of the Union, but will bring about a greater certainty in the provisions of the law in our own state. I might mention that the partnership act, which was drafted in 1914, has already been adopted in eight states of the Union; the uniform bills of lading act has been adopted in twenty-two states; the sales of personal property act in nineteen states; and the act relating to the transfer of corporate stock in fourteen states. You can see that by having this series of uniform legislation upon the books it will be a much easier task for an attorney to advise a client upon a certain question that is presented to him. As the matter stands now, on account of the uncertainty in our own law and the frequent discordance in the decisions from other states, it is frequently difficult if not impossible for an attorney to advise a client on a certain state of facts. He looks up the law in answering a question and simply gives his best judgment as to what the Supreme Court will probably hold when the question is finally presented to it. By adopting these proposed acts we will have a uniform series of laws upon the subjects covered by them. It is the opinion of your committee and it was also the opinion of the Bar Association of San Francisco, which recently approved of the measures, that it would be best for the community if these various bills were to be adopted by the Legislature. (Applause.)

Action by Club Meeting

not

THE PRESIDENT: We are obliged to Mr. McWilliams for a very clear statement of these bills. All in favor of the endorsement of the committee's report will signify by saying aye. Contrary no. Carried.

The next report is that of the Municipal Government Section--Mr. Stringham, chairman.

Report of Committee on Municipal Government

STATEMENT BY FRANK D. STRINGHAM

MR. STRINGHAM: If there is no objection, on account of the lateness of the hour, I will omit a few of the bills that are not of much interest.

Three bills which were considered by the committee will probably come up on the floor of the Legislature. One of the bills was introduced by Mr. Locke, who is a member of the committee and also a member of the Legislature. One is advocated by the city of Los Angeles, and the cities of the sixth class are vitally interested in the third.

The one I will take up first will be Assembly Bill 439, which proposes to amend the Motor Vehicle Act. Under the present law, onehalf of the licenses from motor vehicles are expended by the state for state highways, bridges and roads in state parks. The other half is given back to the county boards of supervisors to be expended on the roads and bridges and highways in unincorporated territory, and not to be expended in the cities.

So

I noticed in the report of the Controller, which I looked up today, receipts from motor vehicle licenses amounted in 1911 to $41,000, in 1912 $62,000; today they amount to two or three millions. you can see the importance of this large fund. It is unfair to the cities that they should not get back, in the opinion of the committee, some portion of these funds. The proposed amendment provides that the state shall get one-half and the other half shall be divided between the counties and the cities, the cities getting the proportion which they pay in license fees. The committee thought that this amendment was a step in the right direction, but was still unfair to the counties, for two reasons: One, that it places too heavy a burden on unincorporated districts. It is generally well known that the taxes on property in the cities have helped out not only in the maintenance of schools, but highways and bridges in the country districts, where the assessed valuations are not large enough to carry the great burdens they have. Another reason was that the automobiles registered in the cities use the county highways in much larger proportion than the motor vehicles registered in the counties use the city highways. We therefore recommended that the bill should be amended so that from one-quarter to one-half of the fees that would go to the cities. under the bill should go to the counties. We are not asking those present to take any action, but the report of the committee goes to Mr. Locke, who is in Sacramento.

The second measure is a proposed amendment to the police pension fund bill, which does not affect cities which have a charter provision covering pensions for the police department. There is some question whether the cities are affected. The city of Berkeley, which has no provision for a police pension fund, is now being sued by a widow of a police officer for about a thousand dollars under this act. It is proposed to amend the act so that police officers who have become sixty years of age and have been in service for twenty years shall be retired on half pay, after thirty years of service, on twothirds pay. The committee recommended that the bill be not passed because they thought it ought to be discretionary with the board.

The third bill related to amendments of nineteen sections in the Municipal Government Act affecting cities of the sixth class-that is, cities having less than 3,000 population when incorporated. This amendment increases the term of treasurer and clerk from two to four years, provides that such cities may have a city manager and the city manager may be the city manager of more than one municipality, and it also provides that they can provide more monies for music and promotion. We thought that all the proposed amendments were good except one, and that was one which repealed the provision of Section 886 of the Municipal Corporation Act, which provides that a member of the board of trustees of a city of the sixth class shall not be interested in a contract with the city. They propose to amend that so that a member of the board of trustees may be a party to a contract with the city, provided it is authorized by a four-fifths vote of the board. We recommended that this amendment be not passed. (Applause.)

THE PRESIDENT: Dr. Ophüls will report on the bills which have been considered by the Section on Public Health.

Report of Section on Public Health

STATEMENT BY DR. WILLIAM OPHULS

DR. OPHÜLS: A great many bills were presented to the committee that were of interest from a public health point of view. I can only give a very short summary of the principal ones. Among them are several relating to food standards which are of general interest. One of them is Assembly Bill No. 480 and Senate Bill No. 93, in regard to branding and labeling commercial feedstuffs. The bill provides that feedstuffs shall be labeled in such a way that anybody buying feed for domesticated animals will know the value of the feedstuffs for the purpose for which they are destined, and the committee recommends that this bill be supported by the Club.

The other bill is Assembly Bill 534 and Senate Bill 264 on the proper labeling of imitation milk. There are commercial processes nowadays by which a product rather similar to natural milk can be produced artificially, and it is the desire of the committee that these products shall be labeled "imitation milk" as proposed in these bills. This is particularly a matter of protection to infants and young children, so that they shall not receive this imitation milk instead of the natural milk.

Then there were certain bills submitted to improve the situation so far as the blind and the deaf persons in the asylums of the state are concerned. Your committee endorsed Assembly Bill 547, which provides for a separation of the school for the blind from the school for the deaf, and the purchase of a new site for the school for the blind. At present the deaf and the blind are in the same institution, in spite of the fact that the two types of individuals require very different sort of treatment, which it is very difficult to give in the same establishment. The present school for the blind is in a location that is very unsuitable. It is on hilly ground, not suitable for the blind. The institution is growing. Conditions will have to be met, and it would seem best at the present time to separate the two institutions and to provide separate establishments.

There is also Assembly Bill 710, which provides funds and adds. buildings for the adult blind in Oakland. That institution has done. a very creditable piece of work and it is desired that the state increase its aid to that institution.

Then there is the usual crowd of amendments to the Medical Practice Act. Your committee felt that all of these bills which attempt to amend the present Medical Act were vicious. Practically all of them are bills that represent special interests, special schools.

that want to have special privileges under the Medical Practice Act. As it stands, the Medical Practice Act does not mention any particular schools or cults. It is a general law that places the licensing of physicians and surgeons in the state of California purely on an educational basis; and, although there have been some difficulties in enforcing the law to the satisfaction of everybody concerned, it is a just law and it should stand; and I think all efforts should be used to defeat these vicious amendments, that, as I say, serve purely local and personal purposes.

There are a number of dental bills which deserve our support. They relate particularly to the training of dental assistants. The quacks in dentistry have flourished in this state because there is at the present time no way of providing dentistry at reasonable prices for individuals of limited means. It is proposed to remedy that situation by Assembly Bills 510, 637, 638, 610, and 507, which provide for the training of dental assistants that would have limited functions under the supervision of registered dentists, and the bills also provide for the establishment of dental clinics in various parts of the state, wherever they are required. These bills have the support of the dental profession, and I think they will go a great way in improving the dental situation.

Your committee also very heartily endorse the bill that has been introduced to create a bureau of child welfare in the State Board of Health. It is Assembly Bill 114. This bureau of the State Board of Health will concern itself with children under school age. It will also provide for pre-natal care-that is, the care of the mother before the child is born. It will, then, take charge of the proper education of the mothers in the feeding and raising of the infants and proper care of them, and I think it is a bill that deserves our thorough support.

Your committee also endorse Assembly Bill No. 566, which provides for the establishment of a psychopathic hospital in the city of San Francisco. We have an excellent system of state hospitals to take care of the insane, but what the state needs at the present time more than anything else is some centralizing institution in which people may be received for treatment without commitment. There are a great many cases that should be treated in an institution of that kind voluntarily, even without going through the form of a voluntary commitment. They would come to this hospital as any other patients would come to ordinary hospitals. They would be treated there either in the out-patient department or in the hospital wards, just like ordinary patients in ordinary hospitals, and it is the idea of