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To me the positive message of the paper is that we should view our condition with a sense of history and a sense of humor and, in that perspective, dwell more upon the good that we perceive in ourselves, our institutions, and our performance. That is fine, but it does not tell us enough. We know that in all ages man has been in no wise more conspicuous than in his inhumanity to man. The record of torture and slaughter during the Crusades and the Inquisition, movements associated with religion, darkens the pages of history.What must be noted is that the contemporary period is strikingly different. I do not condemn a disposition to be optimistic and to look for the good in society but we must, if we are to survive, confront the realities of our times. The condition of the whole community of man is one of extraordinary interdependence. There are at least three grim factors which threaten the race. The first is a combination of nuclear armament and the continued commitment of this nation and others to military force as an instrument of policy in external affairs. The second is largely uncontrolled population growth. The third, to which the second is related, is almost pervasive damage by man to the natural order. As I look more particularly at the condition of this country, what is most appalling is the damage to the very soul of the American people done by our military venture in Indochina. If one is to address himself to"The Future of America and The Role of Law," the first order of business is to promote the return of the United States to lawful, peaceful, orderly processes in external relations. I find no reference to this overriding concern in Dean Forrester's paper.

AbstractAmerican Municipal Association plan gives broad powers to cities but retains legislative control.

The growing interest displayed by the law reviews in the legal problems of local government reflects a gratifying increase in research and scholarly activity in the field.' This interest on the part of law school scholarly media is especially noteworthy, since the world of legal education has a peculiar responsibility to identify and engage in thoughtful study of the great legal problems of contemporary society. In this brief paper an effort is made to place the problem of making appropriate legal provision for local autonomy in more adequate perspective. That is a rather ambitious venture. One is moved by the just demands of proportion and interrelationship in human affairs to undertake it. Those who are sensitive to the importance of viewing the role of the national state in the broader international perspective area growing company. There is occasion for acceleration of a parallel development in outlook as to local units of government.

The tendency of the lex scripta to supplant the lex von scripta has carried far since Roscoe Pound published his provocative paper on "Common Law and Legislation" in 1908. One can note at the same time indications that statute law is being received with much less hostility. The surprising thing, however, is that legislation in general is not at this day getting a far more sympathetic reception by lawyers and judges. Clearly they make up the professional group which has the largest share in the drafting and enactment of statutes. In actual practice, moreover, lawyers are given to committing private as well as public rules of the game to more or less carefully drawn instruments with a view to implementing broad ideas by detailed provisions calculated to indicate more clearly the desired line of human conduct. At the same time, they eschew common law procedures by resorting heavily to private methods of settlement such as arbitration. When one considers the huge grab bag of rules of interpretation available to an American judge he is likely to indulge the very human wish that we could discard the whole lot and start afresh. It would be bootless to dwell upon the thought. We cannot break abruptly with the past, even if we would. This is far from saying that we can do little in the way of a calculated effort to adapt existing institutions and ideas to the needs of a complex and rapidly changing society. We have no doubt that deliberate attacks can be made. And it is our purpose in this paper to consider the possibilities of positive action in relation to a particular canon of interpretation, the "ancient shibboleth," as Mr. justice Stone called it, that a statute in derogation of the common law is to be strictly construed.