fore of special necessity that all of the members vitally interested in our organization immediately arrange so as to be present at this convention without fail.

J. HOWARD REBER,

President.

BILL TO AMEND SECTION NO. 985 OF REVISED STATUTES OF THE UNITED STATES.

The Legislative Committee of the Commercial Law League in times past has not been able to do a great deal, owing to the fact that we have not centered our activities upon a few particular bills, or even upon one, and attempted to have it enacted, either by the various Legislatures or by Congress. At the last session of Congress there was introduced in the Senator by Senator Atlee Pomerene Senate Bill No. 3194, and in the House by Congressman Ansberry House Bill No. 13275, which bills provide as follows:

"A BILL to revise section nine hundred and eighty-five of the Revised Statutes of the United States.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, that section nine hundred and eighty-five of the Revised Statutes of the United States be, and the same is hereby amended so as to read as follows:

'Sec. 985. All writs of execution upon judgments or decrees heretofore or hereafter obtained in a Circuit or District Court of the United States in any state, and now or hereafter in force, may run and be executed in any district in that state or in any district of any other state or in any territory, and such writ shall be issued from and be made returnable to the court wherein the judgment was obtained; but in case the writ is issued to another district in the same state, it may be executed by the marshal of the district wherein the judgment was obtained or by the marshal of the district wherein property is sought to be seized, and may be addressed to the marshal of said district or to "any marshal of the United States," and executions may be issued to different marshals at the same time, but there shall be but one satisfaction. In every case, before the clerk of any such court shall be required to issue such writ for execution outside of his district and before any marshal shall be required to execute such writ, the judgment creditor shall deposit with the clerk sufficient money to cover all costs likely to be incurred in the execution of said writ, and the clerk shall endorse on said writ that said amount to cover said costs is so on deposit, and on return of said writ, which may be returned by mail, said clerk shall forthwith transmit to said marshal the proper amount of costs due him.'

Sec. 2. That this Act shall take effect and be in force on and after its passage and approval."

They were not acted upon, and arrangements are now being made to have them pressed for action. It is the earnest wish of the entire Legislative Committee that our members do everything they can to assist in having this bill enacted.

As the law now stands, judgment being obtained in the United States Court, execution can only run throughout the state. In these days, when nearly all of the business houses are engaged in interstate commerce, when even the smallest house and the smallest manufacturer are selling goods, at times, in other states, and when our large wholesale houses and manufacturers are selling throughout the United States, and when many of our manufacturers and wholesale houses have branches in other states from the one where the principle office is located, it is manifestly unjust that an execution on a judgment should not run throughout the United States. Some objection may be made that manufacturers and business houses would be harrassed by reason of this process. That might be true if it were on an attachment or garnishment proceedings; but it is not. It is only after the case has been tried, judgment has been obtained, and the parties have failed to carry the case to the court of last resort that then an execution can go to any part of the United States and reach the property of the judgment debtor.

So that, from the legal standpoint, it is a law that should be enacted. From the commercial lawyers' standpoint, it is of great importance. All of us at times having obtained judgment in one district, have been required to go over into another state and sue on this judgment in order to reach the property in that state. This is an expense to creditors, to business houses, and manufacturers, which is unnecessary and which, by the enactment of this law, can be clearly done away with.

There will be sent to each member of the League a copy of the bill which has been introduced, together with the form of a letter and a request that each of our members write to their member of Congress and to the United States Senators, asking them to support this bill.

The Legislative Committee this year also requests that any member who has in mind any bill which is before the Legislatures of the states where the Legislature is in session, which is for the benefit of the commercial law practice and for the benefit of the commercial world in general, that they would call this bill to the attention of the chairman, either of his state or to the general chairman. It is only by such bills being called to our attention that we can actively support them, and the Commercial Law League is now in a position where it can and will actively support any bill which is for the making of better practice and advancing

the commercial law practice and the interest of the commercial world in general.

Your chairman realizes that there are many Legislatures which will not be in session this year, but in those states where the Legislature will be in session it should be the duty of every member of the League to call to the attention of the chairman of this committee all laws, be they good or bad, which have to do with commercial law practice and the interest of the clients of lawyers who are engaged in this practice.

A. V. CANNON,

Chairman of the Legislative Committee.

INITIATIVE, REFERENDUM AND RECALL.

The address by Mr. James Duffin at the recent convention deserves more than passing notice. I most heartily second what Mr. Duffin said against the fallacies of so-called reform, such as initiative, referendum and recall. Reformers who fondly trust to these easy deliverances from trouble are deluding themselves. The more complexities and irregularities we introduce into our political system, the more we widen the scope of the professional politician. He who has something personal and pecuniary at state will undergo the burden of circulating the petition and mustering votes for the special measure to which the average busy citizen gives little attention. The more elections, the more food for the political horde, which subsists on public paper.

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The evident danger of default judgment being taken against the better and busier citizen of the electricate in special elections and extra political events is not receiving due attention. The apathy and indifference of respectable voters is the chief menace to republican institutions. This, notable under the caucus system, is still more evident now that primary reform (?) has doubled the number of political duties. There is a serious danger of straining political attention to the breaking point.

Why, in this very town, where and while these lines are being written, a municipal commission is proposing to foist on us the afore-mentioned quack cure-alls, and yet I, in company with others who believe this program a piece of folly and worse, absolutely lack the time, energy to enter the lists in opposition. In fact, when I read Mr. Duffin's remarks, I felt like at once writing my hearty approval, yet so beset with the numberless cares of one barrigated calling am I that I've been nearly a month in striking off this illiterary little composition! What on earth would become of us and the country if at any factim's caprice an election on any conceivable subject could be projected on us at short notice? The theory of these vaganis is that poor measures will be connected, vicious propositions defeated, bad men politically burned

and the opposite of all these will be promoted and embraced. The actual effects are apt, and almost sure to be, quite different.

Now don't talk about the experience (?) of Oregon or Oklahoma. These two youngsters are too fresh to have acquired enough of that article to be worth mentioning. And don't try to cinch your agreement by traveling over to Switzerland. The traveling staid little Swiss cantons in their dimunitive and peacefill Alpine valleys are some different from the United States of America.

These few meditations are respectively submitted for the prayerful consideration of some of our blooming Western friends, who fondly expects wisdom and virture to blossom politically over night by injecting some strange and remarkable compound into our institutions, themselves the product of centuries.

Saginaw, Michigan.

FREDERICK W. NEWTON.

SOME NEW YEAR RESOLUTIONS FOR OUR MEMBERS.

Resolve to get at least one new member.

Resolve to write (and write) an article for the Bulletin.

Resolve to keep a record of every item of business that comes into your office, so you can make an intelligent report for the 1912 schedule of Lists and Agencies.

Resolve to attend the eighteenth annual convention.

Resolve to adopt the Uniform Rate.

Resolve to report to the Secretary any item of news regarding our members.

NOTES AND COMMENTS.

Mr. A. W. Cupler of the firm of Pierce, Tenneson & Cupler, Fargo, N. D., called on the Secretary and says he will be at the next Convention.

Have you secured a new member for the League? We want 1,000 new members by July 1st, 1912.

The Secretary has on file the applications of several good men who are desirous of changing locations, and if any of our members are in need of a good man, please notify the Secretary.

Mr. Milton B. Rose of Little Rock, Ark., has formed a partnership with Mr. Fred L. Young. Mr. Young has been in the Legal Department of the Missouri Pacific Railway Company for several years. The new firm will be known as Rose & Young, with offices in the Kahn building, Little Rock, Ark.

Mr. Delbert A. Covey of Peoria, Ill., called at the League headquarters during the month.

Mr. C. L. Williamson of Lexington, Ky., was a caller on Secretary Kreamer while in Chicago on business.

Mr. Wade Millis of the firm of Millis, Culver & Griffin of Detroit, Mich., called at League headquarters during the month.

Mr. Bertram L. Fletcher announces his removal from Bangor, Maine, to No. 2 Rector street, New York City, where he will give special attention to the organization and management of Maine corporations.

Mr. Samuel Taylor of the C-R-C Law List, New York City, made the Secretary's office a very pleasant call while in Chicago on his recent trip through the Western states.

The firm of Thomas, Cummins & Nichols of Lansing, Mich., has been dissolved, Mr. Thomas having withdrawn from the firm. The new firm will be known as Cummins & Nichols and will continue the practice with office in the Tussing building, Lansing.

Mr. S. A. Breding of the American Lawyers Company, Cleveland, Ohio, was a caller at the Secretary's office on his return from a trip to the Pacific coast.

Former President A. V. Cannon of Cleveland, Ohio, has been requested by the Law Department of the Western Reserve University to deliver a course of lectures on Bankruptcy, beginning in February. The University is to be congratulated on securing such an excellent man as Mr. Cannon for this course of lectures.

Mr. Carl D. Shoemaker of Columbus, Ohio, has removed to Roseburg, Oregon, where he will continue the practice of law, and he has also purchased the Evening News, a Republican newspaper. We wish Mr. Shoemaker success in his new location.

Mr. Robert B. Pike of Sioux City, Iowa, called at the Secretary's office during the month.

Mr. Ernest C. Gridley of Belvidere, Ill., called at the Secretary's office during the month.