filed without reading and be embraced in the proceedings. The President: In the absence of objection they will take that direction.

(For the Report of the Committee on Federal Legislation, see page 279.)

(For the Report of the Committee on Legal Ethics and Grievances, see page 284.)

The President: Next will be the Report of the Committee on Interstate Law, Mr. W. Carroll Latimer, of Atlanta, Chairman. I will state that Mr. Latimer was called to New York, and is not here to present this report.

The Secretary: Mr. Warren Grice, Chairman of the Committee on Legal Education and Admission to the Bar, regretted not being able to come to the meeting on account of illness in his family. He may have a report from his Committee. If he has, I will get it.

The President: Committee on Membership.

The Secretary: The Committee on Membership has already reported. The Committee on Memorials, of which Judge A. W. Cozart is Chairman, has already reported. I have a short report for the Committee on Legislation, of which I am Chairman.

(For the Report of the Committee on Legislation, see page 278.)

Judge A. W. Cozart, of Columbus: In connection with that report, I hope you will bear with me for a few móments, while I make a few remarks.

At recent sessions of this Association I made certain suggestions as to legislation and as to amendments of the Rules of the Supreme Court. Four of these suggestions have been acted upon favorably-three by the General Assembly and one by the Supreme Court.

(See Bar Asso. Report, 1916, page 230-Acts 1916, page 48; Bar Asso. Report, 1916, page 226-Acts 1918, page 133; Bar Asso. Report, 1917, page 252-Acts 1918, page 272; Bar Asso. Report, 1918, page 199-148 Ga. 863.)

I wish to offer the following suggestions:

INHERITANCE TAX LAWS

First: The inheritance tax laws should be amended so as to require the inventory to be filed under oath.

Second: They should be amended so as to exempt small estates from this tax. In many estates the tax is less than the costs of making the returns.

Third: They should be amended so as to require the ordinary to record all of the proceedings.

Fourth: The State Tax Commissioner and Attorney General should be required to prepare proper blanks on which to make the returns, etc., and these should be kept by the ordinaries and furnished to persons required to make the returns. The blanks should be somewhat like the ones furnished by the United States Government on which Estate Tax Returns are made to the United States Government. It seems that very few lawyers know how to make these returns; and I am of the opinion that the State loses large sums of money on this account.

FORECLOSURE OF BILL OF SALE TO SECURE A DEBT AND A CONDITIONAL SALE AGREEMENT

Section 3298 of the Code should be amended so as to permit bills of sale to secure debts and conditional sale agreements to be foreclosed as mortgages on personalty are foreclosed, regardless of the amount.

See Berry v. Robinson, et al., 122 Ga., 575.

Now I am very grateful for the opportunity of presenting that, and I hope that some good will result from it. At this point, by request of the President, Judge A. W. Cozart, Vice-President for the Fourth Congressional District, took the chair.

The Fourth Vice-President, presiding: Gentlemen, the next business in order is discussion of, and action upon, the report of the Permanent Commission on Revision of the Judicial System. If there is anything to be said or done, now is the time and here is the place to do it.

Mr. E. S. Elliott, of Savannah: I think, Mr. President,

that instead of consolidating the Supreme Court and Court of Appeals we should have three circuit courts of appeal sitting, say, at Savannah, Macon, and Rome. I am disposed to differ from what has been said on this floor to the effect that the right of appeal should be limited. Especially it should not be limited as to the amount involved. I think one of the troubles of present day litigation is a tendency to favor the rich at the expense of the poor. If you limit the right of appeal, or, as has been suggested, make the right of appeal expensive by providing for the printing of the record and the like, it tends to deprive the poor man of rights that the rich man will have. I think also some system ought to be adopted by which this unlimited right of appeal should not be injured by unnecessary delays. I know of one case where the amount involved was $2600. By reason of delay in decision there was a receivership, and the costs of administration amounted to $2300. I think that is a denial of justice. Now, if litigation at the present time has gotten to be more than two courts can handle, necessarily in a few years it will be even more difficult for the two courts to handle still more. I think the only system by which every right can be preserved and prompt decisions had is to have one Supreme Court and three, or eventually more, circuit courts of appeal substantially after the system of the United States appellate courts.

Now, there are some evils in that system, one of which is that different circuit courts of appeal may decide questions differently, but that evil can be righted by having the writ of certiorari. Substantially I think that the system ought to be that the Supreme Court would have jurisdiction of capital cases, cases involving constitutional points, cases certified to it by circuit courts of appeal, and cases taken up on certiorari. The courts of appeal would have final jurisdiction in all cases taken to them except cases that were certified up and cases taken up by certiorari to the Supreme Court. In addition to that the

lawyers would have to go but a short distance to make their arguments before these various courts of appeal and the expense to litigants would be smaller. The expense to the State would probably be greater, though only by a very small amount, and litigants would be saved considerable expense, because the expenditures of their attorneys would be much less as the courts of appeal would be much nearer their homes.

I think that when we are recommending a system we should recommend a system that may answer all the needs incident to the growth of the State. Litigation must necessarily be greater in the future because of the advent of new things in daily use. Automobiles are here and airplanes soon will add their contribution to the everincreasing litigation. As our modern civilization becomes more complex, the subjects of litigation will increase while increase in population will necessarily increase the number of cases. Therefore, I think we should adopt a system which will enable us to expand without making revolutionary changes.

Judge A. G. Powell, of Atlanta: I rise to the point of order that the matter which Mr. Elliott has been discussing has already been acted upon by a vote of the Association. The only thing left in that report not acted upon are some minor matters. If my point of order is sustained, then I wish to move that the Report be returned to the Permanent Commission together with notice of the action taken by the Association on the two matters already disposed of.

The Fourth Vice-President, presiding: I sustain the point of order. Having just come to the chair, I was misinformed as to what Mr. Elliott was going to speak upon. Having just come to the chair, I didn't know any better. I don't mean to confess that I am not a parliamentarian, because I am. (Laughter.) And I wanted to hear the gentleman, too, whether he was in order or not.

The motion by Judge Powell with regard to the dispo

sition of the Report of the Commission was then put to vote and carried.

Judge J. H. Merrill, of Thomasville: I have a little matter weighing on my mind and conscience. I have been for some years a member of the Legislative Committee of the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws. I have succeeded in accomplishing absolutely nothing in my own State, though I have succeeded in accomplishing something in several other States assigned to me in divisional work.

The Uniform Negotiable Instruments Act last summer in the legislature of Georgia was passed in one House and thrown out at the last minute because of a little spitefulness on the part of a member of the Steering Committee towards the man who introduced it. That Act has been passed by every State and every dependency of the United States except Georgia. There is almost no difference between its provisions and the provisions of the law of Georgia, but we have to find it not only in the Code but in a great many volumes of Supreme Court Reports. I think it is very important that Georgia should put itself in line with the other States. The Georgia Bankers Association has gotten behind this very actively, and I suspect it was due to their help that we got as far along as we did last summer, but in spite of our bad luck with the Georgia Legislature always, I am disposed to offer the following resolution to get the approval of this Association and its request to the Legislature that this bill be enacted into law:

WHEREAS, the Uniform Negotiable Instruments Act has been adopted and is now in force in every State in the Union except Georgia, and has also been adopted by Congress for the District of Columbia and Alaska; and

WHEREAS, the law on this important subject is now the same throughout the country except in Georgia, which condition is embarrassing and hurtful to our commercial interests; and