GOVERNORS' CONFERENCE. The factors that brought about the establishment of the governors' conference in the United States were the three following: (1) the growing centralization of power at Washington; (2) the shifting, uncertain status of State's rights, and (3) the lack of uniform laws. It was felt by many that the nation was confronted by a grave crisis. Vital problems affecting the general welfare of all the people remained tin solved, though they had reached the acute state where solution was imperatively demanded. In 1908 a meeting of governors was held at the White House, Washington. It was called by President Roosevelt, and the principal subject considered at that time was the conservation of natural resources. Early in the following year a second meeting, also at Washington, was held to consider topics coming under State, and constitutionally not under Federal, adminis tration and jurisdiction — such as the questions relating to marriage and divorce, child labor, capital punishment, initiative, referendum and recall, etc. In 1910 a third conference was held at Frankfort, Ky. In 1911, at Spring Lake, N. J., the governors' conference debated with special interest the general subject of intrastate commerce; and the doctrine of State sovereignty, involving control by the several States in such matters, was maintained in pro test against the decision of Justice Sanborn, of the Court of Appeals of the United States, in the Minnesota Railway Commission injunction case. A meeting of Western governors was
held in 1912; and in the same year conferences were held at Richmond, Va., and Washington, D. C.; followed by a session at Colorado Springs in 1913. The conference at Boston, 24-27 Aug. 1915, merits special attention, al though the attendance was not large and it is quite true that, as has been said, °the high hopes that were aroused at the time of the first conference of governors have unfortu nately not been fully realized." One of the subjects—the most vital of all — discussed at the Boston meeting indicates lines of activity along which genuine progress can be made and the public interest faithfully served by the States' chief executives (see article GOVERNOR). That subject was °The Relation of the State to the National Defense." Finally, the func tions of the governors' conference are officially declared to be: °Exchange of views and ex periences on subjects of general importance to the people of the several States, the promo tion of greater uniformity in State legislation, and the attainment of greater efficiency in State administration."