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MAX EISMAN and CHARLES T. GWYNNE being appointed tellers, a ballot was taken resulting in the election of these candidates.

CERTIFICATION OF COMMERCIAL DOCUMENTS.

MR. RING for the Executive Committee, also presented the following preamble and resolution which were unanimously adopted:

Whereas, The Chamber of Commerce is frequently asked to certify to commercial documents, particularly certificates of origin of goods; · and

Whereas, There are occasions when such certificates are of the utmost value to merchants relieving them from onerous special duties, such as those imposed at the present time by Turkey upon merchandise suspected of having Italian origin; therefore, be it

Resolved, That the Secretary of the Chamber is hereby authorized to sign and to attach the seal of the Chamber to certificates intended to indicate the origin of goods produced or manufactured in the United States, these certificates to be in such form approved by competent legal counsel as to safeguard the Chamber and to be accompanied by bills of lading or other necessary proofs.

DIPLOMATIC AND CONSULAR SERVICE.

MR. RING, as Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Commerce and the Revenue Laws, presented the following preamble and resolu tions and moved their adoption:

Whereas, The House of Representatives has reduced the annual appropriation for the State Department by $94,000 and by so doing

would abolish the Bureau of Trade Relations, the Divisions of LatinAmerican, and of Far Eastern, New Eastern and European Affairs, destroying the entire organization by which the State Department has been able to extend to American commercial interests that measure of support which every other nation extends to its commercial interests in foreign countries; therefore, be it

Resolved, That the Chamber of Commerce of the State of New York reiterates the declaration it made in its action taken at the March meeting, namely, that the reduction in the annual appropriation for the State Department would be most unwise, and that instead of checking the development of the diplomatic and consular service, as a world agent for the promotion of American commerce, it should be the aim of Congress to raise that service to the highest point of efficiency; and be it further

Resolved, That the Congress of the United States be memoralized to save the now modernized State Department from being crippled by this blow at its facilities for the extension of our foreign trade and the protection of our interests abroad.

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MR. RING also moved the following which was adopted :

Resolved, That copies of the resolutions presented by the Committee on Foreign Commerce and the Revenue Laws, and adopted by this Chamber to-day, be forwarded to the leading commercial organizations throughout the country.

IN MEMORY OF EMIL L. BOAS.

EUGENIUS H. OUTERBRIDGE, Chairman of the Committee on the Harbor and Shipping, presented the following minute which was adopted by a standing vote:

To the Chamber of Commerce:

Since the last meeting of the Chamber we have to record the sad and sudden death of our associate member, MR. EMIL L. BOAS.

MR. BOAS has served at different times on several committees of the Chamber, and at the time of his death was a member of the Committee on the Harbor and Shipping.

Although a man of large affairs and many responsibilities, he was punctilious in the fulfillment of his obligations as a member of this committee, and during the past year, when it has held many and protracted meetings, he has been regular in his attendance and has brought to the consideration of the involved problems which the committee has had under its examination a thorough knowledge of existing conditions, a broad and comprehensive view of port requirements in the interest of our trade and commerce, a penetrating and analytical mind, and a ripe judgment, all of which have made his services of great value to the committee and the Chamber.

His patient, dignified and considerate manner, and his genial temperament made him an associate both delightful and stimulating to meet, and the committee desires to express by this Minute its sincere sorrow at his loss from our midst, and its sympathy with his family, and moves that the Chamber adopt this Minute in his memory and have it spread upon its minutes, and an engrossed copy sent to his family.

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MR. OUTERBRIDGE, on behalf of the same committee, also presented the following preamble and resolutions, and moved their adoption:

Whereas, The loss of the S. S. TITANIC with the accompanying. terrible loss of life has stirred the nations of the world, and especially the primary maritime powers to an acute appreciation of dangers to navigation and possibilities of disaster on a scale heretofore believed to be impossible in the case of the most advanced and modern examples of marine architecture, and under the rules of navigation and on the courses used in recent years, and

Whereas, The experience of this disaster should not be allowed to pass into history without its leading to an exhaustive international study of ways and means to increase the safeguards for life and property at sea, and eliminate, if possible, the chances of catastrophe in the future, and

Whereas, A conference of maritime nations for this purpose has been proposed by the Imperial German Government, and the Government of the United States has expressed to Germany its willingness to participate therein, now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That the Chamber of Commerce of the State of New York heartily endorses the purposes of the proposed conference and respectfully urges the President of the United States to take such diplomatic action as in his judgment may be advisable, to assist the Imperial German Government in bringing about the proposed conference at the earliest possible date, in having its purview cover the broadest possible scope, with the view that its final determinations may be universally adopted and internationally enforced; and be it further

Resolved, That copies of these resolutions be sent to the President of the United States, the Secretary of State, and the German Ambassador at Washington.

EUGENIUS H. OUTERBRIDGE,

CHESTER B. LAWRENCE,

CHARLES SOOYSMITH,

NEW YORK, June 4, 1912.

Of the
Committee on the

Harbor and
Shipping.

REMARKS OF EUGENIUS H. OUTERBRIDGE, ESQ.

MR. OUTERBRIDGE.-In submitting this resolution the committee finds that the only action which has been taken in Congress so far is the passage of a joint resolution asking the President to inquire of foreign nations if they would be favorable to the holding of a Maritime Conference in Washington, and to report the answers received to the next session of Congress.

That procedure would be so slow that after such a report was made to the next session of Congress, if it was determined to authorize the President to invite the different nations to such a conference, another six or seven months would pass by before it could be assembled, and another year would elapse before any international action could be taken on the recommendations of the conference. Now, as the German Emperor has suggested already a conference of this character, the committee feel that this request to the President of the United States to assist in every way to have that conference held as soon as possible should be adopted by the Chamber at this time.

The preamble and resolutions reported by MR. OUTERBRIDGE were unanimously adopted.

THE NATIONAL GUARD.

FRANCIS G. LANDON, for the Committee on the National Guard and Naval Militia presented the following report and moved that it be received:

To the Chamber of Commerce :

The Committee on the National Guard and Naval Militia, appointed by the President of the Chamber under authority of a resolution passed at the meeting held February 1, 1912, is not ready at this time to make a final report, owing to the wide scope of the subject committed to it. It seems best, however, at this meeting, to report the progress that has been made and to acquaint the Chamber with certain general facts that are apparent from the committee's preliminary investigations.

A circular letter was sent out by the committee to each member of the Chamber and to about one hundred large employers not identified with the Chamber asking, among other things, the number of employees between the ages of eighteen and twenty-eight years, and how many of them were members of the National Guard and Naval Militia ; whether the time of service in military organizations was deducted from vacations and whether the employer was opposed to employing enlisted men.

state.

A circular letter was also sent out to the commanding officers of each organization of the National Guard and Naval Militia in this These officers were requested to inform the committee as to whether recruiting was more difficult than formerly and, if so, for what reason, and as to how much time was necessarily required by the organization of its enlisted men, etc.

The number of replies received by the committee encourages it to believe that there is a very active interest in the question of the relation between the organized military forces of the state and employers and the resulting effect upon the patriotic impulses of young men of available age. From a consideration of more than five hundred answers received, it appears that, from the official point of view, recruiting is more difficult than it was formerly. It is hard to arrive at the correct reason for this, by an analysis of the specific answers to questions and the cause can not be ascertained without more full investigation, perhaps including the taking of oral testimony. Generally speaking, however, it would seem that it is largely owing to lack of encouragement on the part of employers that young men do not join the National Guard and Naval Militia. There can be no doubt that the military organizations of the state offer a great variety of attractions (chiefly of a social and athletic character) at a lower cost than any other form of organization. In some regiments there are no annual dues at all and the armories afford comfortable, attractive, well equipped club rooms. Moreover, the time which the enlisted man is required to spend in the state service, through membership in

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