CALL FOR MEETING.

DEAR SIR,

NEW-ENGLAND COTTON MANUFACTURERS' ASSOCIATION,
BOSTON, April 1, 1878.

The stated Annual Meeting of the Association will be held at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boylston Street, Boston, on Wednesday, April 24, 1878, at ten o'clock, A.M., for the choice of officers for the ensuing year, and the transaction of such other business as may properly come before it.

In addition to the topics heretofore presented, upon which discussion will be first in order, the Board of Government announce, as the principal subject of discussion, THE FUTURE OF THE COTTON MANUFACTURE IN THE UNITED STATES; upon which topic a paper may be expected from the President of the Association, and the members generally are cordially invited to present their views regarding it.

It is also hoped that members will be prepared to offer well-considered suggestions as to the METHODS AND APPLIANCES FOR PREVENTING AND EXTINGUISHING FIRES, as requested in the notice prefixed to report of October meeting.

An early and full attendance is cordially requested.

By order of the Board of Government,

AMBROSE EASTMAN, Secretary.

PROCEEDINGS.

PURSUANT to the foregoing notice, the Thirteenth Annual Meeting of the New-England Cotton Manufacturers' Association was held at the Institute of Technology, in Boston, on Wednesday, April 24, 1878.

At the hour appointed, Mr. EDWARD ATKINSON, Vice-President, called the meeting to order, and said,

In the absence of Gov. STRAW, it becomes my duty to call you to order. This is the annual meeting of the Association; and the first business in order will be the election of officers for the year ensuing. In that connection, I understand, the Secretary has some communication to make to you.

The SECRETARY. I have received a letter from Gov. STRAW, dated in Washington, which I will read.

WASHINGTON, D.C., April 15, 1877.

TO AMBROSE EASTMAN, Esq., Secretary N. E. Cotton Manuf. Asso. Dear Sir, I arrived here from New Orleans last night, and may be detained here for several days; so cannot hope to be present at the meeting of our Association on the 24th inst. Please present my excuses to the meeting, with my regrets that the want of time has prevented my preparing the paper, suggested by the notice of the meeting.

Permit me to say further, that, through the partiality of its members, having been elected and re-elected to the office of President since its first organization, the rapid increase of the Association has given you many members who deserve its honors, and compels me to feel that I have already received more than my proper share. It is no loss of interest in the progress and success of the Association that leads me to decline a re-election, but rather the hope of a wider extension of its influence, which, I have no doubt, can easily be made to reach the whole of this country. Thanking the Association very heartily for the confidence shown me in the past, I desire to place my resignation of office in your hands, with the confident hope that you will find a more capable and acceptable incumbent to fill it in the future.

Very truly yours,

E. A. STRAW, Pres. N. E. Cotton Manuf. Asso.

I have also received the following letter from Mr. EDWARD ATKINSON:

BOSTON, April 24, 1878. Dear Sir, As I have ceased to have any connection with cotton-spinning, except as underwriter, I beg leave to decline a re-election as an officer of the Association. I have felt it to be an honor to have been chosen Director and Vice-President; and hereafter as a member I shall continue my hearty interest in all the subjects that come up.

AMBROSE EASTMAN, Esq., Sec.

Yours very truly,

EDWD. ATKINSON.

Mr. THOMAS J. BORDEN. As this matter is in order, I wish to say that my personal attention now is devoted to other matters than cotton-spinning, more particularly printing. I think the Board of Government of this Association should be composed of parties actively engaged in the cotton manufacture; and I therefore decline a re-election for the ensuing year. I have to thank the members of the Association for the honor they have done me in keeping me upon the Board since the organization of the Association.

Mr. ATHERTON. I move that a committee of three be appointed to nominate officers for the ensuing year.

Mr. T. J. BORDEN. I move, as an amendment, that the committee consist of five.

The amendment was adopted, and the motion passed.

The committee was appointed by the Chairman as follows: Messrs. A. T. ATHERTON of Lowell, THOMAS J. BORDEN of Fall River, D. J. JOHNSTON of Cohoes, N.Y., W. F. GOULDING of Lewiston, Me., and H. D. SULLIVAN of Salem, Mass.

The committee withdrew for consultation, and the chairman stated that the following gentlemen requested leave to withdraw from the association: FRANCIS CABOT, STEPHEN DAVOL, JOSEPH BRADY, GEORGE S. FOLLANSBEE, and S. N. Lougee.

On motion, leave was granted.

The following gentlemen, upon nomination, were elected members of the Association:

Messrs. E. H. BAKER .

WM. AMBROSE EASTMAN

FREDERICK GRINNELL

WILLIAM H. MUNROE

FRANKLIN NOURSE

JOHN H. PARKS

WILLIAM S. WHITNEY

The Secretary and Treasurer then Report, and the report of the Auditor.

Ware, Mass.

Newburyport, Mass.
Providence, R.I.
Newburyport, Mass.

Auburn, Me.

St. John, N.B.
Newton, Mass.

presented his Annual

Voted, That the reports be accepted, and placed on file. The CHAIRMAN. It may be remembered, that, at the last meeting, a proposition was submitted for certain trials of trashcleaners, cotton-gins, and the like, if it was found practicable, in this neighborbood. It was found, upon examination, that the risk was too great, and that the cost would exceed any sum which the Association would be willing to devote to that purpose; and, as Gov. STRAW had taken careful note of every machine and every point of interest in that connection, he was requested, on behalf of the Association, to investigate all the points which were brought before the Association at the last meeting. It was hoped that the substance of his report would be included in the paper to be submitted by him to-day; but, as you have heard, he has not returned in time, and has not been able to make that statement.

The committee on nomination of officers then reported the following list:

A. D. LOCKWOOD .

President.

Providence, R.I.

The CHAIRMAN. An election has usually been had by ballot; and that is according to the By-Laws. It is suggested by the Secretary that it has sometimes happened that one person has been designated by the Association to cast the ballot. I merely submit that suggestion. The Chair awaits a motion to proceed to the election of officers by ballot.

A motion was made that the Secretary be empowered to cast the ballot of the Association for officers for the ensuing year, as nominated.

The CHAIRMAN. I suppose a single objection will properly