Fifth Judicial District.- P. C. J. De Angelis, Peter B. McLennan.

Sixth Judicial District.― Erwin J. Baldwin, Henry B. Coman, Albert F. Gladding.

Seventh Judicial District.- William Carter, William W. Clark.

Eighth Judicial District.- Frank A. Abbott, Charles H. Brown, William H. Cuddeback, Edward K. Emery, Frank C. Ferguson, Louis W. Marcus, Cuthbert W. Pound.

Ninth Judicial District.- John F. Brennan, Allison Butts, Michael Kane, Isaac N. Mills, Arthur S. Tompkins. October 27, 1906.

Gentlemen, what is your pleasure in respect to this

report? Shall it be adopted?

Henry L. Bogert, of New York:

I so move, Mr. President.

The motion was duly carried and the report adopted.

The President:

The next business in order will be the discussion, if any discussion is desired, on the admirable paper read by Mr. Page this morning.

The Secretary:

Mr. President, before entering upon the discussion of Mr. Page's paper, it seems to me that action upon the

amendment offered last year by Mr. Fleischmann to the Constitution should follow the report of Mr. Adams, which has just been read, as it refers to the same subject matter. It is an amendment providing for a new article to be known as article 23, and is as follows:

"XXIII. COMMITTEE ON JUDICIAL SELECTIONS.

"There shall be a Committee on Judicial Selections, to consist of three members of the Association from each Judicial District of the State.

"It shall be their duty, especially, to prevent the nomination, election or appointment of unfit or incompetent persons to judicial office in the State, whether on the State or Federal Bench, and where the same is threatened, to aid in securing the nomination, election or appointment of fit and competent judicial officers; also to condemn unfit selections when made, as well as those responsible therefor, and all improper means and influences employed in procuring the same.

"Such committee may be called together at any time, by their Chairman or by the President or Executive Committee, and shall have power to pass such resolutions and take such steps as it may deem necessary to effect the purposes for which it is created, without the action of the entire Association, unless a stated meeting of such Association is to be held within a time that would make its action upon the recommendations of such committee effective, in which case the action of such committee shall first be reported to said Association for its approval.

"And notice is also given that Article IV of the Constitution containing the list of committees will be amended so as to include said new Committee on Judicial Selections above created."

Notice was given last year, as provided by our Constitution, that this amendment would be offered at this meeting, and the proposed amendment was sent out with the notice of this meeting to all the members of the Association.

The President:

This proposed amendment to the Constitution is open for consideration. Does any gentleman wish to be heard in regard to it?

John Brooks Leavitt, of New York:

I suggest the phrase “judicial selection" is not a very happy one; the phrase should be "Committee on the Selection of Candidates for Judicial Office."

Simon Fleischmann, of Buffalo:

Mr. President, I was responsible for that phrase and there was some method in my madness. I intended it should cover every form of the selection of a judge, including the filling of temporary appointments by the Governor. It was not to relate only to nominations, and for that reason there should be some general word used which would cover any situation. That was what was in mind.

Mr. Leavitt:

I don't think the words "judicial selection" covers that.

Mr. Fleischmann:

On the selection of judges, I meant it should not be limited to nominations. I thought it meant the selection of judges.

The President:

Do I understand there is any amendment to the motion?

Mr. Leavitt:

I move the title of the committee be "The Committee on the Selection of Candidates for Judicial Office." That would apply to candidates for appointment as well as nomination.

Mr. Fleischmann:

Why wouldn't the committee on selection of judges? The President:

The question is on the amendment proposed by Mr. Leavitt to call the committee "The Committee on the Selection of Candidates for Judicial Office."

Mr. Fleischmann:

I am not the committee, but I accept it if it is agreeable to the committee.

The President:

Are you ready for the question on Mr. Leavitt's motion that the title of this proposed amendment be changed to "The Committee on the Selection of Candidates for Judicial Office?" Those in favor of that motion will please say aye.

The motion was duly carried.

The President:

Now, the question is upon the adoption of the amendment to the Constitution as proposed by this amendment. If no gentleman desires to be heard I will put the question.

Thomas F. Ward, of Little Falls:

Mr. President, I do not believe that this Bar Association, or any Bar association, ought to put in the hands of a committee of three members acting ex parte the power which this resolution contains. I know of but one conspicuous example of a Bar association having the courage, as has been suggested in this committee report, to come out and publicly condemn the nominations that the people made to the office of Justice of the Supreme Court in this State, and in that conspicuous example it was demonstrated that the people were right and the Bar Association of the City of New York was wrong; and they went on record in black and white admitting that they were wrong and that their action had been mistaken. If that is the fact, what right has this Bar Association to appoint an ex parte committee of three members who are vested with the power of speaking in the name of the Bar of this State on all judicial nominations? Have you the courage now to say that the selections made by the people in the past in this State were poor and wrong? Will you give this committee a right to go back and select from the nominees of the people those that were rightly made and those that were wrong? It will be made the instrument of fraud. You cannot select any three men who will not be human, who will not be swayed at times by one purpose or another, and I submit that it is not in accordance with the spirit of our institution. If the Bar Association could meet as a whole and consider these questions whenever they come up, I would not have so much objection to it, but to put it in the hands of a committee in this way is un-American. It will not work, it will not do any harm to anybody but the Bar Association in the end, because the people will