REPORT OF PROCEEDINGS of the FORTIETH ANNUAL MEETING of THE OHIO STATE BAR ASSOCIATION held at CEDAR POINT, OHIO, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, July 8th, 9th, 10th, 1919 FIRST SESSION Tuesday afternoon Three o'clock July 8, 1919 The Fortieth Annual Meeting of The Ohio State Bar Association was called to order in the Assembly Room of the Hotel Breakers, Cedar Point, Ohio, Tuesday afternoon, July 8, 1919, at three o'clock P. M., by President Ensign N. Brown, of Youngstown. The President then delivered his address. (See Appexdix, page 54). Upon motion, the address of the President was received and ordered to be made a part of the minutes of the meeting. Secretary Charles E. Blanchard presented his annual report, as follows: 1 SECRETARY'S REPORT CEDAR POINT, OHIO, July 8, 1919. To The Ohio State Bar Association: Your Secretary submits the following report for the past year: The report of the proceedings of the last annual meeting, held at Cleveland, Ohio, August 26th and 27th, 1918, constituting Volume 39, has been printed and distributed to the members of the Association, to a large number of law schools and law libraries, and to the exchange list of the Association throughout the United States. By reason of the depleted condition of the treasury of the Association at the close of the Cleveland meeting, and by reason of the increased cost of the printing and distribution of the copies of this volume, the executive committee instructed the Secretary to print only the minutes of the Proceedings at the last annual meeting, together with the annual address of the President. To comply with this order the discussions of reports of committees, resolutions, recommendations, motions and all addresses delivered before the Association, except the President's annual address, were omitted from Volume XXXIX. To lessen the expense of the publication of Volume XXXIX the Secretary was also instructed by a majority vote of the Executive Committee to have Volume XXXIX bound in paper. Since this volume of the proceedings has been distributed to the members of the Association, several members have made inquiry of the Secretary if it were not possible to obtain a cloth bound volume, stating that they were preserving all their volumes and desired to have them in uniform binding as heretofore. Due to the effective and energetic methods by which our present Treasurer has collected past and current dues of the Association, the treasury of the Association is now in the best condition that it has been for the past several years. Your Secretary, therefore, suggests that it may be advisable to republish Volume XXXIX in conjunction with Volume XL for the year 1919, and to bind both volumes in one cloth covering, thereby maintaining the uniform binding of previous years. Notices were duly sent by the Secretary to all standing and special committees, calling their attention to such matters as had been referred to them, and urging all committees to take an active part in furthering the work of the Association. The Secretary has received, during the year, annual reports from numerous State Bar Associations, all of which have been duly acknowledged and the reports turned over to the Supreme Court Librarian at Columbus, where all the members of the Bar may have access to them. The Secretary attempts to keep a complete mortuary list of the deceased members of the Association, which list is found in each annual volume. It occasionally happens that the memorials prepared to the deceased members do not contain the date of the death of the deceased. An examination of the entire mortuary list reveals the fact that the date of the death of the following deceased members has been omitted: James H. Anderson, Columbus Robert E. McKisson, Cleveland The Secretary is desirous of securing these dates, and if anyone present can furnish this information, or refer the secretary to someone who can furnish the same, it will be appreciated. So far as the secretary is at present advised, of those who were members of the Association at the close of the last annual meeting, fourteen have died and thirty-seven have resigned, so that the present active membership of the Association is 1,089. The number of attorneys in the state of Ohio, including members of the bench and attorneys who have practically retired from practice, is, according to the 1919 edition of Martindale's American Law Directory, 4,350. Based upon these figures about twentyfive per cent. of the lawyers of the state who are engaged in the active practice of the law, including members of the bench, are members in good standing of our Association. This proportion should be increased to at least seventy-five per cent. Last year your secretary, in his annual report urged that some radical and aggressive measures be adopted to strengthen and enlarge the State Association for the purpose of making it a strong, virile, active agency through which the Ohio bar could and would express its united opinion and action on questions of interest to members of the bar and to the citizens of the state at large. To accomplish such a result the secretary suggested the appointment or election of a secretary who would be paid sufficient compensation to warrant the giving of all, or a greater portion of his time, to the work of the Association, believing that it was possible for such a secretary to organize local associations in every county of the state and to make these local associations a working unit in the State Association, to build up an efficient organization, and to conduct a perpetual campaign for new members. It was not thought expedient at the last annual meeting to adopt or authorize such a course. Your secretary, however, is still of the opinion that the suggested plan is one of the practical solutions that ultimately must be adopted to make the State Association an active factor throughout the state during the entire year. If this course is not desirable at the present time, would it not be well to have a special committee appointed to conduct a membership campaign during a special day or week set aside for that purpose? Drives for many worthy objects have become numerous during the past two years. Why not have a "Membership Drive" conducted by a special committee of the Association with sufficient authority and organization to put across a successful campaign for new members before the next mid-winter meeting of the Association. The time seems to be ripe for such action. Members are particularly requested to register promptly upon arrival. Application blanks for membership may be obtained from the secretary. The secretary endeavors to keep the street address of each member, and prompt notification of changes is requested. Respectfully submitted, C. E. BLANCHARD, Simeon M. Johnson, of Cincinnati, moved that the report of the Secretary be received and filed. Motion seconded and carried. Treasurer John F. Carlisle then presented his annual report as follows: TREASURER'S REPORT. FOR THE YEAR ENDING JULY 1, 1919. August, 1918-To Balance as per report.. August, 1918-To donations for A. B. Ass'n. Ent. to Ladies. Membership dues: 1916.... $ 848.71 99.00 10.00 140.00 $ 2.00 51 The Whitehead & Hoag Co., Badges, (For Annual 52 Armstrong & Okey, (Reporting 1918 Meeting). .$ 28.25 66.06 59.25 38.50 30.00 56 Hiss Stamp Co., (Rubber Stamps for Treasurer). 57 Hotel Winton, Cleveland, Ohio, entertainment, Ladies, Am. Bar Assn.. 3.65 639.00 and postage. 58 Ohio Company, (Stationery and Statements for Treas.) 62 Spahr & Glenn, (Stationery and Application Blanks).. 64 Cols. Blank Book Co., (Record Books for Treasurer). 67 E. N. Brown, Expense of Executive Committee.. 71 The Ohio Company, (Envelopes and Notices) 74 E. N. Brown, (Expense to secure speaker, 1919 75 J. F. Carlisle, (Rent for Assn. Hdqrts., 7 months). 9.00 2.30 25.00 6.00 31.93 15.27 48.70 150.00 155.50 125.00 3.25 6.75 40.00 7.00 30.78 15.00 100.00 140.00 8.00 15.00 78 Mrs. L. C. Laylin, (Ladies Ent. Com., 1919 Meeting).. 50.00 150.00 230.50 81 Spahr & Glenn, (Printing Annual Reports, Postage, Programs). 460.50 $2,690.19 |