RECORD OF AUGUST APPLICATIONS—WORK OF SECRETARY'S OFFICE.. .......... Addresses of Welcome and Responses-11-17. Sympathetic Messages-17. Report of Committee on Membership-18. Report of Committee on Grievances-19. Report Committee Uniform Rates-19. Report Committee on Courses of Study-20. Report Committee on Legislation-21. Report House Agency Committee-81. Committee on Resolutions-38. Uniform Rate Committee---33. Letter from Colonel Byron -35. Memorial Committee-35. Report of Committee on President's Address-37. Eligibility of President to Re-election-39. Rejection of Applicants-39. Operative Resolutions. Binding Effect-41. National Adjustment Law 43. The Mexican Question-44. Report of Joint Meeting of Forwarders and Receivers 47. Report Committee on Resolutions-48. Report of Auditing Committee 49. Election of Officers 49. The National Adjustment Law-54. Unfair Forwarders-58. Experience Meeting-80. The Banquet-69. Reunion of Founders-81. Reports and Addresses-103. President's Annual Message--108. Treasurer's Report-106. Secretary's Report-107. Legal Ethics, by Chas. A. Boston, Esq.-108. The Unfair Receiving Attorney, by Thad. M. Talcott, Jr.-117. Standardizing and Scientific Management, by A. N. Breckinridge—119. Efficient Service from Viewpoint of the Forwarder, by W. 8. Furst-121. Eficient Service from Viewpoint of the Law List, by Samuel Taylor-122. Eficient Service from Viewpoint of the Receiver, by Hy. W. Stackpole-125. Should Members Favor One Another in Interchange of Business, by E. L. Foulke127. Letters and Telegrams-129. Roster of Members and Guests-131. 11-134 OF THE COMMERCIAL LAW LEAGUE OF AMERICA Published Monthly by COMMERCIAL LAW LEAGUE OF AMERICA, 108 So. La Salle St., Chicago, Ill. Volume XVIII. under the Act of July 16, 1894. SEPTEMBER, 1913. Photo by Thomson, Kansas City, U. S. A. President EDWIN A. KRAUTHOFF. Number 9 EDWIN A. KRAUTHOFF. PRESIDENT OF THE COMMERCIAL LAW LEAGUE OF AMERICA. A SKETCH. Perhaps I had no right to rummage over the desk of Edwin A. Krauthoff while he was speeding away toward San Francisco, but had I not, possibly the request of Secretary Sprague of the Law League for a "real sketch" of that gentleman's life would have remained undiscovered. If I did wrong, then in the absence of Mr. Krauthoff I will, as penance, from out the years of my contact with his life and with those who have lived near to him, and out of the files that fill the rooms we use in common, tell the story of the life of the nineteenth president of the Commercial Law League of America, which life commenced in Jefferson City, Missouri, on May 26, 1869. His parents, now deceased, Louis N. Krauthoff and Sophia Krauthoff, were born in Germany, from whence the father came as a lone emigrant when he was somewhat more than twenty years of age, the mother having come with her parents and sister when she was five years old. The sister and her family, save one child, later returned to Germany, and today there are but nine people living in the United States who are related by blood to Edwin A. Krauthoff-two brothers, two sisters, a son, a nephew, a first cousin and two second cousins. When Edwin was five and one-half years old his mother determined to secure some measure of quiet in the home and sent him to school. She kept the urchin in the public schools at Jefferson City, and in vacation schools during the summer time, till he was twelve years old. When Edwin was eight years old his father, a veteran of the Civil War, died from causes resulting from disease contracted in the Union service. In his six and one-half years of effort Edwin A. Krauthoff had been promoted several times in advance of his classes and had crowded at least three extra years of the curriculum into his school life. His services as a bread winner were needed and he left school, and for two months served as an errand boy in a book store. And then he served for some years as supply and packing clerk in a harness and saddlery factory in Jefferson City, during which time he attended night school. In September of 1884 he resumed his studies in the public school, and it was his mother's proud boast that despite his absence of two and one-half years from school he was still the youngest member of his class. The value of time had been impressed upon him by his contact with business, and his application resulted in his being accorded the honor of graduating at the head of his class in May, 1885. One of the greatest blessings that came into Edwin A. Krauthoff's young life was his constant contact with his elder brother, Louis C. Krauthoff, now of the firm of Krauthoff, Harmon & Mathewson, of the City of New York, who is generally esteemed as one of the greatest lawyers in the United States. In August of 1885 the subject of our sketch became entry clerk in a boot and shoe factory, where he remained till September, 1886, and then, at the age of seventeen, he commenced the study of law in the office of Smith, Silver & Brown, in the City of Jefferson. Jackson L. Smith, the head of this firm, had formerly been a partner of Louis C. Krauthoff, and has given sixteen years of service to the Kansas City Court of Appeals as a judge. Mr. Silver was a lawyer of ability, as also was Mr. Brown. The latter was reporter of the Supreme Court of Missouri at the time Edwin A. Krauthoff commenced the study of the law, and the latter, along with his studies, became proofreader on the Supreme Court Reports, was made a messenger from the reporter to the court, carrying the proofs to the judges for correction. All of the judges knew Louis C. Krauthoff pe sonally and took a kindly interest in his younger brother. The seeing of the Appellate Court at work, the observation of law in the making, mingling with men hers of the legislature at Missouri's capital, with attendance upon sessions of that body, and service as clerk of an important committee at one of the sessions, all formed a very important part in the early education of Mr. Krauthoff. His mercantile experience had made him familiar with bookkeeping, and because of this knowledge he was able to secure election to the office of secretary of two building and loan associations, and with some knowledge of stenography and the ability to operate a typewriter, he was enabled to earn an income from the day he began the study of the law. In May, 1889, at the age of twenty, he was admitted to the bar of Missouri, upon examination in the Circuit Court of Cole County, and in July of the following year Mr. Joseph V. C. Karnes requested him to come to Kansas City and enter the employ of the firm of Karnes, Holmes & Krauthoff, of which firm Mr. Karnes was the senior member and Louis C. Krauthoff the junior. This invitation was accepted and he continued in this employ as managing clerk for a period of nine years. Either of the three members of this firm was entitled to rank as a leading lawyer at the Kansas City bar, and the firm extended to Edwin A. Krauthoff its fullest confidence. At the age of twenty-three he was permitted to argue a case in the Supreme Court of Missouri, and at twenty-six appeared before Mr. Justice Brewer of the Supreme Court of the United States, sitting at circuit, at a hearing wherein such lawyers as Mr. Morefield, Mr. Storey, Mr. Wm. S. Hornblower and Mr. Frank Hagerman were appearing as counsel. The part Mr. Krauthoff played on this occasion was negligible, but it afforded him an opportunity at first hand of seeing great lawyers in action. In January, 1899, the firm of New & Krauthoff was formed, consisting of Alexander New and Edwin A. Krauthoff. This was shortly after the National Bankruptcy Law of 1898 became effective, and Mr. Krauthoff devoted himself to the study and practice of the bankruptcy law. His previous experience as a general practitioner was of great value to him in this chosen field. Mr. J. V. C. Karnes joined forces with New & Krauthoff and the firm became successively Karnes, New & Krauthoff, Karnes, Hall, New & Krauthoff, Karnes, New & Krauthoff, New & Krauthoff, New, Kennish & Krauthoff, and is now New & Krauthoff. In the year 1899 ,through the suggestion of Mr. Henry Wollman of New York, Mr. Krauthoff became a member of the League and attended his first convention at Asbury Park in 1899. At that time he was entirely without knowledge of the minutia of the commercial law practice. He had had no experience in the matter of lists of creditors, and had not become acquainted with lists and agencies. The unfair forwarder at that time was to him an unknown quantity. The question of free reports or the proper division of fees between offices was something of which he had never heard. At the 1899 convention the election was held on the first evening. Mr. Krauthoff manifested his activity in the affairs of the League by nominating a gentleman for the office of Recording Secretary, and the nominee declined the honor. This was followed by the nomination of Mr. Krauthoff, who accepted the office on the theory that, being a member of the League, it was his privilege to take whatever the League gave to him. The next morning he had the experience of hearing a report read which recommended the abolition of the office to which he had been elected. So his first contention as a member of the League was for the retention of the office to which he had been elected. In this he was successful. An argument for the abolition of the office was the claim the office was unnecessary to the existence of the League. At that time there were serving on the Executive Com mittee such veterans of the League as Mr. Sprague, Mr. Ferguson and Mr. Whitehead. The Executive Committee accorded to the Recording 'Secretary the privilege of sitting with the committee, and from time to time the Recording Secretary was entrusted with the performance of minor duties. In this way Mr. Krauthoff became acquainted with the objects and purposes of the founders of the League and was enabled to learn from them their views with respect to the purposes of the League and the manner in which such purposes should become-manifest. At the 1900 convention of the League, held at Milwaukee, Mr. Krauthoff served as Recording Secretary and still recalls with especial appreciation the courtesies extended to him by President Miller. An interesting feature of this convention, as frequently told by Mr. Krauthoff, was the contribution of Mr. Sprague to the musical program of the occasion and the sleight of hand performance by Mr. Hull. At this convention, under the able tutelage of Mr. Sprague, Mr. Krauthoff, as a member of the Reception Committee at the ball, first learned how to introduce people he did not know to each other. At this meeting the stenographic notes taken by a gentleman in Milwaukee proved to be undecipherable, and it was the privilege of Mr. Krauthoff to construct a running account of the convention by means of the documents on hand, such memoranda as could be untangled and his personal recollection of what had occurred. Being re-elected Recording Secretary, he served in that capacity at the Put-inBay convention in 1901. That convention was distinguished by the address of Mr. Ferguson on his travels in the East, and the League heard an address by Mr. Krauthoff on "Louise of Prussia." A distinguishing feature of that convention was the banquet presided over by Mr. Rosenthal, the leit motif of that banquet being Mr. Sprague and his manifold accomplishments. Being re-elected Recording Secretary at the Put-in-Bay convention, Mr. Krauthoff served in that capacity at the Niagara convention in 1902. At that convention the amendment to the constitution making officers ineligible to reelection becoming operative, Mr. Krauthoff was ineligible to be re-elected Recording Secretary and became a candidate for the office of Executive Committeeman, in which aspiration he was then disappointed. He was not privileged to attend the 1903 convention at Mackinac. At the 1904 convention, held in West Baden, Mr. Krauthoff responded to the address of welcome and was chairman of the committee on the address of the President. At that convention for the first time the address of the President was referred to a committee and the recommendations therein contained made the subject of consideration by a separate committee. It was also Mr. Krauthoff's privilege at that convention to serve as a member of a special committee on decorum, appointed by President Siddons. Mr. Krauthoff recalls with especial interest the letter from Mr. Siddons in which it was pointed out that it was expected this committee would see that nothing occurred that should not occur. Just what Mr. Siddons expected might happen if the committee was not appointed, and just how the committee was expected to discharge its duties, the members of it never learned. At any event, the West Baden convention passed successfully into history. At this convention Mr. Krauthoff was again elected Recording Secretary. At the 1905 convention, held at Niagara Falls, Mr. Krauthoff served as Recording Secretary and his name was again mentioned as a candidate for the office of Executive Committeeman. At this convention he organized the "Order of Recording Secretaries," and the practice was introduced of the Recording Secretaries present selecting their own successor. At the 1906 convention, held at Asheville, North Carolina, there was organized the Dinkelspiel Opera Company, of which Mr. Krauthoff became the impresario. That company performed with varying success at several conventions, until displaced by imported professional talent. It is hoped the League may some day realize its inherent vocal abilities and return to the practice of furnishing its own music. At the 1907 convention, held at Detroit, Mr. Krauthoff opposed a resolution to circulate the membership list of the League generally among forwarders of busi ness, and the proposition then presented was referred to a committee to be reported on at the 1908 convention. It was also his experience to be pressed into service as a monologuist at the famous vaudeville luncheon managed by Mr. Sprague. At the 1908 convention, at Mackinac, Mr. Krauthoff served as a member of the committee to report on the resolution to circulate the list of membership génerally among forwarders of business. The majority report, in which he concurred, was adopted by the convention. He also served as chairman of the Committee on Resolutions. At the 1909 convention, at Narragansett Pier, he was elected a member of the Executive Committee. At this convention the Dinkelspiel Opera Company especially distinguished itself by its contribution to the music of the banquet. At the 1910 convention, at Narragansett Pier, Mr. Krauthoff spoke at the banquet. The League had fallen into the habit of inviting outside speakers to the banquet. At that banquet Mr. Vose and Mr. Krauthoff were selected from among the members of the League. Since then the banquet speakers have generally been members of the League. At the 1911 convention, held at Atlantic City, Mr. Krauthoff was not present. At the 1912 convention, held at Colorado Springs, Mr. Krauthoff, as a member of the Executive Committee, joined in the minority report recommending the reception of a report prepared by the committee of which Mr. Julius Henry Cohen was chairman. The minority report was adopted by the convention. It was also Mr. Krauthoff's privilege at this convention to second the nomination of Mr. Vose to the office of President. He addressed the 1912 convention on the topic, "The Mediator at Law," and presented to that convention a draft of a proposed revision of the bankruptcy law, in the form of "The National Adjustment Law." In the |