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The PRESIDENT.-The paper adds greatly to the importance of the proceedings of this meeting and the fact that Mr. STONE has presented such a paper is highly appreciated.

Mr. ENGLAND, of Baltimore.-I believe it would do much good if that paper could be distributed among members of Congress. A great many of them come from farming districts and they have been prejudiced, by some of the very men Mr. STONE has referred to, against these organizations. I think Mr. TUCKER'S suggestion is most excellent, and that this paper will do much good toward helping the exchanges of the country to put this matter in the proper light before Congress. It is a matter that the Board ought to consider and deal with in a dignified and effective manner.

Mr. TUCKER. Then I make the motion that the Secretary incoming shall prepare, at the earliest possible moment, in pamphlet form the address just presented in behalf of Mr. MERRILL by the Secretary of the Chicago Board of Trade, Mr. STONE.

The PRESIDENT.-This is the kind of work we are glad to do.

Mr. TUCKER's motion was agreed to.

The PRESIDENT.-The resolution presented by Mr. STONE from the Chicago Board of Trade is now before us. The Secretary will please read the resolution.

The Secretary read as follows:

WHEREAS, The principal commercial exchanges of the United States are intimately and vitally related to the industrial and financial interests of the entire country; therefore

Resolved, That any impairment of the facilities which they have provided for the rapid and economical marketing of agricultural products in the interests of buyer and seller, producer and consumer alike, and which facilities conduce more than any other agency or instrumentality to the general prosperity, would result in irreparable injury to the common commercial and industrial welfare.

The resolution was adopted unanimously.

GROWTH OF INFLUENCE AND MEMBERSHIP OF THE NATIONAL BOARD OF TRADE.

Mr. MAXWELL, of Chicago.-Mr. President, I think my resolution was rather lost sight of.

The PRESIDENT.-Would you mind reading it again, so that it will be familiar to us all and so that we may be sure of what we are doing?

Mr. MAXWELL.-I will read it:

Resolved, That, pending action by this body upon the final report of the committee on the extension of influence, everything possible shall be done by the officers of the Board under its present Constitution to extend its membership and influence and to promote the success of and attendance at the next annual meeting.

The resolution was adopted.

Mr. CROXTON, of Philadelphia.-Would it not be well to add the resolution offered by the Chicago Board of Trade to this paper and that both be published and sent to Congress?

The PRESIDENT.-The resolution is embodied in the paper that was read by Mr. STONE.

Secretary TUCKER.-It was read by Mr. STONE in the first part of Mr. MERRILL's address.

RIVER AND HARBOR IMPROVEMENTS.

Mr. MAXWELL, of Chicago.-I desire to offer a brief resolution:

Resolved, That the Committee on River and Harbor Improvements be made a standing committee, and that the chairman be authorized to appoint sub-committees on the different subjects covered by the resolutions of the committee as adopted at this meeting, and that the standing committee shall report progress at the next annual meeting of this Board.

The resolution was adopted unanimously.

ADJOURNMENT.

The PRESIDENT.-Does any other gentleman desire to say anything?

The programme has been completed and I think the National Board of Trade has now finished the most successful meeting it has had for years. The attendance has been full. We must all remember that, under our Constitution and ByLaws, we cannot have a great hall full of people, because the limitation of delegates is based upon the number of members in each constituent body, and none can have more than sixteen, while many have but one or two. Therefore, if you expect a convention of the National Board of Trade to be weighty by numbers, you will be disappointed. However, I do think that the convention has been weighty by its composition and quality.

It would be difficult to assemble for general discussion of monetary matters, like the body in session yesterday, a class of men more representative and competent in the various communities than were present with us yesterday and during the three days of this convention. We may well feel proud and congratulate ourselves that such men come here to listen to our deliberations, to offer resolutions, to be with us and serve on our committees and in our councilsto do everything they can for the betterment of the affairs and conditons of this country. In recognition of that, several of the Cabinet officers have either written their thanks to me or thanked me personally, as your President, for our influence for the good of the country and have expressed their desire for the perpetuity of that influence.

A motion to adjourn, gentlemen, is now in order.

At 12.50 o'clock P. M., on motion, the National Board of Trade adjourned sine die.

W. R. TUCKER,
Secretary.

SPEECHES AT THE ANNUAL BANQUET.

The eighth annual banquet of the National Board of Trade was held in the Red Room of the New Willard Hotel, Wednesday evening, January 18, 1911. President Frank D. La Lanne acted as toastmaster.

The Toastmaster (Mr. LA LANNE).-Ladies and gentlemen, we had with us a few moments ago—and I am afraid he has gone-one of the most earnest advocates for the increase of the commerce of the United States, Mr. John Barrett, of the South American Republics Bureau. He asked me to read a letter which he sent me to-day, in which every delegate to the National Board of Trade will be deeply interested. He desires me to say that this letter extends an invitation to every chamber of commerce in the United States and every board of trade to send to this conference, which he speaks of in this letter, delegates to attend its sessions. Before we start our regular order of proceedings, I will take the liberty to read this letter:

MY DEAR MR. LA LANNE:

I have the honor to extend to you, and through you to all the organizations, and to the individual membership of the National Board of Trade, an invitation to attend and participate in a Pan-American commercial conference, which will be held under the auspices of the Pan-American Union, commonly known as the Bureau of American Republics, during the week of February 13-18, 1911, in the large auditorium of the new building of the Union. This conference is called for the specific purpose of developing an interest in and of making a special study of conditions in Pan-American trade exchange, and of preparing to make practical use of the Panama Canal. The opening session, Monday afternoon, February 13, will be addressed by President Taft, Secretary Knox, and several Latin American ambassadors and ministers. The working days of the conference will be from Tuesday, the 14th, till Saturday, the 18th. Over 200 commercial organizations and representative manufacturing and shipping firms in different parts of the country have already accepted the invitation to send delegates.

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Mr. Barrett desires me to say that all delegates that the boards of trade and chambers of commerce may send will be very welcome indeed, that you will learn something there which will help the commerce of America and add to the importance of our trade and that many of the delegates will be asked to address the conferences during their sessions. [Applause.]

And now, gentlemen of the National Board of Trade, recognizing and feeling how close is the relationship between our mother country, Great Britain, and the United States, it was my pleasant duty to invite the representative of Great Britain, the Right Honorable James Bryce, Ambassador from that great country, to address us to-night. I know you all feel as if England was your other home, and I know you will be greatly pleased to have Mr. Bryce speak to us. I now have the great pleasure of presenting to you the Ambassador of Great Britain. [Applause and cheers.]

RESPONSE OF AMBASSADOR BRYCE.

Mr. President, ladies and gentlemen, I thank you very much for your cordial reception, and I thank you, Mr. President, for the kind and graceful words which you have spoken regarding my country. I like above all things to hear any representative of America speak of it as the old country or the old home, and I hope I am right in feeling that there is a sense in which it is the old home, even to those whose ancestors did not come from Great Britain, but from some other part of Europe, as is the case, of course, with a considerable part of the population of the United States to-day; because, whether your ancestors lived, worked, suffered and died and were buried there or not, what you all owe to Great Britain is that which was done and wrought by the ancestors of those of you who did come from Great Britain in centuries past, when they produced the literature which is the common possession of our race and when they laid the foundation of those free institutions which have not only made the greatness and prosperity of Britain and her

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