PBISIBIIT~S
BErOIT By Henry Woods
(Text of Speech of Henry Woods to House of Delegates of Arkansas Bar Association on Assuming Presidency, Saturday, June 3, 1972.)
At the end of the forthcoming Bar year this Association will have been in existence three quarters of a century - it has traveled from the age of William McKinley to the age of Richard Nixon. It may seem trite to say that those of us who have been elected by our colleagues to positions of responsibility face unprecedented challenges. But I firmly believe it to be so. First and foremost, it is our task to implement a new constitution, which has made profound changes in the structure of our association. Our operations both procedural and substantive will establish patterns that will be followed for many years. They will be either patterns of excellence, conducive to growth, influence, and public service or patterns of mediocrity, inevitably leading to decline and insignificance.
Challenge In a sense the challenge you and I face is a microcosm of the challenge faced by our country and indeed by the free world. That challenge is whether democracy is an effective, workable method of government. Make no mistake about it - our Association has been converted into one of the purest forms of democracy imaginable. Each of you in this House of Delegates was elected by the secret ballot of the lawyers in your own community. This morning by secret ballot you have elected an Executive Council to carry out your policy between sessions of this House. But your decisions and the decisions of your Council are also subject to an even broader infusion of democracy. Any decision you make or the Council makes may be referred on a petition of 25 members to a vote of our entire membership. Also vested in the membership is the power to initiate proposals by petition to be adopted by the entire membership. This new and democratic constitution was a positive and complete response to those critics who have said that in the past our Association was under the dominance of a small and selfish clique of big city lawyers who shaped it in their own interests and for their own purposes. An examination of the truth in these charges would now be pointless. However, all would agree that the former structure did favor clique and special interest domination whether or not such domination was ever effectuated. These criticisms can no longer be made. Our new structure is in the classic "grass roots" "town meeting" mold. Membership Drive This brings me to a consideration of what I conceive to be our first task as a House of Delegates. Basic to the sucCess of a "grass roots" or "town meeting" type of organizational structure is full participation by the group affected by decisions of the organization. It is a tragic fact
JULY,1972
that almost half of the licensed attorneys in this state do not belong to the Arkansas Bar Association. There are over 2800 of the former and barely 1500 of the latter. While some of the non-members reside out of Arkansas, most are here in our midst. They must be personally contacted and apprised of the advantages of Association membership. This task is so vital that I have decided to entrust it to you as members of this House under the overall chairmanship of Steele Hays. The Executive Director this summer will provide each of you with a list of the non-members in your district. I am asking that you assume responsibility for a personal contact and a superb job of salesmanship on these people. Where necessary I am authorizing you to appoint committees within your delegate district to assist in this project. At our September meeting I will calIon each district for a report on its membership drive. Under our new constitution the old excuses for "free loading" are simply not valid. Non-members must be made to realize that membership in our Association now carries with it an equal voice in all its undertakings. They must also be made to realize that the legal profession is presently under assault in this country as never before in its history and that only through a strong and united Bar can these assaults be repulsed. I ask you to meet a modest objective during the coming Bar year. I ask you for a 20 per cent increase in Association memberships from 1500 to 1800, with confidence that you will meet and even exceed this quota.
New Bar Center Your support is essential in other important areas. After more than a decade of dreaming and planning, the new Bar Center will shortly become a reality. Located adjacent to perhaps the most hallowed building in Arkansas, the Old State Capitol, the Bar Center will be connected by walkway to the Pulaski County Law library Building soon to house one of the finest law libraries in the South. Mr. Ed Lester, Chairman of the Bar Foundation Building Committee, has reported in detail on this project. He has told you of the additional needs and requirements - money for furnishings and equipment. The fund drive to acquire this property was completed more than ten years ago. Thus a substantial portion of our membership did not have an opportunity to participate in the financing of the new center. Some pledges have gone unpaid because the slow progress of the project caused hope to dwindle for its successful completion. It will be incumbent on you as leaders of the Association, working with the Bar Foundation, to insure the successful completion of the Bar Center and to see that it is furnished in a manner befitting the state headquarters of our Association. Continued on page 120
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