Lawyers Descend on Seattle to Fix a 'Deplorable' Legal Code
The State Bar Association opens its convention at the Seattle National Bank building, with judges and attorneys pushing nonpartisan courts, a permanent code commission, and better pay for judges.
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The hotels were overflowing last night with lawyers from all sections of the state who had gathered to attend the meeting of the State Bar Association, which opened here this morning. The convention, which will be held in the Chamber of Commerce rooms in the Seattle National Bank building, promises to be the largest ever held by the lawyers of Washington. Members of the legal profession have been arriving in the city for several days, and today may witness a gathering of some of the brightest legal lights of the state.
The Seattle bar has prepared an attractive program for the entertainment of its guests. It will include a night at the Seattle theater to witness the rendition of Oscar Wilde's popular comedy, 'Lady Windermere's Fan'; an afternoon excursion on Lake Washington; and an elaborate banquet at the Rainier hotel. The general committee of arrangements, aided by a number of committees, has been indefatigable in its efforts to bring about satisfactory results, and the convention will undoubtedly be a success in every detail.
Although the convention is to be formally opened at 10:30 a.m. according to the programme, it is probable that nothing will be done until 1:30 this afternoon, as the president of the association, John Arthur, is engaged in court. The order of business for today, as revised by the committee, is as follows: address of the president, by John Arthur; reading of minutes of the last annual meeting; reports of committees on arrangements and on constitution and by-laws; new business; 'Non-Partisan Selection of the Judiciary,' by Frank H. Graves of the Spokane bar, with general discussion; and 'Community Property of the State of Washington,' by R. A. Ballinger, superior judge of Jefferson county, with general discussion.
President Arthur's address will treat of 'Lawyers in Their Relations With the State,' covering a broad field and freely discussing the attitude of the bar toward the public and the public toward the bar, as well as the inadequacy of the salaries paid to the judges in this state. It is known that the association will take decisive action on several important questions, such as the selection of two judges of the supreme court this year upon non-partisan lines; the creation of a permanent board of code commissioners whose duty it shall be to prepare a uniform code of laws for the state, making the same final and complete, and with power to review and examine all proposed resolutions and enactments before their submission to the legislature. In an interview on this subject, Mr. Arthur said: 'This is the only method by which our legislation can be extricated from its present deplorable condition, and the state given a body of laws which will not disgrace its intelligence.'
Other important subjects on which lawyers are peculiarly well informed, and which interest the whole people, will be fully discussed. The lawyers of Seattle have taken a warm interest in the convention and are expected to take a prominent part in its deliberations, although they have not been given more than their share in the preparation of the leading essays. The discussion of the essays to be read will be open to all members of the bar, although it is naturally to be expected that those who are not members of the association will, in order to entitle them to all the privileges of the occasion, apply at once for admission.
Among the prominent members of the association in the city last evening were Judge R. A. Ballinger of Port Townsend; George M. Forster, Spokane; Attorney General W. C. Jones, Spokane; Judge Jesse Arthur, Spokane; Judge J. Z. Moore, Spokane; Frank H. Graves, Spokane; Samuel R. Stern, Spokane; L. Frank Gordon, Spokane; Embrey, Port Angeles; and E. Fisher, New Whatcom.
George M. Forster, of Spokane, was seen late last evening and questioned on some of the many defects in the machinery of the state. When asked about the advisability of establishing some kind of court of arbitration to which disputes could be referred, he said: 'I don't think it practicable. Parties who honestly agree to arbitrate disputes need no legislation.' Relative to the many carelessly enacted laws of the last legislature and the remedy, Mr. Forster said: 'The legislature has gone forth excluding lawyers from the [unclear] and replacing them with farmers. If farmers can beat lawyers at farming, it stands to reason that lawyers can beat farmers at law-making. Every man to his trade.'
“This is the only method by which our legislation can be extricated from its present deplorable condition, and the state given a body of laws which will not disgrace its intelligence.”
The 1890s bar convention debated judicial independence, legislative dysfunction, and judicial salaries — arguments that still shape Washington's courts and statehouse fights over how laws are written and judges chosen. The call for a permanent code commission also echoes modern complaints about bills drafted in haste and revised in court.
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