The Convention was called to order at ten o'clock by President Linton.
The President: The first on our program this morning will be the report of the Committee on Uniform Bill for Roadside Planting. I will ask the chairman, Mr. Littlepage, to make the report.
Mr. Littlepage: The committee met last night after adjournment and considered different methods of getting this bill (a copy of which I now present) before the various states, and after some deliberation it was decided to report, on behalf of the committee, as follows:
That the committee,—the same committee which has been appointed,—be authorized by the association to prepare in proper and simple form a sufficient number of copies of this bill, to be accompanied by a letter, formulated by the committee, which letter will set out substantially three things:
First: Call the governor's attention to the fact that this bill is the one adopted by the State of Michigan, but that it should, of course, be modified to comply with the special judicial or road machinery of each particular state.
Secondly: A short argument in behalf of this character of legislation.
Thirdly: A request to each governor that he refer the bill to his attorney general to put it in proper form to fit into the machinery of his particular state, and that he also refer it to his appropriate state board of forestry, agriculture or what-not.
We suggest, as I said before, that this committee be authorized to prepare a letter along those lines, to be accompanied by a copy of the bill, and that, after it is prepared and ready, it be sent out by either the president or the secretary of the association. It was also thought by the committee to be desirable, at the same time that this is sent to the governor of each state, to send copies to the various agricultural and horticultural journals of the respective states, that being done with the view of getting some publicity. Then, too, the committee thought that it might be well, at that time, for the respective members of the association in these various states to write to their representatives in the legislature calling attention to this bill.
Now that is the report of the committee, and, Mr. President, I move that this report be adopted and the committee instructed to act along those lines.
(Motion seconded and carried, and the report of the committee was adopted unanimously.)