PRESIDENT'S INAUGURAL ADDRESS. 



January 29th, 1913. 



The President expressed his desire of saying a few words about the 

 position of the colony. The past year had been one which increased 

 their debt. He did not think that much to be wondered at when they 

 considered the alterations which had been made in the building and the 

 extra amount of comfort that had been provided for the members and 

 associates. Consequently, as he had already said, they would have to 

 go in for retrenchment. With regard to the Journal, he sincerely hoped 

 that all the members and associates would try and buy copies. It was 

 exceedingly interesting ; it was more than that, it was exceedingly 

 useful and during the last year many copies were sent abroad to various 

 institutions with similar objects to their own and he felt sure that when 

 those institutions recognised its usefulness they would ask that they be 

 provided with one regularly. He hoped that it would help to advertise 

 the colony. 



Last year was a year which he thought very few of them would 

 forget. It was a disastrous year, so far as agriculture was concerned, 

 on account of the severe drought, a drought such as had never been 

 experienced during the lifetime of anyone living in the colony to-day, 

 and he sincerely hoped that they would not see such another drought 

 for many years to come, if at all. It affected not only agriculture, 

 because as they were aware if agriculture was affected it affected the 

 general business of the colony, less money was circulated in the city and 

 fewer importations were made. This year he hoped that, as the ground 

 was said to usually benefit by a drought, the yield from the cane-fields 

 would be larger than in previous years, and thus help on our sugar 

 industry. 



The rice industry, he hoped, would also do better this year than 

 last and he hoped that we had seen the end of those experimental com- 

 panies which had come to this colony, started, only lasted for a very 

 short time and then went away. Companies of that character did far 

 more harm than one imagined. They destroyed credit and also destroyed 

 the belief in the colony as a good ground for investment. He hoped that 

 during this year changes would take place which would prove beneficial 

 in every way to the advancement of the colony. They had been waitinp- 

 for a long time to see this advancement ; in fact he did not know of any 

 other colony he had visited which lived more in hope than British Guiana. 

 But " Hope deferred, maketh the heart sick," and he was sure the hearts 

 of the people must be sick of the weary wait. However, he believed 

 that had all been changed. They were going to blossom out into a 

 beautiful colony ; well drained, well irrigated, with fine means of 

 transportation and everything they could possibly want. He did not 



