THE " season " of the Life-boat Saturday Collections throughout the country opened this year under very favourable auspices, and the Committees, greatly encouraged by the excellent certificate recently given to the movement by the Select Committee of the House of Commons, entered upon their self-denying labours with renewed enthusiasm and devotion.

Reports received from all parts show that good progress is being made, and there is every reason to believe that the results obtained will be satisfactory. Such col- lections as have already been gathered in, including that of a portion of the London Life-boat Saturday Fund, show a marked increase in the amounts of money raised, and it does not require the prescience of a prophet to venture the surmise that the hopes of the Central Committee, that they may be able at the close of the year to hand over to the Committee of Manage- ment of the LIFE-BOAT INSTITUTION a sum very considerably in excess of last year's collection, will be fully realized.

Everybody recognises the fact that the cause is a noble one, the object excellent and the need indispensable. It only remains therefore for the workers—more particularly those connected with the Ladies' Auxiliaries—to bring the Fund under the direct notice of the public to secure a generous response to their appeal. It is very gratifying to find that before the first half of the current year had expired, arrangements had been made for holding Life-boat Saturday Demonstrations or for making special collections, in many more cities and towns than had been similarly enlisted during the whole of the preceding year.

This fact alone speaks well for the popularity of the movement, and should serve as an encouragement and an impetus to everybody connected with the work.