Letter to the American Judicature Society.

My dear Mr. Baker:

I regret very much that the press of official business prevents me from accepting your invitation to attend the annual dinner of the American Judicature Society.

I have followed with interest and approbation the efforts of your Society during the past twenty-one years "to promote the efficient administration of justice." The attainment of that object is vital to the welfare of our country. The Preamble to our Constitution names the establishment of justice as one of the objects for which the Constitution was ordained, and it is clear that without an efficient administration of justice the other objects named cannot be attained.

The educational work which has been carried on by the American Judicature Society in its endeavor to make the administration of justice in the American courts more effective and more economical has resulted in improvements in bar organization, court organization, and civil and criminal procedure, and in the development of machinery for the efficient disposition of small claims.

The activities of your Society along these lines have been very timely. During our generation we have had difficulty in adapting our legal and judicial institutions, which were devised to serve the simple needs of a pioneer country, to the complexities which characterize modern social and economic life. The process of transformation and adaptation has been facilitated by the work of the American Judicature Society.

I desire, therefore, to commend the American Judicature Society for its efforts and achievements over a period of more than a score of years, and to extend best wishes for the future success of the Society.

Very sincerely yours,

Hon. Newton D. Baker,

President,

The American Judicature Society,

Washington, D.C.