I therefore, without further remarks, conclude by saying, Welcome, Welcome to the city of Denver and State of Colorado. The President: Mr. Rogers, and brethren of the State Bar Association of Colorado, and Mr. Butler, and our brethren of the Denver Bar Association : We tender to you our warmest acknowledgment for the welcome so gracefully extended, and we accept your hospitality as frankly as it is freely given. I cannot say that it comes to us as a surprise. The boundless hospitality of the West is known the world over, but we in our own persons have already found out by the invitation we received some time ago, how wide open our brethren of Colorado throw their gates to their guests, for not only do you welcome us to your capital city and its pleasures, but offer, under your guidance, to show us the beauties and the glories of your magnificent state. We who come from the sea coast have been in the habit of speaking of the far West, but it is "far" no longer; time has annihilated distance, and the roads that were traveled over by the pioneers in the slow-moving wagon trains are now traversed so swiftly by the flying coaches that brought us hither, that you are no longer the far, but the near, West. You have become our very good neighbors, and we thought it was pleasant just to come and pay you a neighborly visit. We do not come here ignorant of Colorado's history. The birthday of Colorado as a state and the birthday of this Association were almost coëval. You are but two years our seniors, and those who are so nearly twins, naturally feel an interest in each other. While not unmindful of the magnificent results of your energy and enterprise, of all that has been done in Colorado, of the rapid transformation of the mining camp into a great, rich and populous city, and the hidden treasure in your mountains into the ready wealth of your citizens, yet we, as lawyers, are most interested in the development of the law of Colorado. It must be, I presume, within the memory of the oldest members of your Bar that the territorial courts were first organized, and certainly it cannot be more than some thirty years ago ere the Court House followed the settlers' cabin to this place, and yet within that time the twenty odd volumes of the Reports of the Colorado Supreme Court, made weighty and instructive by the opinions of your judges from Chief Justice Thacher onward, constitute a body of law cited with respect in the courts of your sister states, and form a contribution to jurisprudence of which not only yourselves, but we, as American lawyers, may well feel proud. But I will not take up the time of my fellow-associates, which, after what we have heard from Mr. Rogers, is all too short to take in all the things that have been generously provided for us, by any longer extended oral acknowledgment. It will be better to let you see our enjoyment rather than to expatiate upon it. In the name of my associates we extend the right hand of fellowship to our brethren of the Colorado and of the Denver Bar Associations; and, once more, we thank you for your generous greetings, and for the welcome that you have extended to us. The President then delivered the President's Address. (See the Appendix.) The President: The first regular business, gentlemen, is the nomination and election of new members. New members were then elected. (See List of New Members.) The President: I will ask the Secretary to read the list of delegates from State Bar Associations. The list of delegates from Bar Associations was then read by the Secretary. (See List of Delegates.) The President: It is usual that some committees be appointed, namely, Committees on Auditing, Publications and Reception. The Secretary will read the list of the gentlemen appointed on the several committees. The Secretary: The President has appointed the following gentlemen to constitute the Committee on Auditing: Robert H. Parkinson, of Illinois. Leonard E. Curtis, of Colorado. COMMITTEE ON PUBLICATIONS. James Hagerman, of Missouri. COMMITTEE ON RECEPTION. Lucius M. Cuthbert, of Colorado. Edward A. Harriman, of Illinois. Thomas Patterson, of Pennsylvania. A recess of ten minutes was then taken, after which the General Council was elected. (See List of Officers at end of Minutes.) The President: The next business in order is the report of the Secretary. John Hinkley, of Maryland, Secretary, read his report. The President: The Report will be received and placed on file. (See the Report at end of Minutes.) The President: Next in order is the report of the Treasurer. Francis Rawle, of Pennsylvania, Treasurer, read his report. The President: This report will be received and referred to the Auditing Committee. tee. (See the Report at end of Minutes.) The President: Next in order will be the report of the Executive Commit The report of the Executive Committee was read by the Secretary. The President: The report is received and will be placed on file. (See the Report at end of Minutes.) The President: Before adjournment this morning, gentlemen, I wish to read the following letter which has been received: "LOUISIANA PURCHASE EXPOSITION COMPANY, ST. LOUIS, Mo., August 17, 1901. The President of the American Bar Association. Dear Sir: The Louisiana Purchase Exposition Company extends to your Association a cordial invitation to hold its annual meeting in St. Louis in 1903. In that year will be held an exposition that will surpass all previous world's fairs. Special attention is already being given to matters in which your Association is directly interested. St. Louis is the most central of all American cities and the most easily accessible by rail from all points. We trust this invitation will commend itself to your members. Yours respectfully, C. H. SPENCER, Vice- and Acting President. Walter B. Stevens, Secretary. James Hagerman, of Missouri: Mr. President, I rise to ask that a written communication in the nature of a memorial to this Association may be read at this time. It is short and I will ask Mr. Charles Claflin Allen, of the St. Louis Bar, to read it, after which I desire to obtain the floor for a moment or two. The President: If there is no objection, the communication may be presented by Mr. Allen. Charles Claflin Allen, of Missouri : Mr. President, and gentlemen of the American Bar Association: In 1803 the United States purchased the Louisiana Territory from France; in 1903 the Centennial of that purchase will be celebrated in the City of St. Louis, Missouri. After the Purchase treaty was signed, Napoleon said to Marbois: "This acquisition of territory strengthens forever the power of the United States." His prophetic words have been realized. The Louisiana Purchase paved the way for the acquisition of Oregon, California and Texas, enabled the United States to span the continent from the Atlantic to the Pacific; and made her territory the meeting ground for the Occident and the Orient. The wilderness of 1803 has developed into fourteen States and Territories, including the great State of Colorado, in which the meeting of the American Bar Association is held. The price paid by the United States for the territory was$15,000,000. Its taxable wealth to-day exceeds six thousand millions, and St. Louis, with the generous aid of Congress, is prepared to devote a sum equal to the price of the purchase solely to the celebration of its centennial in 1903. The resources of this great domain are wonderfully varied and marvellous in their extent. Perhaps few people, even within the limits of the Purchase Territory itself, realize that it produces one-half of the cotton raised in the United States; that a billion bushels of corn a year is not an extraordinary |