420 STATf-: BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



dent; shall have the custody of all moiiej's. books, and property of the Association 

 not properly in cliarf^e of other oflU-crs of tlio Society, and report ut the annual 

 meetin^'^ his receipt-^ and disbnrsenieiits in fidl by items; and he sh:ill also keep a 

 book of Mieuibership in whieh sliull be transcribed the Constiliition and by-laws, and 

 in whieh all persons bcconiinj^ members shall subscribe their names and postollice 

 addresses. 



4. All persons residinij in the State of ^[ichij^an maj' become members by the pay- 

 ment of one dollar annuallj'. 



5. At any re<j;nlar meetinj^ of the Society, the Constitution and by-laws maybe 

 amended bj' a two-thirds vote of the members present. 



Oil nioiion of Mr. Tlion)[)S()u it was resolved to hold the first annual election 

 on Wednesday evening, January 30th, 1878, and that no person should be 

 allowed to vote who had not paid his annual dues to a temporary treasurer to 

 be appointed by the Chair, and signed the Constitution and by-laws. 



D. P. Dewey, of Grand Blanc, was appointed Treasurer jjro ton , and the 

 Convention then adjourned till 7 r. m. 



EVENING SESSION. 



At 7 p. 5[. the Convention was called to order by the President. 



Mr. llulick, Chairman of the Committea on the Tariff, submitted the fol- 

 lowing preamble and resolutions as expressive of the opinions held by the wool- 

 growers of Michigan upon the subject of the proposed change in the tariff on 

 foreign wools and woolen manufactures: 



o 



Whereas, We are informed by the records of legislation in Congress that a radi- 

 cal change in the tarift' on imports is about to be made at the present session, which 

 will affect injuriously the interests of the wool-growers and the woolen manufactur- 

 ers of the United States. 



Whereas, The arrangement and distribution of the duties upon foreign wools and 

 •woolen manufactures were so wisely considered with reference to their adaptation to 

 both interests in 1867, when the present tariff was adopted and placed on the Statute 

 Uook, that it has been found by the experience of tlie succeeding ten years it would 

 be eminently improvident and a great financial blunder to disturb these duties at the 

 present time, when tlie country is making every effort to retrieve its condition from 

 the disasters and errors of the past. 



Whereas, The beneficial operation of the present law has been made manifest, 

 especially by the encouragement it has given to the vast expansion of the wool- 

 growing and sheep-breeding interests of the whole country, whereby the production 

 of wools adapted to the wants of the manufacturers has been carried from less than 

 100,000,000 lbs. in 18G7 to 200,000,000 lbs. in 1S78, and still there is not enough. 



Whereas, The experience of California, of Texas, of Colorado, and other States 

 and Territories during the past ten years, instructs us that the sheep-breeding and 

 wool-growing interests are those which carry civilization and commerce into the 

 unsettled region and vast territory west of the Mississippi, and hence promote and 

 encourage immigration, increase the value of lands, create new outlets for trade, 

 and enrich the Union by making productive lands not adapted to other departments 

 of agricultural Industry. 



Whereas, It is evident to ns by the experience and development of wool growing 

 at home, as well as by the history of the enormous expansion of wool growing in the 

 colonies of Great Britain, in Australia, and in Southern Africa, that to promote wool' 

 growing and woolen manufacturing conjointly is eminently wise and patriotic, as 

 well as financially correct. Therefore 



Resolved, That the wool growers of the State of Michigan, in convention assembled, 

 do hereby respectfully recommend that in all matters concerning the duties to be 

 imposed upon wools and woolens coming from foreign countries there shall be no 

 change at present from the existing law, for the reason that the statute now prevail-; 

 ing in both interests is perfectly harmonious and requires neither alteration or 

 amendment in the statutes relating thereto. 



liesoived, That it is manifest by the increase of production during the past ten years, 

 by the development which wool growing has given to the new States and Territo- 

 ries, and by the encouragement and attraction it has given to immigration, that the 

 existing tariff on wools atid '\voolens has been eminentl}' beneficial to the whole coun-. 



