THE annual Conference of Branches in the South-Eastern District was held in London, at the Westminster City Hall, on 1st March last. The Deputy- Mayor welcomed the delegates, and Sir Godfrey Baring, Bt., Chairman of- the Committee of Management of the Institution, presided, supported by Mr.

George F. Shee, M.A., Secretary of the Institution, and the District Organising Secretary.

The delegates to the Conference were : Mr. Walter Riggs and Miss Riggs, Aldeburgh ; Mrs. Johnson - Smyth, Canterbury ; Mrs. Finch, Chelmsford : Brig.-General F. W. Towsey, C.M.G., C.B.E., D.S.O., Mrs. Towsey, and Lieut.- Colonel D. A. L. Day, Colchester ; Miss Rowe, East Grinstead; Mrs. Astley Roberts, Miss Lewes Pitt, Mr. E. Armstrong, and Mr. A. Robertson, Eastbourne ; Captain F. C. Guy St. Clair, R.N., Folkestone ; Mrs. Oliver, Blaidenhead; Miss Truman, Slough; Miss Archer Smith, Southwick ; Miss Knights and Mrs. Wheeler, St. Ives, Hunts; Mrs. Green and Mrs. Bald, Tonbridge ; Mrs. Sutton, Tunbridge Wells; Mr.

J. F. Graham, Walton-on-the-Naze ; Miss H. MacGregor, Walton-on-Thames ; Mr. E. H. Elliot, Wokingham; and Mr. J. R. Aldridge, Worthing.

In his opening speech, the Chairman said that the two sources of revenue to which the Institution attached most importance were annual subscriptions, because they provided a permanent income, and Life-boat Days, because they were the only means of obtaining the help of those from whom subscriptions and donations could not be expected.

He appealed to the delegates to do their utmost to organize Life-boat Days, and spoke of the wonderful work which, on these days, and in other ways, women were doing for the Institution.

Mr. Shee spoke of the help which, all over the country, the Institution was receiving from Mayors and the Municipal Authorities. He also spoke of the value of the District Conferences in enabling the honorary workers to discuss their difficulties and to help one another by comparing their methods of working.

The District Organizing Secretary reported on progress in the District.

About twenty new branches had recently been formed and a number of new Honorary Secretaries secured. More Life-boat Days had been granted than last year, and a large number of other Special Efforts had been arranged.

He acknowledged the help he had received from various Honorary Secretaries, who had given him names of possible helpers in other areas. Help was still urgently needed in Luton, Watford, Dover, Dartford, Ashford, Ipswich, Rochester, Chatham, Maidstone, Wokingham and Godalming.

The Honorary Secretaries then made reports on their work, and in the course of the discussion which took place the following points in connexion with publicity and propaganda were emphasised : the necessity of spreading a knowledge of the Institution's work ; the importance of using every opportunity of getting information published in the local Press ; the help which the Institution could give by supplying articles for the Press, and leaflets for distribution, and by doing at Headquarters all the printing required by Branches ; the value of small meetings arranged at the houses of well-known ladies, as a means of increasing membership of the Ladies' Life-boat Guild; the value of making the Branch annual meeting as important as possible, the Institution being prepared to send down a speaker from Headquarters ; the importance of making the most of the presentation of prizes in the Life-boat Essay Competition by having it at a public meeting, either the Branch Annual Meeting or a meeting at the school; the value of house-to-house collecting, which is best done in the autumn, either as an alternative to the Life-boat Day, when permission for this cannot be obtained, or as an additional effort.

Mrs. Astley Roberts, the President of the Eastbourne Ladies' Life-boat Guild, described the methods of the Guild. She had been connected with the work for over twenty-five years, and whereas about £30 was raised in the first year, the figure was now £725 and, with the Entertainments added, £852.

In one year recently pver £300 was received in copper on Life-boat Day, which bore out the fact that by a Flag Day people were reached who could not afford to give subscriptions. There were 260 Guild members at Eastbourne.

This year the Guild was making a special effort to increase the membership by asking each existing member to get another to join by 1st July. In this way it was hoped to get a strong body of new members. They had thirty-eight tables in Eastbourne on Life-boat Day, and twenty-five in the outlying districts.

It was only by constant personal work that the outlying districts had been brought in. They had a Dance at the Grand Hotel, theatricals, and a jumble sale. As the schools are closed in the summer, and the Branch consequently received nothing from them, they had recently been asked to arrange film or lantern lectures. From this source £25 had been raised in the last fortnight.

The results achieved at Eastbourne were shared by a wonderful body of workers.

They all pulled together, and it was because of this that the Branch had done so well.

The Midlands.

A Conference took place at Cheltenham on 22nd May, attended by delegates from nearly twenty Branches in the Midlands. The delegates were welcomed by the Mayor of Cheltenham (Alderman C. H. Margrett), President of the Cheltenham Branch, and the chair was taken by Sir Godfrey Baring, Bt., the Chairman of the Committee of Management of the Institution, supported by Mrs. Richard Davies, Chairman of the Cheltenham Branch, Mrs. Williams, Chairman of the Cheltenham Ladies' Life-boat Guild, Miss Wanklyn, Honorary Secretary of the Cheltenham Branch; Mr. George F. Shee, M.A., the Secretary of the Institution, and the District Organising Secretary for the Midlands.

The delegates to the Conference were : Mrs. H. A. Hassall, Honorary Secretary, and Miss Hassall, Member of the Committee, Ashby de la Zouch; Mrs.

George Perry, Vice-Chairman of the Ladies' Life-boat Guild ; Miss Edwards and Mrs. Edwards, Members of the Committee, and Captain D. W. A.

Barton, Assistant Secretary, Birmingham ; Mrs. C. Hartly-Hodder, Honorary Secretary, and Mrs. A. M. Hartly- Stotesbury, Member of the Committee, Bristol; Mrs. Morphew and Mrs. Kirton, Members of the Committee, Cleethorpes ; Mr. William Liggins, Honorary Secretary, and Mr. F. Mills, Member of the Committee, Coventry; Miss P. M.

Liggins, Asst. Honorary Secretary of the Ladies' Life-boat Guild, Coventry ; Mrs. H. B. Boothby, Honorary Secretary, Mrs. Rudolph McKane, President, Dr. McKane, Mrs. Wood, Honorary Treasurer, and Mr. Wood, Grimsby; Miss D. Findon, Honorary Secretary, and Mrs. A. C. Parry, Member of the Committee, Kidderminster; Mrs. George and Mrs. Garratt, Members of the Committee, Lichfield ; Mrs. B. A. Holding, Honorary Secretary, and Miss Hutchinson, Member of the Committee, Leamington ; Mrs. Garrard, Member of the Committee, Malvern ; Mr. J. Haslam, Deputy Chairman, Nottingham ; Captain A. D. Crookes, Honorary Secretary, and Mrs. A. D. Crookes, Assistant Honorary Secretary, Spilsby; Mrs.

Collings-Jones, President and Honorary Secretary, Mrs. Hughes and Mrs. Holland, Members of the Committee, Smethwick; Miss Tonks, President, Mrs. W. H.

Egginton, Honorary Secretary, and Miss Dora Jones, Member of the Committee, Sutton Coldfield ; and Captain C. N. Hewett, R.I.M., President, Tewkesbury.

There were also present a number of the members of the Cheltenham Ladies' Life-boat Guild.

In welcoming the delegates the Mayor said, that, though Cheltenham could not claim to be one of the pioneers of the Life-boat movement, it could remember with pride that some sixty years ago it presented a Life-boat to the Institution.

Sir Godfrey Baring, in opening the Conference, again referred, as he had done in London, to the importance of Annual Subscriptions and the necessity of persevering with Life-boat Days, in spite of the competition of other charities in this form of appeal. He also referred to the Life-boat services which took place last autumn as showing how unfounded was the idea that, with the advance of science and the improvement in the construction of ships and the methods of communication, the need for a Life-boat Service was becoming less.

Mr. Shee also gave a short general address on the work of the Institution, and the District Organising Secretary spoke of the progress which was being made in the Midlands and the new Branches which had been formed.

These addresses were followed by reports from the Branches. This concluded the morning sitting.

In the afternoon discussion took place on the details of Branch Organisation, and Mr. Shee impressed upon the delegates the importance of getting into touch with their local press, with the idea of keeping the work of the Institution continually before the public. He also asked Honorary Secretaries to aim at raising Id. per head of the population of their districts, and spoke of the value of the work which was being done by the Ladies' Life-boat Guild.

Everything was done by Mrs. Davies and her Committee, who had arranged the programme for the Conference, to give the delegates an interesting time.

On the evening before the Conference met the Mayoi held a reception at the Town Hall, at which music was provided by the Cheltenham Orchestral Society.

This reception was followed by a dance.

When the Conference ended the delgates were taken in motor cars to visit Brockhampton Park, the residence of Colonel Fairfax Rhodes, and in the evening many of them attended a Municipal Concert, while, for those who were able to remain another day, arrangements were made for visits to the Colleges, Gloucester Cathedral, Tewkesbury Abbey and other places of interest in the neighbourhood of Cheltenham.

Before the Conference concluded very cordial Votes of Thanks were passed to the Mayor and Mayoress, and to all those who had taken part in the entertainment of the delegates..