oath of office? Will you please repeat after me, Mr. ECKER, the oath, as I administer it.

Mr. ECKER then subscribed to the following oath:

"I, FREDERICK H. ECKER, having been duly elected to the office of President of the Chamber of Commerce of the State of New York, do solemnly swear that I will truly and faithfully perform the duties thereof to the best of my ability during my continuance in said office, so help me God."

Mr. Bus. Mr. ECKER, the gavel is yours. (Prolonged applause)

Remarks of Frederick H. Ecker on Election as President

PRESIDENT ECKER.--Gentlemen, I was not present when the Chairman of the Nominating Committee presented his report, but, knowing the thoughtfulness and the breadth of comprehension that Mr. KINGSLEY is wont to apply to any situation he deals with, I am confident that an appropriate tribute was paid to the retiring President of the Chamber.

I cannot refrain, because of my personal observation of the fidelity with which he has served this Chamber during the past two years, from putting some emphasis upon this recognition of our high esteem and regard for him. In fact, I feel sure that I am voicing your feeling when I say to him that we regret that it has not been possible to extend his term of office (applause); and that not being possible, at least, to assure him again of our high appreciation of the earnest and capable manner in which he has performed the duties of his office.

Of course, gentlemen, Mr. BUSH now becomes one of a very distinguished company. There are not in this Chamber any who are more zealous in maintaining the traditions of the Chamber, or more earnestly and genuinely interested in its welfare, nor more responsive to calls for duty, than our ex-Presidents. Mr. BUSH is indeed a worthy addition to this distinguished company. Long, long may they thrive, and long may they labor with us, and may their powers never wane.

That your choice should now have fallen on me to be your President moves me very, very much. Of course, I thank you for this great honor, but I confess to you that I have a great

deal of hesitation in undertaking the responsible duties of the office. I can only say, in the language of the oath that has just been administered to me, that I will do my best; but I do take a good deal of courage in the thought that I may rely upon the guidance, the helpfulness, the advice, and the genuine friendship of these men who have been President.

This year you have departed from the established practice, in accordance with the By-Laws adopted at the last meeting, and in addition to electing new officers, you have chosen altogether new chairmen for your committees. It has been very gratifying to me, and I know it must be to you, to see the cheerfulness with which busy men of affairs have accepted these important positions in the Chamber. After all, the very important work of the Chamber is done in committee. It is not only a question of research and analyzing situations and presenting to you reports with recommendations for action, but they must exercise very nice discrimination in the determination of those matters which should properly come before the Chamber for action. So that, on behalf of these committees, and certainly on my own behalf, I ask of you your continued active interest and co-operation. Of course, under our practice, we are quite fully informed in advance of matters that are to be presented, and under our form of organization, each member has an opportunity to be heard and to vote on questions that determine the action of the Chamber. We hope you will continue to take interest in and participate in the discussions, not for the sake of being heard, but for the purpose of giving us the benefit of your advice and counsel on those matters of which you have knowledge.

I said that we entirely changed the personnel of the chairmen of our committees. Of course, those who recommended the revision of the By-Laws, wisely made one outstanding exception, which permits us to retain Mr. BERNHEIMER's services as Chairman of the Committee on Arbitration. You have had a report from him today. It is probably true that there is not any committee whose activities have brought to the Chamber more credit. than this Committee on Arbitration, and the Chairman of that Committee, with painstaking care and with great success, has guided its work. It does seem to me, knowing of the many personal sacrifices this labor has entailed, that the Chamber should accord special recognition of its appreciation of the great value of the service rendered by Mr. BERNHEIMER.

It was a pleasure to me to have the outgoing President make reference to Mr. GWYNNE. This year marks the thirtieth anniversary of his connection with the Chamber, making it a notable year in the annals of the Chamber. Mr. GWYNNE says that he does not wish to speak today. I do not know but that we ought to serve notice on him now that this administration is not going to be governed by him in every respect (laughter), but I do very much welcome him to this more exalted station. I am very happy in the thought that he is going to be at my right hand. I realize that in these many years of service, he has become wise in matters of administration of the affairs of this Chamber, and perhaps he reflects the wisdom of those distinguished men with whom he has had such close working relations all that time. If he would speak, I think there is one matter that he might tell you is dear to his heart. I know that he is impatient that we have not reached the limit of membership in the Chamber. We are limited to two thousand, you know. We are just short of it. He thinks we should have a full membership and a waiting list. I share this ambition with him, but he has never been willing to share with me the knowledge of just how many we are short. I have often asked him, but his answer is always "Just short of two thousand." (Laughter)

Well, we should reach our limit of two thousand. I am inclined to ask you if you will not see to it that we get them. I suppose if each of us would propose one or two candidates, it would much more than make up our full complement of two thousand, and supply a substantial waiting list. I wonder if Mr. GWYNNE would not like to make his bow from this more elevated position, and perhaps say something to us this morning? I will call on Mr. GWYNNE. (Applause)

Remarks of Charles T. Gwynne on Election as Executive Vice-President

Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Chamber, I learned early in the game that I could never be very sure of a new President. Mr. ECKER told me I was not to speak today; and, therefore, I made no preparation to speak.

There is one thing I would like to say, though, about new members. I would not want anyone to get the impression that we have fewer members than ever we had before, because that is not the case. We have more members today than the Chamber has ever had in its one hundred and fifty-six years of existence. (Applause) The fact is that since we raised our limit of mem

bership to 2,000 we have made no particular effort, until now, to reach that limit. In the years that I have been here we always had waiting lists for the other limits; and we all know that is a very satisfactory condition for any organization to be in.

I haven't any more to say, Mr. President, but to thank you all for this warm expression of your approval, and to say I hope I can make good in my new position, and that I can hardly wait for June to start for the otherside-particularly for Paris, as Mr. BUSH mentioned. (Applause)

PRESIDENT ECKER.-Gentlemen, it is gratifying that we had material in our own organization to take Mr. GWYNNE's place. I am not asking Mr. TAMBLYN for a speech, but I am going to ask him if there is any other business to come before the meeting?

SECRETARY TAMBLYN.-There is no further business on the calendar, Mr. President.

PRESIDENT ECKER.-If there be nothing further to be presented by the members of the Chamber, I declare this meeting adjourned.

Regular Meeting, Thursday, June 5, 1924

A regular monthly meeting of the Chamber of Commerce was held in the Hall of the Chamber on Thursday, June 5, 1924, at 12 o'clock noon.

CHARLES T. GWYNNE, Executive Vice-President

JERE D. TAMBLYN, Secretary

and two hundred and one other members of the Chamber.

Guests

The Right Honorable WILLIAM MORRIS HUGHES, P. C., ExPrime Minister of Australia and Mr. MICHAEL MEAGHER of Sidney, Australia, were the guests of the Chamber and occupied seats on the right and left of the President.

Minutes

The minutes of the Annual Meeting of May 1st, were read and approved.

NOMINATIONS FOR MEMBERSHIP

WILLIAM L. DE BOST, Chairman of the Executive Committee, reported the following named candidates for membership and recommended their election: