that he has lived to see the affection with which he is regarded by the people of his State. "And there's a han', my trusty fiere, "And gie's a han' o' thine! "And we'll tak a right gude willy-waught (Applause.) Mr. John Goode: I thank you, ladies and gentlemen, for your kind and cordial greeting, and I thank you, Mr. President, for the kind and complimentary terms in which you have thought fit to present me to this audience-much more complimentary than I feel myself entitled to receive. I esteem it a great privilege and pleasure to meet, under such auspicious circumstances, so many bright and shining lights of our noble profession. It is indeed refreshing to turn aside from the bustle and turmoil of life, its busy cares and agitating conflicts, to enjoy the privilege of mingling in scenes like the present. Ever since I had the honor to be elected a member of the Virginia State Bar Association, I have looked forward to its annual meetings with the most pleasurable anticipations. Those anticipations have never yet been disappointed. Sometimes we have met in Tidewater Virginia within the sound of old ocean's roar. Sometimes we have met amid her majestic mountains, with their picturesque scenery, their salubrious climate and their health-giving waters. But wherever and whenever we have met, we have come together as Virginians, proud of the great names which have rendered our beloved Commonwealth illustrious, loving every inch of her soil from her blue mountains down to her blue waves, and animated by the same hopes and the same aspirations for her continued prosperity and welfare. (Applause.) The present session has thus far been exceptionally enjoyable, not only for its social features, but for the eloquent and scholarly addresses delivered by our excellent President and our distinguished visitor from the Old North State, to which the people of Virginia have long been bound by the strongest and closest ties of interest and affection; as well as the able and instructive papers to which we have listened from two of our most gifted members. (Applause.) This morning we may well felicitate ourselves that we have present with us many "grave and reverend seigniors" of the profession whose heads are now whitened by the frosts of many winters, who in their day and generation have stood in the forefront of the defenders of civil and constitutional liberty, and have illustrated and adorned the annals of the Virginia bar by their genius, talent, learning and virtue. (Applause.) Here, also, are the young men, the hope of the profession and of the country, rejoicing in the overflowing energy and abounding strength of vigorous manhood and moved by an honorable ambition to climb the steeps "whence Fame's proud Temple shines afar." (Applause.) And last, though not least, here are the ladies, God bless them, to furnish inspiration by their smiles and sympathy, and to grace the occasion by their radiant presence. (Applause.) Without any further preliminary remarks, I now proceed to the reading of my paper. Mr. Goode then read his address. (See Appendix.) Mr. Massie: Mr. President, before we adjourn I would like to say that I regret that there has been no opportunity for a reply to the objections raised here to the Torrens bill. The Special Committee has discharged all the duties imposed upon it, and there is nothing further now to report. If the opportunity had been given, I had intended to make a reply, which I trust would have been full and complete, to the criticisms of the system. I wish to state, however, that we would like to get all the criticisms and learn all the objections that can be made, and I will take it as a personal favor if members of the Association will let me know what their objections are, in order that everybody may be heard, and in order that the best bill may be prepared for Virginia. I am satisfied that some bill is going to be passed by the Legislature, and I want that to be the very best bill possible. On motion, the Association then adjourned, subject to the call of the Executive Committee. EUGENE C. MASSIE, |