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Show -78- UNIFORM LAWS BY INTERSTATE COMPACT ADDRESS BY BEN W» JOHNSON Ohio State Bar Association Vol. 29 - 1908 The distinguished statesman* (Mr. Bourke Cockran) who spoke this morn- ing has made himself the Association's benefactor. The Association in turn has become the creditor of all its members by placing at our disposal his wealth of thought and eloquence upon an important subject. Not in any hope of discharging or satisfying my contributive share of our common indebted- ness« but with a desire9 at least partly* to compound for the liabilities which have been accumulating against me ever since I attended these meet- ings, and which were so largely increased this morning* I ask your per- mission, to advertise some other accidents of the law, in addition to "The Law's Delays." Not delay alone, but also uncertainty* instability, obscurity, com- plexity $ or any other thing which impedes the efficiency of law* as it wore, adulterates and may deny justice. An invention beautiful in design, sym- metrical in all its proportions, would still be worthlesss if the friction of the parts and the inertia of the machine should suffice to neutralize the mofoive power that must drive it* Justice is the motive of government, while government is but an inert mechanism invented to utilize the power of justice. Speaking upon a high plane of speculative theory j Daniel Webster once likened our political system to the solar system, wherein each planet, like each state a follows its separate orbit about a central sun. "The music of the spheres" in this political firmament is sometimes discord where should be harmony, and it sometimes leaves silence where there should be utter- ance. The lawyer may worthily address himself to discover9 if possible, a constitutional method for better attuning our laws to the needs and ideals of our people* i'h.e interstate commerce clause, the doctrines of inherent, implied and incidental powers have been studied to the dregs in an effort to make govern- ment efficient by aggrandizing the central power at the expense of powers reserve d to the states and to the people* Nevertheless, there is a constitutional power expressly reserved to the stettes as a muniment for other powers belonging to them. As if fore- seeing the possible need of such a provision, the creators of the Con- stitution embodied it in the last section of Article I» This neglected and half forgotten clause, while it prohibits any state entering into a treaty, alliance or confederation, permits the states, with the consent of Congress $ to make eny number of other compacts or agreements. They may, |