Indiana Law Journal Volume 7 Issue 1 Article 2 10-1931 Proceedings of the 35th Annual Meeting of the Indiana State Bar Association Held at Lafayette, Indiana July 9th and 10th, 1931 Follow this and additional works at: https://www.repository.law.indiana.edu/ilj Part of the Legal Profession Commons Recommended Citation (1931) "Proceedings of the 35th Annual Meeting of the Indiana State Bar Association Held at Lafayette, Indiana July 9th and 10th, 1931," Indiana Law Journal: Vol. 7 : Iss. 1 , Article 2. Available at: https://www.repository.law.indiana.edu/ilj/vol7/iss1/2 This Special Feature is brought to you for free and open access by the Law School Journals at Digital Repository @ Maurer Law. It has been accepted for inclusion in Indiana Law Journal by an authorized editor of Digital Repository @ Maurer Law. For more information, please contact [email protected]. PROCEEDINGS OF THE 35th ANNUAL MEETING The Indiana State Bar Association Held at LAFAYETTE, INDIANA July 9th and 10th, 1931 THURSDAY MORNING, July 9th, 19311 The thirty-fifth annual meeting of the Indiana State Bar As- sociation convened at ten o'clock in the Purdue Memorial Union Building, Lafayette, Indiana, Vice-President Frank N. Richman presiding. The invocation was rendered by the Rev. William D. Graham, Pastor Central Presbyterian Church, Lafayette. Vice-President Frank N. Richman introduced Judge Harvey J. Curtis of the Appellate Court of Indiana who read a prepared memorial to President William W. Miller. IN MEMORIAM: WILLIAM W. MILLER "In the midst of life we are in death." How particularly true are these words, and how pertinent and poignant here. To those of us who walked daily with him, how tragic is the death of our esteemed brother. It has been my privilege since 1910 to know and to love him. We were reared close together but we never met until he came to Gary in 1910. Since then we have been loyal friends. We had abundant opportunity to learn and to know each other. The prac- tice of law in Gary in those early days was much like the practice 1 Due to a policy of scrupulous economy adopted by the Board of Man- agers of the Indiana State Bar Association it has been determined that the size of the Indiana Law Journal must be kept within the sixty-four pages for each issue originally decided upon. Accordingly the editor has received instructions to condense the contents of this issue and all succeeding issues within that limit. A sincere effort has been made to incorporate into this condensed report of the proceedings the substance of every important action taken by the Association. Some of the addresses delivered at the meeting are published in their entirety in this issue, others will appear in subsequent issues. It is a source of regret that every transaction of the meeting could not be reported verbatim. It is believed however that no item of important business has been neglected. In the event of such an omission the editor will be grateful if his attention is called to it at once in order that proper acknowledgment may be made in the succeeding issues of the Journal. INDIANA LAW JOURNAL in communities that grow up over night. We were pioneers. This was the life that W. W. Miller fitted into exactly. He was an idealist, "and with it all, practical, and he loved to watch and to take part in the development of our community from its crude stages to its present position. In an amazing way, he pursued his ideals and never faltered. For four years it was his ambition while he was President of the Gary Bar Association to make its influence felt, and to his ability as an organizer, and to his zeal, the Gary Bar owes its standing. I followed him as its President, and it was a mighty task to measure up. I have been requested to incorporate herein the resolutions of that Association. By an order of both the Supreme and Appellate Courts, those resolutions are spread on the record in both courts and will be published in a volume of the reports. The resolutions are as follows: RESOLUTIONS The members of the Gary Bar Association mourn the death of their friend and brother member, William W. Miller, and desire to pay tribute to his memory in grateful recognition of his untiring efforts directed toward the betterment of the profession and raising the standard of legal ethics throughout the state. The early experiences of Mr. Miller as a lawyer were in no respect different from other beginners. He came to Gary in the early days of his practice and started alone, with no money, no friends, no experience and no connections. The first years were hard and discouraging but with in- cessant work, industry and fair dealing, he gradually acquired a clientele which included many of the leading citizens of the community, whose con- stant return to his office for advice bespoke the confidence they reposed in him. For a number of years he has been known not only as one of the fore- most lawyers of the county but also as a man who loved and believed in his profession. No remark derogatory of the legal profession, whether made by laymen or lawyer, even went unchallenged. He first attracted attention with regard to his efforts and desire to raise the standard of the profession when he became president of the Gary Bar Association, which office he held for a period of four years. Because of his splendid service rendered to his local association, he soon became known throughout the State and his activities were brought to the attention of the Indiana State Bar Associaion. In 1928 he was elected as a member of the Board of Managers. The following year he was made Vice-President and at the annual session in 1930, was raised to the high office of President, which position, the highest honor in the gift of the members of his profession, he filled with honor and credit to himself and the Association until the time of his death. We who were in close touch with him know that he left unfinished some of his greatest ambitions in connection with this posi- tion. He had many plans for the betterment of the service of the Associa- tion to the members of the bar. The endowment of the INDIANA LAW JOURNAL, so as to assure its perpetuation, was one of his plans. His con- STATE BAR ASSOCIATION PROCEEDINGS fidence in the worthiness and practicability of this plan overcame all ob- stacles and won for it the support of the Board of Managers. It is hoped that this plan may be carried on to completion and that the same may stand as a memorial to the one who proposed and nurtured it. As a husband and father, he was devoted to his family, and his chief recreation, after his long and strenuous day spent in the performance of his many activities, was in the sanuctuary of his home with his wife and children about him. It is common knowledge that his greatest fault was overwork; that he never learned to play in the modern sense of the term; that overwork, as a result of his public-spirited efforts to serve his profession, contributed materially to hasten the day of his death. It is fit that the death of such a citizen should be marked with all the testimonials of public grief, in order that his life may have its just influence on mankind; and while we deeply deplore the death of our friend and associate, we rejoice in the completeness of his life and labors, which, closing together, have left behind them a memory so precious. FRANK N. GAVIT, ORA L. WILDEmUTit, WILLAm F. HODGES, ROBERT M. DAVIS, HoMER E. SACKETT. He had the keenest appreciation of the opportunities afforded by his profession, and he fully understood that with these oppor- tunities came also corresponding obligations. With a zealous care, he sought to discharge his full duty and obligations to his profession. His success in that respect is known to all of us. I have been asked to pronounce this eulogy because of my close personal acquaintance with Mr. Miller and I know you will par- dola any reference to myself. The opportunity came to me to be his traveling companion in attending many meetings of the American Bar Association, and particularly pleasant are my recollections of Detroit and Denver. While at Denver, he pointed out to me the abandoned log hut where he lived alone while there in college. He knew all the hardships and pleasures of paying his own way through college, and university. In his will, after the usual testamentary items, he added an item of several pages devoted to "Advice to children." He left surviving him a widow and eight children. Here is a typical admonition found in the will: "Be conservative, be honest, and never enter into a transaction for which you wish to exclude the light of day or the knowledge of respectable men." The whole- some advice given in his will to his children will always consti- tute a priceless legacy to them. I think the greatest thrill in his professional life came at the banquet of the mid-winter meeting of the State Bar Association INDIANA LAW JOURNAL at Indianapolis. That night he also introduced me as the new Judge-elect of the Appellate Court. At the close of the meeting he came over to me and with a handclasp full of cordiality he said, "Curtis, you have done well." And then he added, with a merry twinkle in his eye, "for a farmer boy." I said to him: "W.