This number of The Lifeboat is really the June number. It was almost ready to be printed when, towards the end of June, afire at the works of the Whitefriars Press, Tonbridge, destroyed nearly the whole of the type. The Committee of Management greatly regret the unavoidable delay thus caused. The next number will be published, as usual, in November.] Annual Meeting.

THE Hundred and Second Annual General Meeting of the Governors of the Institution was held at Caxton Hall, Westminster, on Wednesday, the 14th April, at 3 o'clock p.m., the Right Hon.

the Lord Porster of Lepe, G.C.M.G., in the Chair. The speakers were His Excel- lency the Norwegian Minister (Mr. P. B. Vogt), His Grace the Duke of Northum- berland, K.G., C.B.E., M.V.O., Admiral of the Fleet Sir John de Robeck, G.C.B., G.C.M.G., G.C.V.O., Sir Godfrey Baring, Bt. (Chairman of the Committee of Management), Sir William Priestley, J.P., Chairman of the Bradford Branch, and Mrs. Hilton Phihpson, M.P. Among those present were the French, German, Swedish and Yugo-Slavian Consuls- General, the Mayor and Mayoress of Lambeth.; the following Members of the Committee of Management: The Hon. George Colville (Deputy Chair- man), Mr. H. Arthur Baker, Major Sir Maurice Cameron, K.C.M.G., Captain Charles J. P. Cave, Colonel Lord William Cecil, C.V.O., Sir John G. Gumming, K.C.I.E., C.S.I., Mr. Harry Hargood, O.B.E.,J.P.,D.L.,CaptamG.C.Holloway, O.B.E., Brigadier-General Noel M. Lake, C.B., Mr. J. F. Lamb, Engineer-Rear- Admiral Charles Rudd, The Lord South- borough, G.C.B., G.C.M.G., G.C.V.O., K.C.S.I., Commander F. F. Tower (late R.N.V.R.), the Admiral Commanding Reserves (Vice-AdmiralSir Lewis Clinton- Baker, K.C.B., K.C.V.O.), the Hydro- grapher of the Navy (Captain H. P.

Douglas, C.M.G., R.N.); the following Members of the London Women's Committee : Lady Florence Pery (Vice-Chairman), Lady Dorothy D'Oyly Carte, Mrs. Meredith Hardy and Miss Silvester ; The Duchess of North- umberland, Lady Louisa Cecil, Lady Laird Clowes, Lady Meiklejohn, Lady Clinton-Baker, Lady Edith Drummond, Lady William Cecil, Lady de i Robeck, Mr. W. Fortescue Barratt j (Honorary Secretary of the Civil Service I Life-boat Fund), Commander H. S.

Denny, D.S.O., R.N. (Secretary of the Navy League), Captain Colin Nicholson, R.D., R.N.R. (Deputy Secretary, the Mercantile Marine Service Association), Captain Rashleigh, R.N. (Board of Trade), Miss Alice Marshall, Honorary Secretary of the Oxford Branch, Mrs.

Astley Roberts, President of the Ladies' Life-boat Guild, Eastbourne, Mr, George F. Shee, M.A. (Secretary of the Institu- tion), Captain Howard F. J. Rowley, C.B.E., R.N. (Chief Inspector of Life- boats), and Major C. R. Satterthwaite, O.B.E., R.E. (Deputy Secretary).

Lord Forster.

The CHAIRMAN : Since the last Annual Meet- ing the Institution has suffered a very great loss by the death of Her Majesty Queen Alex- andra. Her late Majesty was not only a Royal Patron but a sincere friend who was always deeply interested in the welfare and work of the Institution, and it is both as a friend and as a Queen that we mourn her loss.

We rejoice to know that our President, H.B.H. the Prince of Wales, is on the high road to complete recovery, and we trust that he may be fully restored to his customary activity in the near future. (Hear, hear.) The Royal Family have always taken a deep interest in the Royal National Life-boat Institution, and H.R.H. Prince Henry has very kindly promised to visit some of the Depots in Greater London on Life-boat Day, 4th May (applause), a graceful act which has been performed by the Prince of Wales, the Duke of York, and Princess Louise on previous occasions. I am sure His Royal Highness will have a very warm welcome on that occasion.

It gives me very great pleasure to come here to-day and to present the Annual Report, because the occasion gives one an opportunity of saying a few words about the Institution and the great work that it does.

When an organization has been in existence for over a hundred years we are sometimes apt to take it for granted, without asking why it exists, what exactly are its functions, or how it carries on its work. I think no better example of this tendency could be found than the Royal National Life-boat Institution. For over a hundred years (and I may remind you that this is the one hundred and second Annual Meeting) it has provided, maintained, and administered the Life-boat Service of the British Isles. The pages of its history are full I of the splendid records of courage, devotion, and self-sacrifice of British Life*boatmen, and, as we are reminded to-day, of their wives and daughters. (Applause.) We may say that the Life-boatman has become almost a proverbial type of all that is best in our maritime popula- tion, so full of courage, endurance, and humanity. These are qualities we always take for granted in the men who man the Institution's boats. And we are fully justified in so doing.

But these very facts make it well worth while for us, from time to time, to look at the whole thing afresh. The Annual Report which I am presenting to you to-day enables us to do so.

What do we find ? We find an organization, national in the broadest sense of the word, which provides and administers a fleet of 217 Life-boats, placed at every principal danger- point on the coasts of the United Kingdom.

Fifty-six of these Boats are Motor Life-boats, the rest being Boats of varied types, developed according to the requirements of the coast and in the light of the experience of a hundred years of Life-boat work. These Boats are built to the designs of the Institution, the material and workmanship, of course, being of the very highest that Britain can supply, that is to say, the best in the world. In addition to the Boats, there are ferro-concrete Slipways, built to defy the utmost violence of the waves, so that the Boats can be launched at any state of tide and in any weather without danger to themselves or to the Crews. In many places the horses which used to be such a valuable and pic- turesque aid to the Life-boat Service have been replaced by Caterpillar Tractors. Powerful electric winches are constantly needed to draw up the heavy boats on their return to the Slip- ways. These Boathouses and Slipways must also be of the very highest quality. To supply the requirements of the coast there is a Store- yard at Poplar, which is a miniature dockyard, with a reserve fleet of some twenty-two Life- boats ready at any moment to be despatched to the coast, and a complete store of every item of equipment, masts and sails, life-belts, engines' spare parts, etc., etc. So that you see the Institution is ready to make good at once any loss which may suddenly overtake it.

The Life-boat fleets are manned by some 4,000 men, volunteers from the fishing population of our shores. The Coxswains, Second Cox- swains, Bowmen, and Signalmen receive Re- taining Fees as Officers of the Boat, and every Motor Boat has to be provided with a full-time Motor Mechanic and a part-time Assistant Motor Mechanic. The Institution rewards the crews for their services, remunerates them for their exercises, compensates them for injury sustained in the Service, and pensions the widows and orphans of those who may lose their lives in it. The Institution's fleet guards a coast line of some 5,000 miles and guards it with extraordinary efficiency and success.

A service of that kind cannot be carried on unless it has very substantial national support.

It cannot be done without great cost, and I think it is a most remarkable fact that the Life- boat Institution is able to carry out this service at a cost of something less than £250,000 a year, which includes all capital expenditure, such as ;he construction of Slipways, new Motor Life- teats, etc., etc. And, speaking as someone quite fresh to the subject, I consider that a most extraordinary achievement, and one of which the Institution, may well be proud. (Applause.) As I have said before, the Institution has done its work so well, its record of lives saved —nearly 60,500—is so remarkable, that people have come to take it for granted, and even among those who come to know the facts there is an extraordinary misconception of the posi- tion. Some people imagine that the Life-boat Service is " run " by the Government. Others imagine that it is run by the Navy, and some people have been found to believe that it is provided and administered by that admirable body the Trinity House, who have, of course, nothing to do with it, although they provide that most important preventative Life-saving Service of the Lighthouses and Light Vessels round our coasts. The fact is, of course, that the Institution is a voluntary Society, adminis- tered by a voluntary Committee, with a, small administrative and technical staff, and assisted by hundreds of local Committees, Honorary Secretaries, Honorary Treasurers, and Ladies' Life-boat Guilds in the 888 Branches through- out the United Kingdom. It does not ask for, and does not receive, any subsidy whatever from the State. It is now, as it has been for a hundred years, the outcome of the spirit of our maritime people, finding expression in its most active, courageous, and humane aspect.

(Applause.) These are remarkable facts. But the -work of the Institution, though primarily national, is more than national in its scope and influence.

I am glad to see here to-day His Excellency the Norwegian Minister, who will, no doubt, tell you something of the influence which the Institution has exercised in the international sphere. For me, who have recently retired from the position of Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia, it is a matter of special interest to note how often, and with how much value and efficiency, the Institution has assisted our Overseas Dominions in the development, organization, and the technical aspects of their Life-boat Services.

I n the last three or four years, to go back no farther, advice and every possible help have been given to Newfoundland, to Canada, South Africa, and to the Governments of South Aus- tralia and Victoria. In connexion with the I last two I can bear personal tribute to the very great value of the service which this Institution has rendered to our kinsmen in the Land of ! the Southern Cross. (Applause.) We who have had the honour of being asso- i ciated with the Overseas Dominions must feel j particular pride in the knowledge that this great Institution has done so much not only for the Life-boat Service of this country, and for the seafarers who pass these shores, but for those who visit the shores of our far-flung j Dominions, while we also rejoice in knowing that the initiative and example of the Institu- tion has led to the establishment of Life-boat Services in most countries which have a sea coast, and that the International Life-boat Conference, which was called by the Institu- tion in 19 4, has already resulted in a further stimulation and development of the Life-boat Service in every part of the world. These are legitimate causes for rej oicing and thanksgiving.

But, retaining for the moment the attitude of one who has come to the work of the Insti- tution with a fresh mind, I cannot help being struck by the fact that, with this great history behind it, with these splendid traditions, and with an actual standard of performance which is, perhaps, unique in the sphere of National Services managed and administered by a volun- tary private Society: with all this, the Institu- tion does not receive the full and generous measure of support which it deserves, and which it needs, in order to carry on its work free from anxiety. There are many people who contribute. There are many more who do not. I am not criticizing in any way those who support this Institution; I am only suggesting a word of criticism to those who do not.

t is a little difficult that I should have to make a criticism of those who do not in the presence of those who do, but I am sure you will understand that I am hoping to address a wider public than that which is gathered here to-day. I have pointed out that the whole of the work of the Institution, including capital expenditure, is carried out at a cost of less than £250,000 a year—a very small fraction of the cost of a modern battleship. Yet I see that, in order to meet last year's expenditure, nearly £30,000 had to be taken from legacies and other special Trust Funds in order to cover the deficit on the year's income. In other words, the public, including all that great Mer- cantile Community whose strength and pros- perity depend so largely upon our oversea trade and upon the shipping which carries it, cannot be said fully to have recognized the claims of this Institution to an adequate support. (Hear, hear.) I cannot help thinking that this state of things is due solely to ignorance of what the Institution is, what it has done for this nation and the seafarers of the world for a hundred years past, and what its position is to-day.

For our people are so generous in response to all truly great causes that it is simply incredible j that this Cause, which, of all others, appeals I not only to the pride but to the interests of every British man and woman, and to the imagination of all those who are alive to an activity so characteristic of our race, should fail to give generously if they are made fully aware of the position.

I do not think the Institution is to blame for the ignorance about its work which still prevails to a considerable extent. I think that its organizers and administrators do their utmost to bring the work of the Institution and its claims constantly before the public. But, as I have pointed out, the very excellence of the Life-boat Service causes it largely to be taken for granted, and the Institution cannot compete in the public interest with those other admirable organizations whose work is more general—more general because the subjects of it are constantly under the eye of the public.

Those societies, for instance, which deal with the welfare of children or the protection of animals, instantly appeal to all humane people, because, fortunately, we see children and animals every day of our lives. But the work of the Life-boatmen is carried out on wild and desolate stretches of the coast, often in the dark- ness of a winter's night, when most of us are safely tucked away in bed, and the only echo of some heroic service often consists of a few lines in the daily paper recording the fact that the crew of a steam trawler or a tramp steamer were rescued just before their ship sank.

I wonder how many of you have seen a Life- boat s ave life at sea. I had the good fortune to see it twice in two days. Not that I stood in any need of assistance myself, for I was safely on shore. But on the East Coast of Scotland some years ago we had a gale of exceptional violence, and in the afternoon of one day I saw the Life- boat go out, in circumstances of great difficulty, and bring ashore the crew of a small coastal sailing boat. There was only three men, but they hadn't been taken off ten minutes before their boat drove ashore and was smashed to splinters, and I haven't the slightest doubt whatever that those lives would have been lost but for the action of the Life-boat. The day following I saw a ship—and it happened, by a strange coincidence, to be a Norwegian ship—drift ashore on some of the most cruel rocks that surround our coast, and we and the people in the neighbourhood were able to stand in safety and comfort, under the lee of a stout wall, and watch the whole operation.

I cannot imagine anything more thrilling any- where in the world than to see, first of all, a ship that was a picture hastening to her doom ; to see and assist as far as one could in the pre- parations that were made to launch the Life- boat—the tide being low made this a work of great difficulty—and then to see the Life-boat, having the rescued crew on board, herself in the greatest peril from the violence of the sea breaking on the rocks. I cannot describe to you the feeling of admiration for the bravery of the Crew and relief for the preservation of their lives when the Coxswain, with great skill, got clear of the danger and brought his Boat, his Crew and the rescued safely ashore. If the general public could only see the Life-boat-men at work; if their deeds of heroism could be filmed, then, I think, the Life-boat Institu- tion would not have to make so strong an appeal for public support. (Applause.) While speaking in commendation of the appeal for funds, I want to make a very earnest appeal to all the women here to-day to do their utmost to assist the Institution on Tuesday, the 4th May, when Life-boat Day is held throughout Greater London. There are, I believe, a considerable number of members of the Ladies' Life-boat Guild present here to-day, and I hope that as a result of our Meeting this number may be increased.

But my appeal is not only to them but to all the women of London, and especially the younger generation, to come forward gene- rously with a little personal service for a few hours on that day. I know that the work of collecting in the streets for any charitable society, however worthy, is disagreeable, even when it is carried out for a great charitable Society like this. But I do suggest to the younger women, to whom the life of to-day offers so much pleasure, so much sport, and so much opportunity of spending their leisure in a variety of pleasant ways, that they might, and indeed they should, for a few hours on Life-boat Day make it a matter of pride and honour to emulate the spirit of self-sacrifice which has animated the Life-boat Crews and their women folk in the storm and stress of the Life-boat Service for a hundred years past.

(Applause.) I now have the honour to present the Report.

If any one has any observations to make on matters arising out of it, now would be the appropriate opportunity.

(The Secretary then read the list of those nomi- nated as President, Vice-Presidents, Treasurer, and other Members of the Committee of Manage- ment, and as Auditors for the ensuing year.) President.

H.R.H. The Prince of Wales, K.G.

V'ice-Presidents.

The Archbishop of Canterbury.

The Duke of Leeds.

The Duke of Athol.

The Duke of Montrose.

The Duke of Portland.

The Duke of Northumberland.

The Marquis of Ailsa.

The Marquis of Aberdeen and Temair.

The Earl of Derby.

The Earl of Albemarle.

The Earl of Rosebery.

The Earl Waldegrave.

The Earl of Lonsdale.

Admiral of the Meet The Earl Jellicoe of Scapa.

The Viscount Burnham.

The Lord Strathclyde.

Commodore Sir Richard Henry Williams-Bul- keley, Bt., R.N.R.

Sir Godfrey Baring, Bt.

Sir William Priestley.

Sir William Milligan.

Mr. Harry Hargood.

Mr. Noel E. Peck.

Treasurer.

The Earl of Harrowby.

Other Members of the Committee of Manage- ment :— Mr. Charles G. Ammon, M.P.

Mr. H. Arthur Baker.

Rear-Admiral T. P. H. Beamish, M.P.

Mr. Frederick Cavendish Bentinck.

The Lord Brownlow.

Major Sir Maurice Cameron.

Captain Charles J. P. Cave.

Colonel Lord William Cecil.

Mr. Kenneth M. Clark.

Mr. Harold D. Clayton.

The Hon. George Colville.

Mr. J. J. Crosfield.

Sir John G. Gumming.

Captain The Viscount Curzon, R.N.V.R., M.P.

Commander Herbert G. Evans, R.N.R.

Commander Guy Fanshawe, R.N., M.P.

Mr. Henry R. Fargus.

Mr. J. B. Fortescue.

Mr. T. B. Gabriel.

Mr. B. A. Glanvill.

Vice-Admiral Sir Lionel Halsey.

The Earl of Hardwicke.

The Hon. Esmond C. Harmsworth, M.P.

Captain G. C. Holloway, R.N.R.

Admiral Sir Thos. H. M. Jerram.

Sir Woodburn Kirby.

Brigadier-General Noel M. Lake.

Mr. J. F. Lamb.

Mr. Herbert F. Lancashire.

The Rt. Hon. Ian Macpherson, M.P.

; Colonel Sir A. Henry McMahon.

i Commander Sir Harry Mainwaring, Bt., R.N.V.R.

General Sir Charles Monro, Bt.

1 Mr. Gervaise S. C. Rentoul, M.P.

j The Rt. Hon. F. O. Roberts, M.P.

Engineer-Rear-Admiral Charles Rudd.

The Rt. Hon. Walter Runciman, M.P.

: Major-General The Rt. Hon. John E. B. Seely.

• The Lord Southborough.

, Commander F. F. Tower, late R.N.V.R.

i Lord Tredegar.

And Ex-yfficio.

The Lord Mayor of London.

; The Admiral Commanding Reserves.

: The Deputy Master of the Trinity House.

The Hydrographer of the Navy.

The Chairman of Lloyd's.

The CHAIRMAN : I have the pleasure to declare that these gentlemen have been duly elected in accordance with the Bye-laws of the Institution. I now call upon the Secretary to read the account of the services for which Medals and other Awards have been given.

The SECRETARY : The three outstanding services of 1925 were all performed by Life- boats of the East Coast—by the Motor Life- boat at Spurn Point, on the Humber, in York- shire, the Pulling and Sailing Life-boat at Donna Nook, in Lincolnshire, and the Motor Life-boat at Gorleston, in Suffolk.

Humber and Donna Nook.

These two services took place on the same day, 25th November, 1925, and were to thesame vessel, the s.s. Whinstone, of Preston, on her way from Hull to Berwick. Just before 8 o'clock that morning the Donna Nook Life- boat went out to her help in conditions which could hardly have been worse. A whole gale was blowing from the north. A tremendous sea was running, and there were heavy squalls of snow. She pulled within hail of the vessel, but found that, though she wanted a tug, she was not at the moment in need of the Life- boat's help. The Life-boat therefore returned to her Station, but the Honorary Secretary kept the Whinstone under observation, as he was confident that sooner or later she would need help, and he advised the Motor Life-boat at Spurn Head, on the other side of the mouth of the Humber, to stand by. His own Crew were ready to put out again, but were so exhausted by their struggle that he would not let them go, and the Humber Life-boat was launched at 9.30. She found the Whinstone at anchor, after having run aground on the sands, and the seas were breaking over her. By means of the breeches buoy the six men of her crew were, with great difficulty, hauled into the Life-boat.

The Life-boat herself was buried in the break- ing seas nearly the whole time, and the Cox- swain reported that it was the worst weather he had known during twenty-three years in the Life-boat Service.

In recognition of the skill and courage shown by both Crews in weather of such exceptional severity the Institution has awarded to Cox- swain Robert Cross, of the Humber Motor Life-boat, a bar to his Silver Medal, and to Coxswain John T. Dobson, of Donna Nook, the Bronze Medal. It has also awarded the Thanks of the Institution inscribed on Vellum to the Second Coxswain and Bowman of Donna Nook, and the Coxswains and Crews of both Life- boats have received extra monetary awards.

(Applause.) The Silver Medal which Coxswain Cross already holds was awarded to him in Decem- ber, 1915, for his personal gallantry in jumping overboard from the Life-boat in the breaking water on a sand-bank in order to get a line to a stranded ship. He also holds the Bronze Medal for a gallant attempt to rescue the crew of an unknown ship in October, 1922, all the mem- bers of the Crew on that occasion receiving the Thanks of the Institution inscribed on Vellum.

The courage and skill shown by the Donna Nook Coxswain and Crew are the more remark- able since they are most of them farm labourers, and only go to sea on service in the Life-boat and for quarterly exercises.

Gorleston.

The service of the Gorleston Motor Life-boat took place a month later, on the night of 22nd December, 1925. A full gale was blowing from the N.E., with a very heavy sea. The ketch Henrietta, of Goole, was lying in the Yarmouth Roads with two anchors down, but the cables parted, and she was carried towards the shore.

When the Life-boat reached her she was already on the edge of the breakers, swept by heavy seas, and in great danger. The first attempt at rescue failed, the Life-boat getting under the Henrietta's lee, but being swept away imme- diately by the seas. At the second attempt she got near enough for the four men of the crew to jump aboard her. The Henrietta later went ashore and became a total wreck. In recogni- tion of the promptness and gallantry with which this service was carried out, and the I great risk incurred, the Committee have awarded the Bronze Medal to Coxswain Wil- liam G. Fleming, and extra monetary awards to him and the Crew. Coxswain Fleming ! already holds the Gold Medal, awarded to him for the gallant service to the Hopelyn in 1922, and in 1924 he and the other Gold Medallists I of the Institution were personally decorated i by the King with the Medal of the Order of the British Empire. (Applause.) ; (The Chairman then presented the Medals to Coxswain Cross of the Humber, Coxswain Dobson of Donna Nook, and Coxswain Fleming of Gorleston amid applause.) Bonlmer, Northumberland.

In addition to these awards to Coxswains ! and Crews, the Committee have also made a [- special award, in the form of the Thanks of the ! Institution inscribed on Vellum, to the women launchers of Boulmer, for their courage and endurance in the early morning of 20th Decem- ' her, when the Boulmer and Alnmouth Life- ; boats were both called out to the s.s. Amble, of Newcastle-on-Tyne, which had been carried on to the rocks. A blizzard was blowing, one of the severest for many years, with rain, snow and hail. The Alnmouth Life-boat was i launched with great difficulty, over very ' treacherous ground, with a heavy sea and i submerged rocks, and but for the courage and ! discipline of the Crew; and the skilful direction I of the Honorary Secretary, the attempt might have ended in disaster. Once launched, the Alnmouth Life-boat made repeated attempts to reach the wreck. Each time she was swept away by the heavy seas, but the struggle went on until, with the falling tide, it was clear that the crew would be able to get ashore them- selves, which they did with the help of the ; Board of Trade Life-Saving Apparatus. Mean- while the Bonlmer Life-boat, with the help of sixty-one launchers, among them thirty-five women, had been dragged a mile and a quarter in the face of the blizzard, which was so violent that the horse, with the cart containing stores and lowering gear, refused to go on, and a motor had to be obtained. The Boat was not launched, but the launchers stood by in readi- ness until it was reported that the Alnmouth ; Boat had safely returned. They were on duty from a quarter to three in the morning until nine o'clock. (Cheers.) The village of Boulmer consists of less than fifty houses and has a population of about 150 people. On this night this little place manned both the Alnmouth and Boulmer Life-boats, provided the launching party of sixty-one for the Boulmer Boat, and manned the Life- Saving Apparatus with a crew of twenty-seven.

Thus four-fifths of the people of Boulmer were engaged that night in efforts to rescue the Amble's crew. (Cheers.) The Institution has specially thanked the Honorary Secretary, Mr. Hugh Stephenson,who was on duty from 2.30 in the morning i until the Life-boats had been housed again and ] were ready for service, which was not until the j afternoon, and who, by his example and cool- i ness in directing the operations, made possible a j launch in circumstances of exceptional peril.

Miss Stephenson, the daughter of the Boul- mer Coxswain, and Mrs. Stanton, the wife of the Second Coxswain, have been chosen to receive ; the Vellum of Thanks awarded to the thirty- j five Boulmer women, on behalf of themselves j and their fellow-launchers. (Loud cheers.) (The Chairman then presented the Vellum.) Awards to Honorary Workers.

The SECRETARY : The Gold Pendant or i Gold Brooch is presented only to those who, i as honorary workers, have given the Life-boat Cause valuable and distinguished service. Last year eleven pendants and brooches were ; awarded, and three of the recipients are pre- i sent at this meeting to receive them. I will i read out first the names of those who are not '• present. The awards were made for the fol- lowing services:— To LADY BARING, in recognition of her valu- able work in the organization of the London Life-boat Bazaar in 1925.

To Miss SILVESTER, in recognition of her I valuable services as Honorary Secretary of the ! St. Albans Branch, and also in connexion with [ the London Life-boat Bazaar in 1925.

To MAJOR-GENERAL SIR WILLIAM FRY, K.C.V.O., C.B., Lieutenant-Governor of the Isle of Man, in recognition of his valuable co-operation. j To LADY FRY, in recognition of her valuable ! co-operation in the Isle of Man.

To MR. L. T. WFLKINS, of Southampton, in recognition of his valuable help in organizing collections during the past nine years on the steamers of the Southampton, Isle of Wight and South of England Royal Mail Steam Packet Company.

To MR. A. E. BARTLETT, in recognition of his j valuable work in organizing a Theatrical Per- I formance in aid of the Institution at Bath.

To MRS. WILLIAM BROWN, wife of the Cox- ] swain at Cresswell, Northumberland, in recogni- j tion of her forty years' service as a launcher i and of her help as an honorary worker in col-1 lecting money. i To those who are present this afternoon, awards were made for the following services :— i To MRS. W. B. WILLIAMS, Vice-President of ! the Ladies' Life-boat Guild, Cardiff and Pen- • arth Branch, in recognition of her valuable co-operation for many years.

To MR. MARK HOOKHAM, in recognition of; his valuable co-operation at Eastbourne during the past forty years.

To MR. GEORGE COCKSHOTT, Honorary Secre- tary of the Southport Branch, in recognition of j his long services in connexion with the Life-boat! Station at Southport,which hasnow been closed, i A Gold Pendant was also awarded to the LATE MR. F. 0. BROWN, of Bedford Park, ! London, in recognition of the fact that for : many years he raised each year the record sum obtained by means of a collecting box. His own record was £62 in 1924, the Centenary Year of the Institution, and in twenty-five years he collected over £400.

The day after the award was made the Insti- tution learnt that Mr. Brown had died a few days before, but Mrs. Brown is here to receive this mark of the Institution's gratitude.

(The Chairman then presented the awards to Mrs. Wittiims, Mr. Hookham, Mr. Cozkshott and Mrs. Brovtn.) The Norwegian Minister.

His EXCELLENCY THE NORWEGIAN MINISTER (Mr. P. B. Vogt): I rise to move the following resolution :— " That this Meeting, fully recognizing the j important services of the ROYAL NATIONAL j LIFE-BOAT INSTITUTION in its national work • of Life-saving, desires to record its hearty j appreciation of the gallantry of the Cox- swains and Crews of the Institution's Life- boats, and gratefully to acknowledge the valuable help rendered to the Cause by the Local Committees, Honorary Secretaries, and Honorary Treasurers." It is a privilege to move such a resolution, and I feel it particularly as the representative of an old seafaring country which has been associated with the high seas from times immemorial, far back beyond known history when the Norse- men first came to this country. Some of them, I regret to say, would scarcely find the unani- mous approval of, let me say, the League of Nations Council to-day! (Laughter.) Anyhow, you may rest assured that in my country, as in every seafaring country in the world, there is a deep sense of gratitude to this Institution. And if you will allow me to commit a breach of what I think is called the Trade Marks Act, I should like to call this Institution for a moment not the National Life-boat Institution but the International Life-boat Institution. There i are living on the shores of many lands wives ; and children who, deep in their hearts, have a profound sense of gratitude to this Institution because their fathers and husbands are still j alive. We also owe you our gratitude for the i example you have given to a good many lands, j who are taking a leaf out of the English book and '• creating similar Institutions on your pattern, j (Applause.) I had the good luck thirty-five years ago to be present when we founded a similar Institution in Norway. We had to work on somewhat different lines on account of the natural structure of our coasts. Our National Institution helps sea-going boats in bad weather and our annual saving is 3,000 lives. But you must remember that a very great part of the Norwegian population is living daily on the sea. Five hundred people are drowned every year in Norway.

You have also given us a good example in the way that you build your Institution entirely on voluntary subscriptions, which, to my mind, is the heart of the work. (Hear, hear.) When we read of the heroic deeds per- formed by the Coxswains and Crews, I for one am sometimes tempted to think that they have made the motto of their lives an old Bulgarian saying : " Try to find out what you cannot do fit and ready, your nerves steady, your eyes and then go and do it." Sailors of all nations • keen, and know what it is to face a south-west feel akin to you. After all, sailors are all tarred with the same brush. I understand that on an average one-third of the lives saved each year are foreigners, and even if we admit the truth, which you will not expect me to admit, of what j nervous in the last twenty years was not while was said, I think, by Samuel Johnson, that j manning the Life-boat but when they came up foreigners are mostly fools (laughter), their on this platform. (Laughter.) Looking to the future I think there is this to be thought of. As each year goes the field for lives are certainly worth being saved.

I will finish where I began, by expressing pro- found gratitude to you, Mr. Chairman, and, j recruiting the Life-boat Crews gets less, and it through you, to the whole Institution—grati- j cannot be helped. The men in the past have tude for all your magnificent work and for the ! come largely from our local fishermen, and fine example you have given. In saying this j these fishermen, owing, we'll say, to the changes I am fully aware that I say a very obvious in steam trawlers and drifters, go farther afield thing, and you will know that it is sometimes j and are less at home. The Life-boatmen of dangerous to say things which are self-evident.! the future may not be the same material. They You may know the story of the captain who | may not have been brought up to have the had to write in the log-book, and he put down,! sense of the sea like, perhaps, those of the " The mate was drunk." The mate didn't like present day, who went to sea with their fathers that and he protested violently. The Captain in a little boat and have the sea in their said, " Weren't you drunk ? " " Well, just a i blood. But, wherever they came from, we little tipsy, but nothing to put in the log-book," ! may remember that, at sea as elsewhere, replied the mate. " If you were drunk it has practice makes perfect. I will give you an to be in the log-book," was the Captain's instance of that from the war. Up in the retort. Next day the mate wrote the log-book North Atlantic, between Iceland and Shet- and he finished up by putting down, " The land, we had a Cruiser Squadron, and from Captain was sober." Then it was the Captain's j what I am told—I was not there myself—they turn to be angry. The mate very seriously j had to lower boats for boarding officers to go said, "Weren't you sober?" "Yes," an-; on board and inspect foreign ships coming over, swered the Captain. " Well, if you were sober ! It was very difficult to begin with owing to the it has to be in the log-book." (Laughter.) 11 extraordinarily bad weather which exists up hope that is the kind of feeling you have there in the winter time, but, by constant towards me in saying these self-evident things practice, towards the end of the war they in favour of your Institution in moving this resolution. (Applause.) Admiral of the Fleet Sir John de Robeck.

Admiral of the Fleet Sir JOHN DE ROBEOK, thought nothing of lowering the boats and boarding and bringing the officers back from ships, and they were big ocean liners. The men who were doing this work were almost entirely Royal Naval Reserves, the same men Bt., G.C.B., G.C.M.G., G.C.V.O.: I feel it a j wno man the Life-boats. Well the time must great honour to come here as an old sailor and i come when the present-day crews pass, and it a representative of the Navy to bear testi- is your duty to train men so that we may mony to the Life-boat Institution and to the always have numerous volunteers who have Life-boat Crews of this country. Here we have had the same opportunities of training for the a Society that has existed a little over a hundred duties of Life-boatmen.

years, which has a history full of brave deeds i What could be finer thfm the gcene when gallant work and great traditions. One would j the old Coxswain gives over the ohMge of his have thought that in these days with better 5 Life.boat to a younger man, after many years of powered ships and with new aids to naviga-1 splendid service, To him humility and modesty tion, the Life-boat would hardly be necessary.j a£e everytning. If you went to his village or But we have only to pick up the paper j 8maii fe you wouldn't find him in gold lace or in the morning in winter time, when there is j in cocked hat But when wanf him he ig a south-westerly gale blowing, and we see:read to lead his men Veil, Ladies and that the Life-boats have been out doing fine | Gen&,menr try and £eep up the standard.

wri j Keep up the traditions so that when the old work.

Coxswain gives over there is a man worthy to take his place. Wish him well and all hap- piness ? And we may truly say— " Yea, let all good things await Him who cares not to be great, But as he saves or serves the State." (Applause).

(The Resolution was put to the Meeting and carried unanimously.) The DEPUTY SECRETARY then read a state- ment on the results obtained by the Branches which collected the largest sums per head of the population during 1925. This statement is published on another page.

We have heard the most interesting state- ments made here to-day by the distinguished representative of the people of Norway. And if I may add something to them, I would say, first of all, as a Naval Officer, that I feel that the Life-boat Institution and my Service are sister Services. But there is one great difference.

The Life-boatman's duty is to save life, whereas, unfortunately, that of my Service is, when ordered, to do our best to destroy it. But there is one thing we both have to be, and that is always ready. A man never knows, as a member of the Life-boat Crew, what hour or what day he will be called out to man the Life-boat. And to be an efficient member of the Crew you must be Sir Godfrey Baring.

Sir GODFREY BAKING, Bt.: The resolution which I have the honour to move is couched in the following terms :— " That this Meeting desires to record its sense of the deep obligation of the Institu tion to the Ladies' Life-boat Guild and its many hundreds of voluntary workers for the Life-boat Cause, and its conviction of the increasing importance of the part which the Guild is destined to play in educating public opinion with regard to the value of the Lifeboat Service, and in raising funds therefor." This resolution is a novelty in the agenda of the Annual Meeting of the Life-boat Institution.

But the Committee of Management considered that it was time that a resolution was moved—and I am sure it wiE be enthusiastically adopted—expressing the deep sense of obligation which the Committee feel to the ladies who form the Ladies' Lifeboat Guild, for their really wonderful service to the Life-boat Cause. The Guild was formed five years ago. The Committee rather hesitated before they formed it because they thought we had quite enough Guilds and Leagues in this country, and some, I think we could well dispense with. But we thought that it was time the ladies who are kind enough to work so well were asked to organize themselves, and I am glad to think that the Guild has been enormously successful, have thousands of members all over We the country, and fresh Branches of the Guild are being continually formed. I am quite certain that in the future, as in the past, the ladies' work on behalf of the Guild will be of the greatest and most vital value to the welfare of the Institution. (Applause.) just say what the ladies can do to May I help. They know it very well, but let me repeat it. They can help us enormously, first of all, by getting up Flag Days, and, secondly, by arranging all the details necessary to make the Flag Day successful. I cannot understand those ladies and gentlemen who are mistaken i'Liyjo it vnco ati i t: ri»ncuidi n n j cfcio ijujtoLaA ii enough to object to Flag Days. I think it was the Life-boat Institution which first inaugu- rated that splendid system which, I am s£e, finanrejoices yovu- hearts almost every week in London. (Laughter and applause.) I personally am a keen and earnest supporter of Flag Days.

No Flag Day takes place without my purchasing badgt. You see I am wearing one now. If you look round at my colleagues on the platform there is not a single member who has purchased a badge to-day ! (Laughter.) ° ' ° ' I am quite sure that these Days make an appeal to people to whom otherwise you could not appeal. Let me give my experi- ence in the city of Leicester two years ago.

was a day in April, and it w:s blowing very hard indeed and raining, and there were not very many people about the streets. I stationed myself outside one of the large works just before the people came out for the mid-day break. We had two or three sellers. A hundred workmen came out, and eighty-three of these !men bought a flag. (Applause.) Can it be pretended that there would be any other means of reaching those men who bought flags ? I quite agree that Flag Days can be overdone.

You can have too much of a good thing.

But I should like to put in an earnest plea with the authorities that, whoever else is not allowed a Day, the Royal National Life-boat Institution should always be on the list. I think we have every right to call ourselves a national and, as we have been told to-day, an international organization, and we have a right to preferential treatment in this way.

(Hear, hear.) Ladies can also help us by organizing meetings of every kind and by getting up Whist i- _- -• i_ -nti— . of Drives, Concerts, Fetes entertainments.

I want to allude to something which the Chairman said in his speech, but before doing so may I say, on behalf of my colleagues on the Committee and myself how much we welcome our Chairman's presence to-day.

Many long years ago I was a boy at Eton, during our Chairman's last half at that school, when he was a member of the Eleven, and I regarded him then with indescribable feelings of awe and admiration. Some time after that I had the honour of being in the House of Commons, sitting opposite to him, and with the long passage of time my admiration for our Chairman's character, ability, and conspicuous public service has only grown every year, and we are delighted and honoured to think he is presiding over us to-day. (Applause.) I come now to what the Chairman said, and what also, in another connexion, the Prime Minister said, a few days ago. We are apt in this Countl7 to take everything for granted.

We press a button and we expect the natural result to take place, and we do not know how it is brought about. For instance, people know when a gun is fired out goes the Life-boat, but they little realize how great is the expense in keeping up the Service, how many details have be thought out and how many Crews have to p? v* We °We an 1DTenSe d*bt °f g™titude, to the women who work for us finanrejoices cially- As you have seen, we owe an even grater debt of gratitude to the women a 1 ™und the coast, who helP,the ™*-k»* work by tbe'r example, inspiration, and encourageament', bu* that Part °,f. the ,work, will be dealt w,lth by * I T" n 7 rePr *?nts *£? Berwick-on-Tweed Division in seconding this ,R,e, fi i L TfS T WOI S round the coast to help the Life-boatmen to do their work, and, after all, let us never forget that the whole of our Institution depends on our Life-boatmen. Without the gallantry and devotion and self-sacrifice of these men, all our Committees, Sub-Committees and Guilds would be a hollow mockery. For over a hundred years these men have never failed, and, please God, they never will fail. They only ask to be allowed to do their duty, and not once or twice in the history of our Island home the path of duty has been the way to glory. (Applause.)Mrs. Hilton Philipson.

Mrs. HILTON PHILIPSON, M.P.: It is a great honour to me to second this Resolution be- cause it is one of gratitude to the hundreds of women workers throughout the country who give their time and energy in helping this Institution to carry on its great and noble work. We have heard to-day of what women are ready to do and endure for the Life-boat Service. I am specially proud to-day, as you can understand, for the women of Boulmer come from one of the fishing villages in the constituency which I have the honour to represent. In that constituency the first Life- j boat was established, and along that his- torical coast some wonderful and splendid rescues have been carried out. And there,' above all, the men and the women of the fishing villages have always been conspicuous for their courage, bravery, and devotion to Life-boat work. It seems to me to need the highest courage to do what the women of Boulmer did on that terrible December night. (Applause.) It needs high courage to face and fight a terrible storm, to labour for long hours until you are exhausted. But it needs still higher courage to do this in order to launch your husbands, your fathers and your sons on a perilous journey, perhaps never to return.

(Applause.) These women to-day are still upholding the great tradition of another wonderful Northum- brian whose name is famous throughout the world, Grace Darling. I believe this is the second occasion on which the women have been thanked in this way for their bravery and devotion in Life-boat work, and on that other occasion it was the women of Holy Island— another place in my constituency. You can well understand my pride in representing a constituency where such courage is typical of the people. (Applause.) But there are others, I know, who work for the Life-boat service. They work in a different way by helping to collect its funds.

Without these hundreds of women workers throughout the country the Institution could never hope to continue as a voluntary service.

That work seems to me also to require courage and endurance. Think what it means in these very difficult times to waylay the workmen as they go to and fro, and ask them to give to the funds ; or to face the members of the Stock Exchange, even though we know they are always generous, and demand more money; or even, as I am told is the case to waylay Members of Parliament. (Laughter.) We have shown to-day our gratitude and esteem for the women of the coast, but we owe an equal gratitude to all women who work for the Cause. Those who collect as well as those who launch the Boats are helping to save lives.

I am told, and I am very proud to hear it, that no women give more generous help on Life-boat Days than those of the profession to which I once belonged. I beg these members to help this year to make our Life-boat Day on 4th May a record. I can promise the Secre- tary I will do my best to help, and spare no efforts to ask others to help too. (Applause.) I ask you to thank all the members of the Ladies' Life-boat Guild for their great ser- vices, and the best way in which all women can help is by joining the Guild themselves.

It is very easy to join the Guild. Any woman here, or in any part of the country, who is willing to work for the Institution in any way, can become a member by paying the small sum of 2s. 6d. She will then receive the very charming Badge, which I am proud to wear, and a Membership Card to remind her of her undertaking. The Secretary of the Institution would be very pleased to provide Badges and Cards for any who may wish to join here to-day, and they may be obtained at the door.

So I hope if there are any here who are not members of the Guild that they will join and persuade their friends to do the same.

As members of the Guild we shall find friends in every part of the country, and the wearing of the Badge will enable us women to recognize those who belong to the large and growing number of the Guild, which takes as its model that splendid and gracious figure " Grace Darling." (Applause.) The Duke of Northumberland.

His Grace the DUKE OF NORTHUMBERLAND, K.G., C.B.E., M.V.O.: I have now much pleasure in moving a very hearty vote of thanks to our Chairman, the Bight Hon. the Lord Forster of Lepe, G.C.M.G., for presiding over this the Hundred and Second Annual General Meeting of the ROYAL NATIONAL LIFE- BOAT INSTITUTION.

I feel sure you will agree with me that we owe Lord Forster a very deep debt of gratitude, not only for having presided with great ability over this meeting, but also because he has given us a most excellent, most interesting and most instructive address. (Hear, hear.) During the course of that address he remarked that he was speaking to a much larger audience than he saw before him in this hall, and I hope that remark went home to the gentlemen below me who were reporting his words. I certainly hope, we all hope, that his words will reach that wider audience, and for two reasons. In the first place, if anybody wishes to know what the Life-boat Institution is, and the work which it is doing, he cannot do better than study Lord Forster's address this afternoon, because he will find everything there that he requires to know explained in the clearest possible way and in the smallest possible compass. The second reason is that it is a reflection on the British public that the Life-boat Service does not meet with more financial support than it receives at present. We all know the great de- mands which are made at the present time, but when we think how much money is wasted on objects of comparatively little importance it does seem strange that the Life-boat Insti- tution does not make an even wider appeal than it does at present to the generosity of the public. (Hear, hear.) Lord Forster has occupied many great posts and has performed many signal services for this country and the British Empire. Among these may be mentioned the Governor-General- ship of Australia, from which he has only recently returned. But I am sure he will not mind if I say that it is not the least of the ser- vices which he has rendered to the country and the Empire that he has come here to-day to put before the public the claims of the Life- boat Institution. (Applause.) Sir William Priestley.

Sir WILLIAM PRIESTLEY, J.P.: It is my great pleasure to second this vote of thanks to Lord Forster, but before I do so I would like to say a few words about this great Institu- tion. I represent Bradford and District, and there we work very hard for the Institution and raise a good deal of money. I want to tell you how we do it. It is not mere man that does it; it is the women of our district and our city, and the consistent work they have put in for this Institution during my Presi- dency, now some fifteen years, has been simply wonderful. And when I look round this audience and see a mere sprinkling of ordinary male beings I say to myself, " Who are keeping this Institution going ? " And I answer, " It is the women of the country." It is their finer feelings and their fuller recognition of their duty, and the excellent work that they do for this Institution that makes it a success.

I always see, when I go to my Committee and ask them to get up a Bazaar, one solitary male individual in the presence of thirty or forty ladies, and it is because of that that I say that the Ladies' Guild is the thing that ought to be supported, and as long as the ladies work as they do to-day this Institution need never be anything but voluntary, i (Applause.) But that is not what I have to speak about.

I have to second this Resolution. It is quite true what the Duke of Northumberland said.

Lord Forster has taken an active part in the affairs of the country and Empire during the last few years. I sat with him in the House of Commons for years. I watched how he worked hard and conscientiously. I next saw him in Melbourne. He was there doing his duty and working hard for the Empire. On the third public occasion I see him here this afternoon taking the chair at this meeting of, I believe, the largest and most important voluntary Institution in this country. A man who fills up his life by working in the way Lord Forster has done is an example of loyalty, and so long as we have such men in our midst giving of their best in the public service we need have no fear about the future of the Empire.

I have great pleasure in seconding this Resolution. (Applause.) (The Resolution was then put and carried with acclamation.) The CHAIRMAN : I am very much obliged to you for the kind vote of thanks and for the all too flattering terms in which it has been proposed and seconded. I can only say that as a great lover of the sea and a great admirer of seamen and their womenfolk, it has been a very real pleasure to me to come here to-day, and if one could have contributed, even in a small degree, to the support of this Institution then one has been abundantly rewarded. I can only hope that there is an increasingly fruitful future before THE ROYAL NATIONAL LIFE-BOAT INSTITUTION, and that it will meet the most generous support from the public which it so richly deserves.

(Applause.) (The Meeting then terminated.).