Report of the First[-thirty-first] Annual Meeting of the Virginia State Bar Association

W. R. Meredith: I move to strike out in bill III. the following words: "And no grounds shall be considered other than those so stated."

Rosewell Page: I am opposed to anything being stricken out, because it takes away from the object of that proposition, which is not to allow a man to go to the appellate court without stating the ground of his demurrer in the lower court.

The vote was then taken on Mr. Donovan's amendment, which was declared lost.

Mr. Meredith: Suppose that the court finds that there is want of jurisdiction without the assistance of counsel; and with that staring it in the face I doubt whether the court could dismiss the case. I don't think we should force the court to dismiss the case on its own motion.

B. B. Munford, of Richmond: Mr. Parrish's amendment provides that if either counsel or court discovers proper ground of demurrer, he may insert that in the demurrer. Under Mr. Meredith's amendment, counsel would be careful not to disclose the real ground and in the Supreme Court bring forward a new ground, and might reverse the lower court. So I think Mr. Meredith's amendment ought to be voted down.

Willis B. Smith, of Richmond: You are tying the hands of the court where the counsel are ignorant. You are saying that the court shall not do anything on its own motion.

Vote was then taken on Mr. Meredith's amendment, which was declared lost.

The President: The motion of Mr. Davis is now in order.

Mr. Pettit: My objection to this amendment is general. It is that in many cases, and where there are any intricacies disclosed, it will be very difficult for counsel, in the hurry of trial, to put in a succinct and clear statement of all the grounds of demurrer he relies on. Let him put in a general demurrer. According to my observation, I have never known counsel who had good grounds for demurrer, to fail to disclose them fully to the court. If counsel have good grounds of demurrer, they are certain to state them to the court. Perhaps in criminal cases, where counsel think

they are entitled to avail themselves of every possible sort of technicality, they will not disclose their grounds of demurrer; but in civil cases counsel always disclose before the trial court every possible ground of demurrer. Now, is the court to be concluded because the counsel failed to state in writing any ground

of demurrer-not only the court below, but the court above? The vote was taken on Mr. Davis's motion, which was not adopted.

The President: Clause IV., the next in order, is to repeal section 3267 of the Code. Is there any amendment offered to that clause? If not we will proceed to clause V. No amendment being offered to clause V., it is considered as adopted. The matter now before the house is the consideration of the sixth clause. As no amendments are proposed to this, it is considered as adopted. The seventh clause having been withdrawn, the matter before the house is the eighth clause.

J. K. M. Norton, of Alexandria: I move that the clause be stricken out.

Mr. Patteson I offer the following resolution :

Resolved, That section 2 of bill VIII. be amended by striking out after the word "shall" in line three to the close of the sentence, and inserting "cause a jury to be empaneled, frame an issue to be tried by them, and give to their verdict the same force and effect as if the same had been brought at law;" and by striking out the last four lines, and inserting: "The suit shall not for that reason be dismissed, but leave shall be given to make such amendments as may be necessary to afford proper relief; and the court, without the aid of a jury, shall administer such relief as the parties ought to be entitled to if the same had been brought in equity."

Judge Norton: I move to lay the amendment on the table.
The motion to lay on the table was lost.

The resolution offered by Mr. Patteson was adopted, and the motion to strike out made by Judge Norton was lost.

The President: The next in order is section IX. Is there any objection to that?

Mr. Cochran : I move to amend this section by inserting "covenant and assumpsit" in the place of "detinue and trover."

The President: I am obliged to rule this motion out of order. It is not germane to the proposition. The first clause provides for covenant and assumpsit, and makes another disposition for them.

Mr. Parrish: I move to strike out that section. I do not think that the fact will be called into question that the actions of trover and detinue are distinct. We have a statute now under which a man who has a cause of action in detinue, by giving a bond may have the sheriff take charge of the property. The judgment is different in the action of trover, and it seems to me that there will be confusion if the two are put on the same footing, and I therefore move to strike out the section.

The motion of Mr. Parrish was adopted.

The President: Discussion of section X. is now in order.

Mr. Patteson: I offer the following amendment :

Resolved, That the report of the Special Committee on Law Reform be amended by striking out the last sentence of proposition X., which reads as follows: "There shall be no pleading subsequent to the replication," and by causing the sentence before the last of the same proposition to read as follows: "But when the plaintiff relies upon new matter in answer to the plea, he shall state the same specially in his replication in plain and certain language, and the defendant shall do the same when he relies upon new matter in answer to the new matter thus alleged by the plaintiff, and no evidence shall be received of any new matter which is not so stated."

Mr. Patteson's amendment was adopted.

Mr. Meredith: I move to strike out the section.

The motion to strike out was lost.

Mr. Parrish Mr. President,-I move now to strike out clauses XI. and XII. We have practically stricken them out by the amendments adopted to the original bill.

The motion to strike out XI. and XII. was adopted.

Judge Norton: I offer the following resolution :

To all pleas, except as to general issue, affidavit must be made by the defendant or his counsel or agent that the defence is believed to be true and not for the purpose of delay.

Mr. Pettit: I hope the association will not pass such a bill as that.

On motion, this resolution was laid on the table.

Mr. Cochran : Mr. President,-I desire to say that I have accomplished everything by my resolution that I wished, and I now withdraw it.

The President: I am requested by Mr. Tucker to read this resolution:

Resolved, That the bills recommended by the Special Committee on Law Reform, as amended, be approved, and that the president of the association appoint a committee of three to present to and urge upon the General Assembly of Virginia the enactment into laws of the bill proposed in said report, but with power in said committee to make such changes in the phraseology of said bill as may be deemed expedient, provided the substance of the same is preserved.

This resolution was adopted.

The President: I appoint on that committee Beverly B. Munford, S. S. P. Patteson, and R. L. Parrish.

(See Report, as amended and adopted, at the end of the Minutes.) H. St. George Tucker, of Staunton : Mr. President,-I offer the following resolution :

Resolved, That the Virginia State Bar Association has witnessed with the deepest pride and profoundest satisfaction the exalted position won by the Hon. James C. Carter, of New York, an honorary member of this association, as counsel for the United States before the international tribunal sitting at the city of Paris to determine the Bering Sea controversy, and we tender him our hearty congratulations upon the additional laurels won by him. in foreign fields before this exalted tribunal.

Resolved further, That the Secretary of this association is hereby directed to transmit a copy of this resolution to the Hon. James C. Carter.

The resolution offered by Mr. H. St. George Tucker was adopted.

The association, on motion, then adjourned sine die.

JACKSON GUY,

Secretary.

ANNUAL REPORTS.

1893,

REPORT OF TREASURER,

To the Virginia State Bar Association:

As required by the By-Laws of your association, the undersigned makes the following report for the year ending June 30, 1893:

I. Receipts and Disbursements.

As will appear from the accounts returned herewith (which have been examined and certified by the Auditing Committee) the total receipts for the current year have been $2,238.22, as follows:

Admission fees from 35 members at $5 each,

334 Annual dues from members at $5 each

Sale of Reports,

Add balance on hand per last report,