ent of such an institution and its inmates, in order that their genuine reformation might be secured, and that experience in England had led to the conviction that this relation could not reasonably be claimed to exist over more than three hundred inmates. I believe that this statement is profoundly true; and therefore, measured by its standard, my influence upon the men and women self-intrusted, or committed by some organized body for this brief period of time to my care, must have fallen far short of success by reason of the great excess of your numbers, for no general session has been attended by less than three hundred members, and many of them by twice that number. It has never before been my privilege to preside over the deliberations of so large a body. Thanks perhaps to the prudential measures I have taken in being supported at all times on this platform by at least one of your ex-Presidents, and usually by several of them, and that the chairmen of your different committees have also given me their valuable assistance in preserving order, your behavior has been so uniformly good that the tremors of anticipation with which I entered upon the discharge of my duties have not been justified. Record should be made of the remarkable and gratifying fact that of the twelve living ex-Presidents of the Conference, eleven have attended these sessions,- General Roeliff Brinkerhoff, of Mansfield, Ohio, President of the Seventh Conference, Mr. F. B. Sanborn, of Concord, Mass., President of the Eighth Conference, Dr. Frederick H. Wines, of Springfield, Ill., President of the Tenth Conference, Mr. William P. Letchworth, of Portage, N.Y., President of the Eleventh Conference, Mr. Philip C. Garrett, of Philadelphia, Pa., President of the Twelfth Conference, Dr. Charles S. Hoyt, of Canandaigua, N.Y., President of the Fifteenth Conference, Mr. Hastings H. Hart, of St. Paul, Minn., President of the Twentieth Conference, Mr. Lucius C. Storrs, of Lansing, Mich., President of the Twenty-first Conference, Mr. Robert Treat Paine, of Boston, Mass., President of the Twenty-second Conference, Mr. Albert O. Wright, of Madison, Wis., President of the Twenty-third Conference, and Mr. Alexander Johnson, of Fort Wayne, Ind., President of the Twenty-fourth Conference. Only one, the venerable Mr. Andrew E. Elmore, of Wisconsin, President of the Ninth Conference, and now in his eighty-fifth year, was unable to be present. We sincerely regret his enforced absence, and assure him of our sympathy and regard. War with Spain has naturally diverted some attention from the Conference which it would have received were our country at peace. The President of the United States and the Governor of this State both intimated to me that they would be glad to accept the invitations of the Conference, and of the Local Committee, which were placed in their hands, to attend and address the quartercentennial celebration at Carnegie Hall, if the performance of their public duties left them free to do so. You can readily imagine how great their responsibilities must be at this time of national crisis; and, while we regret their absence, it would be unreasonable to have expected their presence. Had they attended the celebration, thousands would have failed of admission to the great auditorium, which was filled without them. The Conference is, in my opinion, under lasting obligation to the respectable daily newspapers of this city, which, notwithstanding the popular excitement and the pressing demands of war news for admission to their columns, have daily devoted much space to the intelligent consideration of the subjects which we have discussed. This handsome treatment on their part has doubtless increased the attendance at our sessions, and by giving wide publicity to our proceedings has multiplied our opportunities for usefulness. We have heard little at this Conference of ethics by name, and even less of altruism. This has been an extremely practical Conference; and, as these words are not clearly understood by all, we can dispense with their use. But the spirit which lies hidden in each has been the moving spirit of this meeting. We owe to an emanation from the rich alluvial deposit of soft gray matter which goes to make up the fertile brain of my genial predecessor in office, Mr. Johnson, of Indiana, of whom it can never be truly said that we suffer from "too much Johnson," a definition of the character of this body. In every community aristocracies take their place. We have intellectual aristocracies, ecclesiastical aristocracies, aristocracies of art, of literature, and social aristocracy. Mr. Johnson, in a felicitous expression, has claimed that we of this Conference belong to "the aristocracy of usefulness." This may embrace the elect from all the others, and doubtless includes many members of each. May its tribe increase! Your sessions in this metropolitan city have been full of interest and usefulness to our citizens; and, as we cordially welcomed your coming, so now we wish you leaving, individually and as an organization, personal prosperity and long continuance, with increasing beneficent results, of the humanitarian efforts in which you are engaged. The President adjourned the Conference at 10.30 P.M., without day. |