define permanent effects. Out of this extraordinary laboratory will come new methods new discoveries. Many illusions will vanish; much vain theorizing will lose its power. We are not going to be made over in this war, but we shall have a new grasp on realities. Is it too much to expect that we shall have a saner attitude toward business, toward the necessary activities which afford the basis of progress, toward organization of industry, of transportation, of labor. Now that we have a real fight on our hands, demanding the organization and direction of all our resources of men and things, can we not learn to distinguish the real evils from the bogies of the imagination. I hope that the days devoted to the application of the uncertainties of such statutes as the Sherman Act are numbered. May we not look for a better appreciation and a more precise definition of wrongs. What an absurdity it is to find that the very co-operation which the Nation finds necessary for its own economic salvation under the strain of war is denounced as a crime in time. of peace! Let our legislatures free our statute books of Let us give honest business, fair and reasonable co-operation, fair and reasonable organization whether of business or of labor, a broad field and permit the enjoyment of the essential conditions of efficiency in the coming days of peace in the interest of the common prosperity. May we hope that through this war we may learn how to regulate and not destroy, how to open the door to American enterprise here and abroad under rules of public protection which can be known in advance and which reason can approve. We cannot tell what the present necessary action with regard to the railroads may portend. But may we not expect that we shall at least have a conserving and upbuilding policy which will recognize cant. that there is no adequate protection to the public interest which does not foster the instrumentalities of commerce. I do not look to the period after the war with an undue optimism. I think that our real progress will still be slow. But I do expect a better adjustment of legislation to the facts of life. THE NEW ERA We are at the beginnings of history. It is only a few hundred years since the dawn of what we call modern civilization. It is a very short time since science changed the habits of centuries and swept us into a world of new intimacies. The old Orient is only in the beginning of history. Japan and China are nations of the future, not of the past. Russia has just begun to live, and for many hundreds of years the forces now let loose will have their play in shaping the destiny of that wonderful people. And our nation, the great Republic of the West, is just at the beginning of its career. The dream of isolation is at an end. We are now to take our part in a new world, which we are assisting in creating,- a world where Law is to be supreme, where Force shall be only the minister and agent of Justice as expressed in Law. Those who scoff at Law have no conception of democracy, for law is the vital breath of democracy. Those who scoff at Courts have no conception of democracy, for the Courts are its most essential instruments. Democracy can change the forms of its life but it cannot dispense with the tribunals which apply its principles. We are now fighting the battle of the Law, the battle for the rule of reason against the rule of force, for the establishment of the orderly processes of examination, deliberation and judgment instead of the despotism of arbitary will, for the sanctity of covenants between States, for the maintenance. of the obligation of States to recognize the principles which lie at the foundation of the international order and which express the common sense of justice. To the new order America could not escape relation if it would. We shall not relate ourselves to particular matters which do not concern us, but a concert to keep the peace, to establish the supremacy of International Law, that is our concern. We shall take our part in international conference; we shall be represented in international courts; we can be counted upon to bear our share of the burden of endeavor to make sure that unscrupulous military power, destroyer of treaties, bestial and inhuman in its cruelties, shall never threaten the peace of the world and curse the earth with its ambition. The President: We will now have a report on 'The Bar in the War, its War Committees and its Participation in the Enforcement of the Selective Service Law and Regulations," to be presented by Mr. Taft. Henry W. Taft, of New York: Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Association: Very recently the Committee in charge of the exercises requested me to prepare a paper concerning the work of the War Committees of the State, and also some account of the work in connection with the selective service law under the direction of the Bar. The time has been very short in which to prepare anything on this subject, and I must apologize for not extending the scope of the report beyond the City of New York. But my familiarity with the work elsewhere is somewhat limited, and I have not been able to gather much authentic information except as to the work which has been done in this city. THE BAR IN THE WAR ITS WAR COMMIT TEES AND ITS PARTICIPATION IN THE When this country became involved in the European War, bar associations throughout the country formed committees to organize war work in which members of the bar might be useful. In the City of New York, the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, the New York County Lawyers' Association, the Brooklyn Bar Association, the Association of the Bar of the County of the Bronx, the Queens County Bar Association, the Richmond County Bar Association and the Lawyers' Club, each appointed a War Committee. These Committees announced that their purpose was to consider how members of the associations they represented might render assistance to the Government, to the State, and to the City, and might also extend aid to members of the legal profession serving with the land and naval forces of the country, and their dependents. For the purpose of avoiding duplication of labor and expense and of securing efficiency, these Committees were on May 2, 1917, amalgamated and there resulted the War Committee of the Bar of the City of New York which has since, in a variety of ways, made itself useful in connection with war work. The War Committee first sought to marshal the resources of the bar of New York City by addressing a circular letter to its 14,000 members, inviting their co-operation and requesting them to give information which would aid the Committee in organizing the work, Responses were received from nearly 4,000 lawyers and information was thus obtained which, on being classified and card catalogued, has enabled the Committee to call to its assistance members of the bar as occasion has arisen. It has been an important part of the work of the Committee to give to enlisted men and their dependents gratuitous advice concerning their personal affairs before they leave the country. This work has included the settlement of claims growing growing out of controversies over leases and other contracts, the drawing of wills, trust deeds and other papers, advice with reference to real estate, life insurance and partnership matters, and concerning the adjustment of domestic difficulties of a variety of kinds and the right of municipal employees to receive a portion of their salaries after entering the military service. This work has been dealt with under the direction of a subcommittee by a force of volunteer lawyers who have been pretty continuously engaged upon it. The Committee has not undertaken to conduct lengthy litigations or otherwise to perform legal services which promised to be protracted, and especially where the financial condition of applicants has made it suitable that they should employ their own lawyers and pay for their services. It has rather devoted itself to settling the exigent affairs of men called into the service, by giving them reliable, prompt and gratuitous legal assistance. In order that enlisted men should know what the Committee offered to do, notices have been inserted in the newspapers and have been posted in armories, camps and other places where they would attract attention. The Committee proposes to enter upon relief work, but happily this has not yet proved to be necessary. It is known, however, that a substantial number of lawyers have entered the military service, and it is quite probable that they and their dependents will some time require |