Upon questions of importation the conference had the benefit of information and advice from a representative of the Treasury Department, expert in the practice of that Department at ports of entry. The Solicitor-General, whose name appears upon the list, was not a formal participant, but his representative was present throughout as an observer of the proceedings; and if I do not emphasize the aid which he and which the Solicitor-General himself, in later informal criticism and suggestion, rendered, it is only because the practice of his office forbids him to take part in the initiation of legislation; and his assistance in this matter must not be taken as a precedent to his inconvenience.
The conference held three meetings in June and November of last year and in March of this year, but, of course, as a conference it included various minor consultations and much correspondence. At the outset of the meeting last June each organization was invited to state the respects in which it deemed the present law defective or injurious, either to its own interest, or, in its opinion, to the general interest. The second conference had before it a memorandum prepared by the register embodying provisions deemed by the office important for consideration at that stage. The third conference, in March of this year, had before it a revision of this memorandum. The last conference, this third, resulted in the draft of a bill, which was sent to each participant for comment and suggestion, and the bill itself is before you.
We would have no misunderstanding as to what this bill is. It is a bill resulting from the conference, but it is not a conference bill; for the conference did not draw it, nor did it by explicit vote or otherwise determine its precise provisions. It is rather a copyright office bill. The office submits it as embodying what, with the best counsel available, including the conferences, it deems worthy of your consideration, in accordance with your previously expressed desire. In calling the conferences and in submitting the draft it has proceeded upon your suggestion. Apart from the chapter relating to its own administration, it has no direct interest in the bill, except its general interest to secure a general amelioration of the law. It does not offer the bill to you as the unanimous decision of a council of experts, for it contains certain provisions as to which expert opinion as well as substantial interest was divided. It does not offer to you the bill as one that has passed the test of public discussion, for it has only now come before the public. It knows already of objection to certain of its provisions--objection which will be entitled to be heard by your committee; and it is informed by one critic that his objections are sufficient to cover fully one-half of the provisions of the bill.