THE hundred and eleventh annual meeting of the governors of the Institution was held at the Central Hall, Westminster, at 3 P.M. on Friday, 5th April.

Sir Godfrey Baring, Bt., chairman of the Institution, presided, supported by vice-presidents of the Institution, members of the committee of manage- ment, honorary life-governors and mem- bers of the Central London Women's Committee of the Ladies' Life-boat Guild.

The principal speaker was Mr. Leslie Hore-Belisha, M.P., the Minister of Transport, who presented medals and other special awards for gallantry during the past year, and awards to honorary workers for distinguished services.

The other speakers were : His Excel- lency the Minister for the Netherlands Jonkheer Maitre R. de Marees Van Swinderen), Commander the Hon. A. D. Cochrane, D.S.O., R.N., M.P., vice-chairman of the Scottish Life- boat Council and a member of the committee of management, Mr. W. W.

Harris, vice-chairman of the New Brighton branch, the Hon. George Colville, deputy-chairman of the In- stitution, and Mr. Charles G. Ammon, a member of the committee of manage- ment.

Among those who accepted the Institution's invitation were the repre- sentatives of seven foreign countries : Their Excellencies the Belgian Am-bassador, and the Danish, Norwegian, Greek, and Latvian Ministers, the Secretary to the German Embassy, and the Swedish Naval Attache ; the Mayors and Mayoresses of twenty-one boroughs: Westminster, Hornsey, Wimbledon, Holborn, Baling, Finchley, Tottenham, Acton, Walthamstow, Hen- don, Lewisham, Fulham, Wandsworth, Paddington, Battersea, Bromley, Barnes, Deptford, Lambeth, Poplar, and Arundel; the Chairman of the Swanage Urban District Council, and the Chairman of the Northam Urban District Council; and representatives of the Board of Trade, National Union of Seamen, King George's Fund for Sailors, Royal Humane Society, and the British Sailors' Society.

Sir Godfrey Baring, Bt.

SIR GODFREY BARING, BT. : Your Excel- lencies, My Lords, Ladies and Gentlemen : No assembly of English people, or I should say, perhaps, British people, can meet at this moment without remembering with great pleasure and anticipation that exactly a month from now we are going to celebrate the Silver Jubilee of His Majesty's reign.

It seems to me, therefore, appropriate that I should remind the governors of the Institu- tion of His Majesty's long, most gracious and close connexion with the Institution. It is forty-five years since His Majesty accepted the office of Vice-Patron of the Institution.

Five years later he became President of the Life-boat Saturday Fund. In 1910 he became President of the Institution, and since his accession he has been its Patron.

During that long period of time, over and over again His Majesty has shown the greatest interest in our work in many ways. (Ap- plause.) Eleven years ago, during our centenary celebrations, His Majesty received the Gold Medallists of the Institution at Buckingham Palace and presented them with the medal of the Order of the British Empire, and I shall not easily forget the great pleasure and gratification which those brave men received at His Majesty's gracious reception and the words he said to them.

In common with all the millions of his loyal subjects we earnestly pray that His Majesty's life may be long spared to rule over a united, contented and, above all things, a peaceful Empire. (Applause.) Now I have the honour of presenting the annual report. I think it shows that the work of the Institution has been efficiently done during the last year. Its life-boats and life-boatmen have saved 276 lives from shipwreck during the year. I believe there has never been a time when our boats have been more efficient, our men more gallant, resourceful and determined and our equip- ment more complete, and I should like to say that never in our history has the gener- osity of the public been more admirably manifested than during the last year.

(Applause.) If I were to thank all our active friends who ought to be thanked, I should speak for several hours. On the whole, I do not propose to do that, but I should like to call your special attention to what has been done by the Civil Service Fund under the auspices of Lord Southborough, whom we are glad to see on our platform. The Fund was initiated in 1866, and up to the end of last year had provided the Institution with over £98,000. That does seem to me a splendid example of long-continued, dis- criminating and deeply appreciated gener- osity. (Applause.) I am sure I am expressing the feeling of everyone in this hall when I say how much we welcome the presence here to-day of the Minister of Transport, Mr. Hore-Belisha.

(Applause.) May I relate to the Minister two little incidents which I have experienced in the last week or so, which I am sure will give him pleasure ? We have a store-yard in Poplar and I should like many of the Governors to visit it, because it is admirably run and managed. In that store-yard, we have an entrance yard, I think about 120 feet across. The other day a desperate criminal rode a motor bicycle into that yard at a speed which was estimated by com- petent observers at quite seven miles an hour. Within twenty-four hours of his crime a large poster, beautifully got-up, with a representation of a black and white post with an orange top, was placed outside the yard with a stern warning that no one must enter in a motor at more than walking pace.

(Laughter.) I think that will show the Minister that his beneficent influence has reached even the recesses of Poplar.

Only a few days ago I was on a life-boat mission, spoke at Liverpool in the morning, and then had to go on to New Brighton, Wallasey, and various places on the other side of the Mersey. I was driven by Mr.

Harris, who is on our platform and who is going to second a resolution later on. Being above all things law-abiding citizens we never exceeded during the long drive the speed of 29 miles 1,759 yards. We had a good many appointments to keep. We were a little late for those appointments. But we had a delightful drive and during the whole time we called down silent and, indeed, sometimes vocal blessings on the Minister's head.

(Laughter.) I am sure he will be gratified to hear of those two personal incidents, but seriously, Ladies and Gentlemen, we do admire the courage, the resource and the persistence with which he is tackling this most difficult and menacing question of accidents on the roads ; and I think it specially appropriate that one who is saving life on the roads should speak at the annual meeting of the Institution whose proud boast it is that its life-boats and life-boatmen have saved, during the 111 years of its history, over 64,000 lives from shipwreck at sea. (Applause.) In conclusion I earnestly and most con- fidently appeal to all governors of the Institution present not to lose their interest in the life-boat service, but to redouble that interest, because I believe the service is worthy of their enthusiastic support, and should make an irresistible appeal to every worthy citizen of our great maritime nation.

(Applause.) The annual report and accounts for 1934 were adopted.

Election of the Committee of Management.

Those nominated as president, vice- presidents, treasurer and other members of the committee of management and the auditors for the ensuing year, were elected.1 Presentation of Medals and Other Awards for Gallantry.

LIEUT.-COL. C. R. SATTEHTHWAITK, O.B.E., secretary of the Institution, read the a'ccounts of the services for which medals and other special awards had been made during the 1 The list appears in the Annual Report.

year, and the presentations were made by Mr. L. Hore-Belisha, M.P., as follows : To SECOND-COXSWAIN ROBERT C. BROWN, of Swanage, Dorset, the bronze medal for his gallantry in going overboard, in oilskins, belt and sea-boots, from the Swanage motor life-boat to the rescue of a man who had been flung into the sea from the yacht Holly Lise when she went ashore near Boscombe Pier, in a gale, on 19th March, 1934.

To ACTING-COXSWAIN H. E. Pow, of Appledore, Devon, the bronze medal for the rescue, on llth January, 1935, of the crew of three men (one of them crippled), of the Ilfracombe fishing boat Lee Bay, which was in great danger under the cliffs in a gale, with a very heavy sea, and shortly after the rescue was smashed to pieces on the cliffs.

To MOTOR-MECHANIC C. T. HORNABROOK, of Appledore, Devon, the thanks of the Institution inscribed on vellum for the same service.

(A full account of the gallantry of Second- coxswain Brown appeared in The Life-boat for June, 1934, and a full account of the Appledore service appears on the first page of this issue.) Mr. L. Hore-Belisha, M.P.

MR. L. HORE-BELISHA, M.P. : Mr. Chair- man, Ladies and Gentlemen: In a gracious reference to my presence here you, Sir, related the efforts of my Ministry to save life on land with your noble task of rescuing life at sea. You might well say that your triumphant efforts are calculated to excite my envy and admiration. They do more.

They inspire my emulation. There is, indeed, cause to reflect on the contrast between the risks run by those who travel by sea, on the one hand, and by land on the other. The water is an unreliable and an uncontrollable element. The land is firm and can be laid out to make smooth the ways of man. Yet while fatalities at sea are being progressively lessened, the dangers on land increase.

A hundred years ago, when the Royal National Life-boat Institution was founded, as many as 3,000 to 5,000 persons were drowned in a year in British territorial waters.

To-day, owing to the improved construction of ships, to the regulations for safety made by the Board of Trade and principally the efficiency of your service, the worthiness of your boats and the gallantry of your men and women, only about thirty to forty per- sons, I am told, perish annually in these waters. (Applause.) In other words, the perils, the mortal perils of our coasts, have diminished in a century a hundred-fold. The life-boat service has given rewards for the rescue of 64,000 lives in the period. Now the dependants of every one of these persons would have to be provided for either by the State, by insurance moneys, or otherwise. Assuming the capital sum required to make good to the widow or other dependant the loss of support given by each one of the persons who have been saved to be the nominal amount of £1,000—it is, of course, much more—the value of the lives you have saved in 100 years is £64,000,000.But in the last ten years, we have lost about the Same number of people on the roads, to say nothing of the million and three- quarters persons who have been injured.

You can make a calculation, therefore, of the economic loss brought to the nation by these casualties.

If, therefore, I come here, it is to capture something of the spirit of the sea. To save a life you risk a life—or more. The life- boatman, to save a life, puts at hazard not only himself, but his family. He strains his endurance. He faces the storm in its most inclement mood. He displays the quality of courage and the virtue of dis- cipline in the most exacting circumstances—• voluntarily. Why ? Because of the chiv- alry of the sea. And the public support his work and should support his work, by their contributions. Why ? Because the humani- tarian instincts of the people are so strong that they cannot bear the contemplation of untimely death or unmerited suffering.

But a life is worth as much spiritually and materially whether it be lost by sea or on the roads. What effort, what self-sacrifice, what goodness of nature to save a life at sea! But on land attempts to save life which call, not for bravery, or hardship, but merely for decency and courtesy, are often regarded as restrictions on convenience, and interference with liberty, and, therefore, to be resisted. I am happy to say that through the exercise of these virtues, together with the measures we are taking, we have, during the first three months of this year, as compared with the same period last year, effected a reduction of no less than 2,843 in the number of persons killed and injured on our roads. (Applause.) The significance of this figure is enhanced when it is remem- bered that there are over a quarter of a million more motor vehicles this year than last.

To save lives on the roads it is not valour that is needed, but just thoughtfulness. It is not inappropriate, therefore, that I should come to you in admiration and, if you will, in envy, hoping that this meeting will not only bring the financial support which your great cause deserves, but will spread through- out the nation a respect for human life and a concerted determination to save it, whether it be imperilled by the storms of the sea or by the inconsiderateness of men on land.

I move this resolution which thanks the coxswains and crews of your life-boats and the help rendered to the cause by your local committees, honorary secretaries and hono- rary treasurers combined in the noblest of all works. (Loud Applause.) THE CHAIRMAN : It is now my great privi- lege to ask His Excellency the Minister for the Netherlands to second this resolution.

I should like to say, as so many governors must know, that His Excellency has always been the kindest and most considerate friend of the Institution during the long years that he has represented the Netherlands in this country, and we remember with gratitude the eloquent speech that he addressed to us on the celebration of the centenary of the Institution eleven years ago.

The Minister for the Netherlands.

His EXCELLENCY THE MINISTER FOR THE NETHERLANDS : Mr. Chairman, your Excel- lencies, Ladies and Gentlemen : I have been entrusted by the committee with the duty of seconding the resolution moved in such eloquent terms by Mr. Hore-Belisha. I accept the honour with the more pleasure as I like to see in it the tribute paid to the part which my country has played since so many years in that international drama, the rescue of human life at sea. To Great Britain, Mr. Chairman, belongs the honour of having founded the first Life-boat Institution ; but in less than nine months afterwards Holland followed suit and under the inspiration of Sir William Hillary's initiative established its first similar Society, and since - that hour, nearly all the sea-board nations of the world have responded to and developed Britain's example. Indeed, no relaxation can be permitted, for no matter to what extent disarmament may find its application, the sea will never disarm, and the sea-faring nations will always have to fight her.

No nation has experienced this more than Holland, which has had to fight the enemy not only on the waters, but to a great extent on land as well. You know that this ocean gnaws with a ferocious appetite every year at our shores, the consequence of which has been that through the protection we have had to take about it, Holland has sometimes been called, in a very nattering sense of the word, the most dammed nation in the world.

(Laughter.) It is not only that we lose to the sea ; we take our revenge, too. We have taken from her many bits which she regrets now, and we are still taking a very big bit from her through this, I dare to say, masterly engineering work of the reclaiming of the Zuider Zee at this moment. All this, Ladies and Gentlemen, has given cause to amend the legend that God has created the whole world, by adding to it the exception of Holland, which has created itself. (Laughter.) Our indebtedness to Great Britain has never ceased since the centenary celebration of 1924, when that list was pretty heavy already, and it has grown steadily. Thirty- two Dutch lives have been rescued since then, and this last year, of eleven services rendered to vessels of foreign countries, four were to Dutch. I trust that you will admit that if there is anywhere a place where Holland's voice may be heard in the Council of Nations, it is on occasions like this, when a resolution is moved expressing hearty appreciation of the gallantry of the coxswains and crews of this Institution's life-boats.

Still—comfortably sitting as we all are here, giving full praise and credit to the hearty efforts of the men we have honoured this afternoon in rescuing from the sea what the sea had so often already claimed as a victim—how little, how little can our imagina- tion approach reality and give us a true picture of what they endured when saving at the risk of their own lives the lives of people who were absolutely unknown to themselves ! Mr. Chairman. I will not take up any more of your time, especially as we know that the distinguished mover of the reso- lution likes and rightly imposes a limit on us. I therefore feel happy to comply with his wise rules and regulations, and I impose a limit on the patience and indulgence of this audience to listen to me ; and, thanking the Committee again for the honour they have done me, I beg to second most heartily the Resolution. (Applause.) The resolution : " That this meeting, fully recognizing the important services of the Royal National Life-boat Institution in its national work of life-saving, desires to record its hearty appreciation of the gallantry of the coxswains 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," was carried unani- mously.

Presentations to Honorary Workers.

THE SECRETARY : Since the last annual meeting three honorary workers have been appointed honorary life governors of the Institution. This is the highest honour which it can confer on an honorary worker, and the appointment is accompanied by a vellum signed by His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, K.G., as President of the Institution. The three new honorary life governors are : EXETER : COUNCILLOR MRS. ARTHUR REED.

LLTTLEHAMPTON : COMMANDER H. B.

BOOTHBY, D.S.O., R.N.R.

THE MUMBLES : MR. F. LE BOULANGER.

All three are present this afternoon to receive their vellums.

Mr. L. Hore-Belisha, M.P., then presented the vellums.

THE SECRETARY : Since the last annual meeting eight gold badges, which are given only for distinguished honorary services, have been awarded. Four of the recipients are present this afternoon to receive them : BLYTH : MR. C. E. BALDWIN, J.P.

HALIFAX : MKS. H. OLLERENSHAW.

KESSINGLAND : MRS. H. A. BROCK.

NEWPORT (Monmouth) : MR. H. S. LYNE, M.B.E.

Mr. L. Hore-Belisha, M.P., then presented the badges.

Commander the Hon. A. D. Cochrane, D.S.O., R.N., M.P.

COMMANDER THE HON. A. U. COCHRANE, D.S.O., R.N., M.P. : Mr. Chairman, Your Excellencies, My Lords, Ladies and Gentle- men : You have already accorded to the crews of the life-boats your thanks for their ser- vices, and now I am going to ask you to give thanks also to their thousands of sup- porters throughout the country, and I would ask you to do so by supporting this Resolu- tion : " 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 members, for the work which they have done in raising funds for the life-boat service." The proof of the success of the work of the Ladies' Life-boat Guild is very clear. Last year, that is 1934, there were 732 branches which held life-boat day collections. That is a record in numbers for the history of the Institution. The sum collected was £42,800, an increase of nearly £3,000 over the previous year. That, also, is a most admirable result.

In addition to the thanks which I am asking you to give to the members of the Ladies' Life-boat Guild, I think we should also give thanks to the civic heads of all the local authorities throughout the country, because we know well that without their permission life-boat day collections would not be possible, and without that keen support which we get from them, certainly these collections could not be the success which they have proved to be during the past year.

I have indicated to you the results which have been achieved by the Ladies' Life-boat Guild, but I confess that I am entirely ignorant as to how these results are achieved.

I am certain that there are many married men here who have found themselves doing something which, in fact, they had no very direct intention of ever doing, and I expect that they have often felt, as I have felt, unbounded admiration when, after the event, they began to appreciate the subtle influence which has been brought to bear and has led them in the course which they had no intention of following. I presume that it is the same magic on the part of the ladies which leads to this magnificent result. I thought, in my innocence, that when cinemas came into being then it might be possible to discover what it was that the ladies did when they wanted to influence the men and the women for a purpose such as this. But no : The celluloid smile is as the poles asunder from the enthusiasm, the tact and the friendli- ness which the members of the Ladies' Life- boat Guild exercise in the great work which they do. So I am sorry that I cannot help you in any way with any suggestion as to how this great work is done. But it has been achieved with immense success, and in the terms of the resolution 1 ask you to accord to those who have done that great work for the Institution your most enthusi- astic thanks. (Applause.) Mr. W. W. Harris.

MR. W. W. HARRIS : Mr. Chairman, Your Excellencies, My Lords, Ladies and Gentle- men : It is only upon an occasion such as this that opportunities are afforded us to express our feelings of gratitude to those whose labours mean so much to the»life- boatmen. It was, therefore, with the utmost pleasure that I accepted your invitation to support the resolution so eloquently and pleasantly put by Commander Cochrane. He has spoken to you with the voice of one versed in the responsibilities and anxieties of a member of the Committee of Management, whose sole object is to organize the finances and work of the Institution, and to maintain the splendid efficiency of the life-boat stations around our coasts. I will, therefore, ask you to descend with me from administrative alti- tudes to sea level, where, amidst the turmoil of the sea, the roar of the wind and the scream of the gull you find the life-boat stations and men endeavouring to fulfil your hopes and to carry out the work you so generously help to maintain.

I am one of the small army of honorary secretaries whose duties are to see that the boats and stations are ever in an efficient state to respond to the flash of the warning gun, the call to rescue by day or night.

There must be no hesitation or delay ; the boats must be ready to launch and cast off moorings instantly the men are on board ; and may pity help the Honorary Secretary if he has been wanting in his duties in that respect! I have the honour to be the honorary secretary of the New Brighton Station at the entrance to the Mersey.

That river has a rise and fall of thirty feet at Spring tides, and a flow of tide of between five and six knots. We have a powerful 60-foot motor life-boat with two 80 horse- power engines capable of a range of 200 nautical miles, and when built in 1923 she was the largest motor life-boat in the world.

She carries a crew of eight, is always afloat, and when our last call for rescue came in January of this year, she was actually under way, with her full crew on board, twelve minutes after the firing of the rockets.

(Loud applause.) In addition, we have a very fine sailing boat, both seaworthy and fast. In fact, so proud are we of her speed that she had a race with our adjoining sta- tion's motor life-boat to a wreck during April last year and beat her at the post. We have thirty men on our crew list, and there is a wild rush when the call comes, for each man is selected by the coxswain as he arrives at the station. I have seen this gallant crew tearing along the New Brighton stage, fastening their lifebelts as they ran, to board her, the boat having been got ready by the stagemen ; and then they get into the boat and dis- appear into the stormy darkness.

The adjoining station of Hoylake is eight miles away at the entrance to the Dee, and whereas we are a station which is, as I say, always afloat, they are always ashore. Their boats are kept in the life-boat houses, one a sailing and the other a small type motor boat. How they are taken to sea depends on the tide. If it is high water they run down the slip ; if it is low water they are pulled by a tractor over two miles of sand before they reach the sea. Anyhow, they get there all the same. We recently had an occasion in this year when both boats were out after the same steamer that was in trouble. Both those stations are under the control and within the district of the Port of Liverpool branch.

Now I must pay tribute to the unceasing vigilance of the coastguards, who give instant warning, by either rocket or telephone, when distress signals are sighted and whose unfailing service is inspiring and encouraging to our men. Every detail of our equipment must be kept to the highest standard. And here let me say what a pride and privilege it is to be associated with a national and voluntary Institution which is so pre-emin- ently efficient in every detail. Only those who have association with it at close quarters can fully appreciate the superlative efforts that we have behind us. The life-boat stations are, in fact, the arms of the Institu- tion, which they stretch out over the sea to rescue those in distress from what other- wise would be certain death. (Applause.) Whom are we to thank for this ? It is the members of the Ladies' Life-boat Guild.

Without the labour of love which they so freely and generously give, it would be im- possible for us to maintain the service with any degree of efficiency, even if we were able to carry on at all, and we render to them our grateful homage and thanks. (Applause.) It is difficult enough to earn money nowadays.

How much more difficult must be the work of those who collect the subscriptions from the public, even for a national cause such as ours ! What a thankless task it is, that of selling flags on flag days ? I have no experience, but I know they get far more rebuffs than encouragement, yet they per- severe. Surely, with the immortal Scott, we may call our ladies ministering angels ? My station cost £750 to run last year, exclu- sive of awards to the crew. Our adjoining station at Hoylake cost £564. But the Port of Liverpool Branch returned £3,240, exclus- ive of the annual grant of £1,000 generously given by the Mersey Docks and Harbour Board. Of this sum returned by Liverpool, the ladies of the Life-boat Guild collected £1,211. (Applause.) Nearly half of that was in sums of 5s. and under. That indicates the enormous amount of energy and time freely given by those ladies. Is this not a direct proof that these ladies of the Life-boat Guild actually maintain our stations, and enable the honorary secretaries, through the Institution, to carry on that glorious service of which we are so proud ? Ladies, your labours have not been in vain. Mr. Chairman, I second the resolution proposed by Com- mander Cochrane with both pride and pleasure, and with all honour to the ladies of the Life-boat Guild. (Applause.) The resolution : " That this meeting desires to record its sense of the deep obli- gation of the Institution to the Ladies' Life- boat Guild and its many hundreds of voluntary members for the work which they have done in raising funds for the life-boat service," was carried unanimously.

The Hon. George Colville.

THE HON. GEORGE COLVILLE : Mr. Chair- man, Your Excellencies, My Lords, Ladies and Gentlemen : It falls to me to move a resolution with which I know you will most cordially agree, namely, a vote of thanks to the speakers of this afternoon. First' on the list is Mr. Hore-Belisha, the Minister of Transport, who has kindly attended and presented the medals and other rewards.

This he has done in a most delightful manner, and we have also to thank him for a most charming address. (Applause.) I have a very warm corner in my heart for Mr. Hore- Belisha, but I do not quite know what our relationship is with the Ministry of Trans- port, unless he conceives it his duty to watch us transporting shipwrecked mariners to the shore ; but, for us, the sea is an unrestricted area, except so far as the rocks are concerned. We look upon them as beacons, only they are black, and not orange ; and, so far as speed is concerned, our speed limit is the utmost speed we can put out, and we claim equal rights with the fire brigade in rushing to the salvage of life. (Applause.) Next, we have to thank the Minister for the Netherlands for his attendance and for the speech he has given us. We have all, I am glad to say, seen him here before, and his attendance tends to show that our work is not parochial, but entirely international in its character. (Applause.) Then we thank Captain Cochrane, who is a member of the committee of management and one of my brother committeemen, for his speech. We also thank Mr. Harris, who works very hard indeed as the Honorary Secretary of the New Brighton Branch, for what he has told us about his station and his neighbours at Hoy lake. (Applause.) They give their services and we value them very highly indeed.

Now I may not have exceeded the speed limit, but I think I have exceeded the time limit, and I will therefore ask you to vote the hearty thanks of this Meeting to the speakers at this, the 111th Annual General Meeting of the Royal National Life-boat Institution. (Applause.) Mr. Charles Ammon.

MR. CHARLES AMMON : Mr. Chairman, Your Excellencies, My Lords, Ladies and Gentlemen : It is with very great pleasure that I second this resolution, and I am sure no one will appreciate more than Mr.

Hore-Belisha what a very mixed platform we get at our life-boat occasions. I imagine that it is very probable that Mr. Hore-Belisha has been looking with somewhat envious eyes at the extent of the highway that we are concerned with. What it would be like and what it would look like if he had his way over it it is somewhat difficult for many of us to imagine, but certainly we are glad that he is, in some measure, doing something to save life on land, and it is a very natural thing that we should find him in association here with us. I think, perhaps, Mr. Harris has shown the greatest restraint, because I heard that he was contemplating selling his high-powered motor car and getting a Morgan on account of the regulations that have been made by the Ministry of Transport.

I think Mr. Hore-Belisha is likely to find immortality with one other Member of Parliament, in the other House (his name escapes me for the moment), who was also associated with the regulation of traffic in days gone by. When there came before that House a motion that coaches should supersede carriages for the carrying of mails—a man named Palmer of Bath having introduced the mail coach—this noble Lord solemnly warned his fellow Peers not to ride in Palmer's coaches. Men had been known to die of heart failure because of the speed at which they travelled—and that speed was eight miles an hour ! Even Mr. Hore- Belisha has allowed us something a little more than that. (Laughter.) Then we are very delighted to have again with us His Excellency the Minister of the Netherlands, who has certainly put up a very high claim for his country, namely, co-authorship in the creation. (Laughter.) Of course, nobody would dispute that. We congratulate him and we are glad that two nations which have had so long an association with the sea are found co-operating together in this very estimable service.

Commander Cochrane, of course, is one of ourselves. He has simply discharged his duty, a duty that he feels all the more near to him because he is also concerned-with the sea, and he is delighted to help to pay honour to those who serve this Institution. I have very great pleasure in seconding this resolu- tion. (Applause.) The vote of thanks was carried with applause.

Mr. L. Hore-Belisha, M.P.

MR. L. HORE-BELISHA, M.P. : Mr. Chair- man, Your Excellencies, My Lords, Ladies and Gentlemen : Strange things happen at sea, and one of the strangest is that Mr.

Ammon should be seconding a vote of thanks to me. We sat and glowered at one another across the floor of the House of Commons for many years, and I did not know that your great cause would be the excuse for bringing us together upon a common platform. I am very grateful to him for what he has said and still more for the great work which he has done for your Institution. Com- mander Cochrane said that he could not reveal the secret of the devotion which the women gave to this work, and of the success which they have achieved in attracting financial support for it. Well, women bring life into the world, and that explains the interest that they have in this Institution, which exists to preserve it.

I want to thank you most sincerely for the gesture of kindliness and friendliness which you have made in selecting the representative of my Ministry to come here this afternoon.

There is a bond between us, and I was, of course, deeply honoured to come, but I felt a sense of modesty, if not of shame, in pre- senting those medals to these brave men.

One ought to have great respect for those who run risks such as they have run. They are so infinitely superior to ourselves, and when you move a vote of thanks, as you have so kindly done, through the lips of Mr.

Colville to the speakers, one must recognize how infinitely inferior the speakers are to the actors. (Applause.) One of the gentle- men to whom it was my privilege to present a medal, already had a medal on his other lapel. He told me that his grandfather had won it, I think he said, 100 years ago. So the greatness of the British people is carried on. (Applause.) I thank Mr. Colville deeply for his sym- pathy with what I am trying to do, and for his respect for the speed limit upon land. I thank him, indeed, for the manner in which he moved this resolution and I thank Mr.

Ammon for the generous way in which he seconded it. But I do not thank them on my own account, for I stand here merely as the representative of those other speakers who have addressed you and principally His Excellency, the Minister for the Nether- lands, whom we in England have grown to regard as an Englishman, and if he is not an Englishman, he is, as a Dutchman, as he himself would say—I only use the quotation—something dammed near it. (Laughter.) It has been a grand and gracious experience to come here and to meet you who are carry- ing on this work. You do not need any thanks for it, because you mean to carry it on. May you grow more and more successful in your efforts, which everyone in this king- dom should support. Thank you very much.

I am told that the chairman objects to a vote of thanks being passed to him, because he is very modest, so modest, in fact, that he once fought my constituency of Devonport.

Had he been elected, he might have been standing here as Minister of Transport to-day. He and I have, at any rate, this in common, that we have both been interested in Devonport, a seafaring town. I shall not move a vote of thanks to him because he does not think he deserves it, although we know he does, but I thank him very much indeed. (Applause.) Entertainment of the Medallists.

After the meeting those who had received awards for gallantry were taken to tea at the House of Commons by Commander Cochrane, and in the evening they occupied a box at the Coliseum, as the guests of the management.

When Acting-Coxswain Pow and Motor- mechanic C. T. Hornabrook returned to Appledore, they were given a civic welcome, being met by the Mayor and representatives of the Appledore branch of the Institution.