50 TJiirty-n'uilh Ainntal Meeting 



and chair of the ])residency of the greatest society, to my 

 mind, in the world, the hrst state superintendent (I think 

 I speak a(l\'isedh' ) ever elected to preside over the American 

 Fisheries Society. Mr. Seymour Bower, gentlemen. (Great 

 applause. ) 



REMARKS OF NEWLY ELECTED OFFICERS. 



Mr. Seymour Bower: Mr. President, and gentlemen of 

 the Society, if I would ordinarily feel greatly embarrassed 

 on an occasion of this kind, I certainly feel doubly so after 

 what Dr. Bean and Mr. Clark have said. I feel so em- 

 barrassed, in fact, that 1 heartily wish that this part of the 

 program might be omitted. I am free to say that I do not 

 enjov this stage of the proceedings even a little l^it, because 

 I am not Imilt that way, and yet I do want to thank each 

 and every member sincerely and feelingly for the expression 

 of confidence conveyed in your choice of an official leader for 

 the ensuing year. 



During my life I have belonged to, or rather have been 

 identified with, several orders and organizations, ])ut I can 

 truthfully say that the one that I have learned to love bet- 

 ter than any other is the American Fisheries Society, not 

 because I have had the honor of serving as your secretary, 

 nor yet the still greater honor of today, but because my rela- 

 tions with the Society have brought me into contact with 

 some of the salt of the earth, and have made for me some of 

 the strongest and best and most enduring frienships of my 

 life. 



I joined this Society some 18 or 20 years ago, and have 

 attended nearly every one of the meetings since that time. I 

 have been present at a meeting when the total enrollment 

 did not exceed 15. T have seen the Society on the rocks 

 financially, and wdien the future looked none too bright, but 

 thanks to the loyalty and persistency of the old guard, and 

 the hearty cooperation of the United States Fish Commis- 

 sion, now known as the Biu'eau of Fisheries, and the boards 

 of commissioners of the several states, and last but by no 



