MR. SEELY: I am willing to make it that they shall be passed upon by the executive committee.

MR. ARMSTRONG: I think we have a formal resolution on our minutes to that effect, and if it is there, it should be enforced.

to

MR. STETSON: I should like to see a rule enforced that these papers be sent in advance to every member of the association. We come here and listen to a paper that it is impossible for us comprehend in its mere presentation to this association, and intelligent discussion of it is almost prohibited. We should have an opportunity of studying these papers in advance, and make an intelligent analysis of them, and have our views in good shape for presentation when we get here.

MR. AYER: It is not practicable to get them all in time to do that. At St. Louis, we had nearly all the papers, but it took a great deal of hard work. It is a rule that the secretary generally carries out, where it is at all possible.

Mr. Seely's motion was put and carried-that all papers should be submitted and passed upon before being read.

MR. SEELY: I move you, Mr. President, that the secretary and treasurer shall be instructed to open an account in the name of the National Electric Light Association; that he shall draw all checks, after he has his vouchers approved by the finance committee, and that these checks shall be countersigned by the president.

The motion was put and carried.

THE PRESIDENT: The chair was instructed to

name the members of the special committee on relations between the manufacturing and central station companies, and to submit the names to the approval

of the members.

I name the following gentlemen : John I. Beggs, T. Carpenter Smith, E. A. Armstrong, A. J. De Camp and F. Gilbert.

MR. BEGGS: BEGGS: I shall be glad to serve on the committee, but cannot possibly accept its chairmanship. I have too much work on my hands to do this, but shall be happy to do all I can as a member.

MR. SEELY: I move that Mr. De Camp be made chairman.

MR. BURLEIGH: I would cheerfully agree to the substitution, but for the fact that Mr. De Camp has not run up against these hard things as many of us have. Mr. Beggs acknowledged yesterday that he had not done as much for the association as he would like to have done, and now this is a fitting opportunity to make all that up.

MR. JENNINGS: I move that the committee as announced be approved.

MR. STETSON : If Mr. Beggs is on that committee, Mr. De Camp will have to occupy the head of the procession, but he will find Mr. Beggs after him. I think it is proper for me to help Mr. Beggs. I know of the amount of work he has done in the past year, and know something of his general business responsibilities. I think it is proper that he should be a member of the committee; and I do not see why the committee cannot choose its own chairman when it gets together.

Mr. Seely's motion, that Mr. De Camp be made chairman, was put and carried.

MR. ARMSTRONG: I move that a committee of three be appointed to nominate officers for the ensuing year.

Carried.

The chair appointed Messrs. Seely, Armstrong and Colby.

MR. AYER: I move that the chair appoint a committee on resolutions.

Carried.

The chair appointed Messrs. Ayer, Nicholls and Burleigh.

Mr. Seely announced that seventeen new members had joined the association at this convention.

On motion, adjourned.

THURSDAY AFTERNOON.

The Committee on Nominations reported the names of the following gentlemen:

For President, C. H. Wilmerding, Chicago, Illinois.

For First Vice President, Frederic Nicholls, Toronto, Canada.

For Second Vice President, E. F. Peck, Brooklyn, New York.

Members of Executive Committee: E. H. Davis, Williamsport, Pennsylvania (for one year, to fill the unexpired term of E. F. Peck); W. R. Gardener, Pittsfield, Massachusetts; George A. Redman,

Rochester, New York.

MR. GWYNN: I move that the nominations be accepted.

Carried.

MR. SEELY: I inove that the secretary be instructed to cast the ballot of the association for the gentlemen named.

Carried.

The ballot was duly cast, and the president declared the gentlemen elected.

Mr. Ayer offered the following resolution, which was unanimously adopted:

Resolved, That the thanks of the association are hereby tendered to Mrs. Sidney Short and the ladies of the local committee, to Mr. Wason and the gentlemen of the reception committee, the

Cleveland Telephone Company and the Long Distance Telephone Company, the Cleveland City Railway Company, the Cleveland Electric Railway Company and the gentlemen of the local press.

The many courtesies extended to the visiting members of the association have been fully appreciated, and the result has been that this Cleveland meeting will be remembered as one of the most pleasant, from a social standpoint, and also one of the most interesting and instructive, in the history of the association.

PRESIDENT FRANCISCO: Gentlemen of the National Electric Light Association: In resigning the office of president of this association, which I have filled during the past year, I wish to tender my heartfelt thanks to its members for the sincere, generous and zealous support I have received. The assistance which you have extended to me in many ways, and the courtesy with which you have met my suggestions, have been duly appreciated. I expect as a private to do all I can for the National Electric Light Association, and I think it is unnecessary for me to say that you will find me, first, last and all the time, assisting in every way possible the central station men in all departments.

MR. ARMSTRONG : Mr. President, it has been suggested that you are slightly out of order, because you have anticipated what we want to say. I know that all the members will join very heartily in tendering to our president and the other retiring officers our sincere thanks for the care and attention they have given us during the year in their administration

of the affairs of the association. As we all know who have served in the capacity of an officer, it is something that requires a great deal of attention; the little things, the apparently insignificant things, call for a good deal of care and attention from busy men. We could not give this attention if we did not have our hearts in the work; and, therefore, it is, not perfunctorily, but with earnestness, that I move a vote of thanks to our retiring president and officers. Carried.

MR. ARMSTRONG : I move, with the unanimous consent of this meeting, that the next annual meeting of this association be held in the month of May or June, as selected by the executive committee, in the year 1896.

Carried.

On motion, the convention adjourned.