rriae rfth your t4nng desoribed 1999, ia a deted September 7, 1939, , above quoted, merely or September 6, 1939, in, pertainin(J to the II &vain, were state business pUrpoee8, aocordanowwlth the provision Oz Senate lar ~e88ion, 45th bgiektture. ‘fhe QU~S- not the meeting to be attended by eueh *oonvention* wee not submitted by you at that tlme* henae your inquiry of %vember 15, 2939, quoted above.

Prseumably, your request is prompted by the provl- eione oi the rlder to the departmental appropriation bill, or the 48th L@elature, whloh reeds: “No moniee herein appropriated shall ever _..~ . --. __... ~. -. .- . __ _ __ _-- _ __ ,. _.. _-__ - . . ..-.. --..-- .- ---” . . . . . ..-. -+...-*------ *2 Ron. Joe Kunsabik, Comml~sion8r, Page 2

be spent to pay the traveling expense of any State employee to any type of convention with- in the State or without the State." AeoonWtgly, our answer to the question pro- pounded by you Is in the light of suah enaotment.

The meeting attended by kr. Swain, the subject matter or your Inquiry, had the rollowlng oharaoterfstics:

(1) It was th annual meeting of the National Boxlng Assooiation and the Wational Wm& l~ngAssociatiou, % and oonvened in WashIngton, p. C., Septein er 11, 12 and

13, 19%; (2) it was attauQ8Q by the membem and repmsenta- tives or these assooldtlons; (3) the a sociations were existing organizations prior to the mee lng; (4) such a *\

meetingwas annually held by the asaoolatfon; (5) the purposes of the neeting were ocnmnon to the members of the assooiations; (6) ssssldns and seminars wem helQ, at which xnattera oowuonto the associations and to the mem- bers thereof, nem QlscusseQ) (71 proposals brought before the meeting worn subjeot to being voted upon by the mpm- sedatives In~attendanae.

The popular meaning of the word voonvention* via that, generally, or a meeting or members or representatives or delegates of.private orga&zations,.pa~les, olubs; sooietles, assoulations, and the like, for the aaocmplish- nmnt or objeotlves oonmon to all, Indeed, Webster's New International Dictionary defines ~a *oonventlon" to be:

"A body or assembly of persons meeting for 80~18 oommon purpos19.n

Likewise, "a 'oonvention' is an organized body of delegates or representatives assembled for some speai- ried purp0se.i.. The word *oonventlon* as employed in thla country in coauaon usage in statutes, political history, and oiril government, means and laplies a representative gathering or ,assemblage...." Stete vs. Giitord, 126 Pao. 1060, 1064.

Eon. Joe Kunschlk, Commlssloner, Page 3 WIthout doubt, in our opinion, the annual n!,eetlng of the national Boxing Asswiation an8 the %tional Treatllng Uaoelatlon, whloh convened in Washington, D., C., September 11, 12 ant¶ 13, 1939 was withia the punier or the legislative a naonvention*, snsotment set out above. It matters not ii suoh snnusl gathering was aalled a meeting, or a oonferenoe, or an asserably, or words or like wage, the distlngulshfng aharaot8ristios of a ?lonventionw wera present and oon- alusively resolve the question.

very truly yours