000,000) a year are distributed among the three hundred thousand (300,000) employes necessary to equip, operate and manage this great industry; repair its twenty thousand (20,000) miles of track, handle its sixty thousand (60,000) cars and meet the ever pressing demands for improvement. Directly and indirectly over one million, two hundred thousand (1,200,000) persons depend upon the traction interests of America for their livelihood.

An industry of such proportions penetrates, and more or less affects, all other enterprises in the country which sustains it. Ninetenths of the business men and women of the United States look to the management of street railway companies to furnish them with swift, comfortable and safe transportation to and from business. Still a greater percentage of pleasure seekers demand and receive from the same management to and from theater, casino, park and suburb transportation of such elegance of equipment and efficiency in service as to satisfy the most exacting. It has required heroism and patience on the part of street railway men, with so little friction, to meet the demands of a critical patronage in so excellent a manner as is being accomplished by them at the present time.

On all sides we hear the cry of improvement, and in every direction we hear the sound of the busy car shop as it responds to the demand for more modern equipment. The public is becoming more exacting and there is need for the most perfect knowledge and the widest experience to successfully cope with the ever changing situations which confront the street railway manager. Street railway companies have frequently, at great cost, increased their miles of tracks and added to an expensive equipment, primarily for the sole purpose of accommodating the public, by penetrating into outlying districts, which was unwarranted by additional business to be acquired in such territory. This policy has proved wise in nearly every instance. It requires considerable pluck on the part of a company to back a temporary loss in order to please its patrons. Those companies which have pursued such a course have generally been rewarded by more liberality on the part of municipalities, more good nature and praise from patrons, and an early increase of business in the new districts acquired, which soon brought those lines to a paying basis.

In thus catering to the wishes of the public the street railway industry of the United States has been brought to a high standard of excellence and has kept safely in advance of traffic. The aggregate of miles of track has grown from a few hundred miles of single track, confined mainly to business centers, to many thousands of miles of thoroughly equipped double tracks, which have brought the country districts within quick and active touch with the larger cities. Such energy and management must and will be appreciated and fairly treated by the communities benefited.

It may be declared that corporations are without souls, but it cannot truthfully be said that street railway corporations are lacking in good sense or business principles. False economic doctrines yield to and flee before rapid development and prosperity. A well equipped street railway with modern service, which seeks to oblige the people, operated in any community, will develop the best resources thereof and bring prosperity to its people with such rapidity as to utterly confuse and put to flight all false economic doctrines.

Newspapers, reviews, magazines, periodicals and journals of this country, indeed of many parts of the world, are entitled to the thanks of this Association for the fair and generous treatment accorded in their columns to the street railway men and their interests during the year. It is the province of these publications to exploit the great industries of the land. If upon one day we are able to congratulate ourselves upon their unstinted praise, we should patiently bear the publicity of our faults, if any there be, in the next issue.

The last year has been a period of notable activity and healthy progress, with but few disturbances of a serious nature. The managers of large street railway properties should shape their policy toward their employes, and the public, so that disturbances between employer and employe will be entirely eliminated from their history. The management of the great corporations of the country can best retain the adherence and loyalty of employes by adopting toward them a policy at all times just, and at the same time courteous, kind and conciliatory. The good will of your employes and of your patrons will be found an asset of great value in the days of trouble and most desirable at all times.

A business so widespread in its usefulness, holding and judiciously employing, as it does, so great a portion of the capital of the country, and so essential to the best interests and prosperity of the trade centers, should, and I believe in good time will, possess the very necessary good will and hearty support of the municipalities it so faithfully serves. Our interests and those of the public are inseparably interwoven and naturally harmonious. If such interests become strained and in conflict, such conditions are unnatural and illogical, and, therefore, it should become one of the leading features of our Association to suggest a uniform policy for street railway companies, of so broad a gauge that the mutuality of the best interests of the public and of the company shall be as apparent to the people as to the street railway managers themselves.

I take pride in announcing that the condition of your Association, both as to membership and finances, is improving each year. I wish to urge you to make this gathering of use to our Association and of importance to the street railway industry. This may be accomplished by a full attendance upon and participation in the business meetings.

The Executive Committee has selected members who have prepared papers on important subjects and I urge upon you the advisability of entering into full discussion and analyses of these subjects, so that a clear understanding of all questions presented may be carried home with you. I also urge the Association to show appreciation for our friends, the Supply Men, who have produced for this annual meeting their splendid exhibit.

Allow me to request your hearty support in the work of the Accountants' Association, which meets in annual convention here at this time. Its work is of great importance and is worthy of your most serious consideration.

To the Secretary and members of the Executive Committee our thanks are due for the satisfactory manner in which they have assisted in conducting the affairs of this Association. Personally, their efforts have been highly appreciated.

The honor of having acted as your President for the last year has been most gratifying to me and shall ever remain one of the pleasant recollections of my life as a street railway man. For my successor I bespeak the same courtesy and cordial co-operation which it has been my good fortune to enjoy. Gentlemen, I thank you. [Applause.]

President Roach-The next business in order is the report of the Executive Committee.

REPORT OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE.

The Secretary read the report, as follows: To the American Street Railway Association

Gentlemen: The report of your Executive Committee will consist, as in past years, of the minutes of the several meetings held during the year, which will show what has been done by your committee:

MINUTES OF SPECIAL MEETING OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE HELD AT THE MIDLAND HOTEL, KANSAS CITY, MO., FEBRUARY 5 AND 6, 1900.

MONDAY'S SESSION.

The President called the meeting to order at 11 o'clock, A. M. Present: John M. Roach, President; Frank G. Jones, John R. Graham, N. S. Hill, Jr., C. W. Wason and T. C. Penington, Secretary and Treasurer.

The Secretary read letters from John A. Rigg, H. H. Vreeland and C. S. Sergeant, regretting their inability to be present at the meeting.

The Secretary read a letter from C. K. Durbin, dated Denver, Colo., January 29th, 1900, tendering his resignation as a member of the Executive Committee of the American Street Railway Association. On motion of Mr. Wason, seconded by Mr. Jones, the resignation of C. K. Durbin as a member of the Executive Committee was accepted.

Mr. Jones moved that Walton H. Holmes, President of the Metropolitan Street Railway Company, Kansas City, Mo., be elected to fill the vacancy in the Executive Committee.

The motion was unanimously carried and Mr. Walton H. Holmes was elected to succeed Mr. Durbin as a member of the Executive Committee for the ensuing year.

The Secretary-Treasurer presented a financial report of the condition of the funds of the Association to date; also a list of members in arrears for dues, and amount of exhibit space at Chicago, remaining unpaid. On motion, the report was received and placed on file.

Mr. Wason moved that all members in arrears for dues for more than two years be served by the Secretary with a written notice, that if these back dues are not paid by September 1st, 1900, the Executive Committee will recommend to the Association that such members be expelled, in accordance with the provisions of Article XIX. of the by-laws; and that the Secretary shall quote the provisions of said Article XIX. in his communication to such delinquent members.

The motion was unanimously carried.

The renewal of the Treasurer's bond, issued by the American Surety Company of New York, in the amount of five thousand dollars ($5,000), renewed to February 1st, 1901, was presented to the committee by that officer and placed in the possession of the President. The original bond of said company dated February 1st, 1898, was delivered to President Roach by Mr. Sergeant, previous to this meeting.

At the suggestion of Mr. Penington, Mr. Jones moved that inasmuch as the funds now in the hands of the Treasurer, exceed the amount of the present bond, that said bond be increased to the sum of ten thousand dollars ($10,000).

Motion carried.

Mr. Graham moved that the salary of the Secretary-Treasurer be continued at $1,500 per annum, as in past years.

Motion carried.

Mr. Jones moved that the last day of the convention be set aside for the systematic and careful inspection of the exhibits by the members; that the banquet be given on the last day of the convention, namely, Friday night; and that the newly-elected officers be installed at the banquet.

Motion carried.

It was moved by Mr. Jones, seconded by Mr. Wason, that non

members be not entitled to the Association Button at the convention. Motion carried.

It was moved by Mr. Wason, seconded by Mr. Jones, that the payment of the admission fee of $25.00 be waived to any company becoming a member of this Association prior to October 1st, 1900, provided the annual dues of $25.00 to October, 1900, be paid at the time application for membership is made.

Motion carried.

At this point a recess was taken for luncheon, and for the purpose of visiting the Convention Hall, where it is proposed to hold the convention.

RECONVENED.

After visiting the Convention Hall with the Local Committee, the committee reconvened at 3:20 P. M.

Mr. Hill moved that the nineteenth annual meeting of the American Street Railway Association be held on October 16, 17, 18 and 19, 1900, at Convention Hall in Kansas City, Mo., with the understanding that the hall shall be put in proper condition for the display of the exhibits and for the requirements of the meeting of the American Street Railway Association and the Street Railway Accountants' Association of America, as agreed to be done by the Local Committee; the hall to be properly cleaned, heated and lighted, and to be furnished with necessary electric power; all to be done without expense to the Association. Motion carried.

Mr. Graham moved that the price for space in the Exhibit Hall shall be ten cents per square foot, as in previous years.

Motion carried.

Mr. Jones offered the following resolutions:

That the authority to inspect and approve all papers to be read before the convention be vested in the President and Secretary.

That the President and Secretary be authorized to perform any necessary work that will properly devolve upon the Executive Committee between now and the next meeting.

ing.

Without objection, said resolutions were adopted.

On motion, the meeting adjourned until 11 o'clock Tuesday morn

TUESDAY'S SESSION.

The meeting was called to order by the President at 11:15 A. M. Present: Same as before.

Mr. George T. Stockham, Manager of the Midland Hotel, appeared before the committee, and stated that regular rates would be charged during the convention, namely, $1.00 to $5.00, European plan, and from $3.00 to $8.00, on the American plan, for one person.