THE ANNUAL DINNER

A t th e d in n e r, w hich to o k p lace a t th e M id lan d H o tel, th e r e w ere 115 p re s e n t. M r. O liver S tu b b s p resided, an d th e guests in clu d ed th e L o rd M ayor of M an ch ester (C ouncillor W . C undiff, J .P .) , Mr - W . C lare Lees, th e P re s id e n t of th e M an ch ester Cham ber of Comm erce, a n d M r. Ja m e s P o rte r, P re sid e n t of th e N a tio n a l U n io n of F o u n d ry T rade W orkers.

Influence of Manchester Opinion.

A fte r th e to a s t of th e K in g h a d been duly honoured, M r. H . Cole E ste p proposed th e to a s t of th e C ity a n d T ra d e of M an ch ester. H e said th e im p o rtan ce of M an ch ester co n sisted in som e­

th in g g re a te r th a n its ach iev em en ts in com m erce, finance, in d u s try an d p ro d u ctio n . I t w as know n everyw here as th e c e n tre of g r e a t ideas an d m ove­

m ents w hich h a d influenced th e w orld. H a r d w ork, e q u a lity of o p p o rtu n ity , freedom of tr a d e so fa r as was possible—those w ere th e id eas fo r which M anchester stood an d to w hich he looked for th e solution of th e problem s w hich now- tro u b le d th e w-orld, an d for secu rin g th e re a l peace t h a t was d esired .

Manchester Statistics.

I n rep ly in g , th e L o rd M ayor gave figures illus­

tr a ti v e of th e m a g n itu d e of M a n c h e s te r’s m u n i­

cipal activ ities. A n n u al tu r n o v e r, 51 m illio n s ; num ber of persons em ployed, 24,90*0; L o a n D eb t, n early 30 m illions; assets, 46 m illio n s; r a te a b le value, ¿66,700,000. H e said he re g r e tte d th e r e were a t p re s e n t som ething lik e 25,000 unem ploved b u t th e y w ere doing all th e y possibly could to b rin g ab o u t a re d u c tio n of t h a t num b er.

Improvement of Trade.

M r. W . C lare Lees proposed th e T o ast of “ The I n s titu te of B ritis h F o u n d ry m e n .” H e observed t h a t th e I n s tit u te included in its m em bership all classes in th e in d u s try from th e to p to th e bottom . T h a t was m ost c re d ita b le an d h e lp fu l. One of th e fu n d a m e n ta l needs of th e day w as t h a t those who occupied p o sitions of re sp o n sib ility an d con­

tro l should know in tim a te ly an d perso n ally th e

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m en who w orked w ith th e m . I n th e w ork of re s to ra tio n a n d recovery a f te r th e w ar, no tr a d e had m ade g re a te r efforts th a n th e iro n a n d steel tra d e s , w ith w hich th e fo u n d ry in d u s try w as closely associated. W h en th e I n s t i t u t e m e t a t Blackpool in 1921 th e a v erag e p ro d u c tio n of pig- iro n was, he believed, 218,000 to n s a m o n th . In 1922 th e m o nthly av erag e h a d rise n to 408,000 to n s, an d in A p ril, 1923 th e p ro d u c tio n was 652,000 to n s. The figures of th e steel t r a d e w ere equally s tr ik in g ; 1921, m o nthly a v erag e 308,000 to n s ; 1922, 486,000 to n s ; in A pril, 1923, 749,000 to n s. I f o th e r in d u s trie s follow in th e ir fo o t­

steps th e y w ould n o t be so tro u b le d by th e p ro ­ blem of unem ploym ent.

Work of the Institute.

T he P re s id e n t, in resp o n d in g to th e to a s t, said th e m em bers a p p re c ia te d th e reco g n itio n of th e w ork of th e I n s t i t u t e by civic an d com m ercial bodies. T hey were o u t fo r th e edu catio n an d b e tte rm e n t of th e t r a d e th e y re p re se n te d . T hey d id n o t to u ch on la b o u r m a tte r s o r com m ercial m a tte rs , a n d he took th e o p p o rtu n ity to say he was d elig h te d t h a t th e y h ad w ith th e m on th is occasion M r. P o rte r and h is colleague M r. F ro s t, re p re se n tin g th e tr a d e u nions of fo u n d ry w orkers. F o r a very long tim e he h ad fe lt t h a t w h atev er th e ir views m ig h t be on lab o u r questions th e y should be able to come to ­ g e th e r on m any occasions an d le a rn to u n d e rs ta n d each o th e r b e tte r. T h ere w ould th e n be f a r less fric tio n th a n was som etim es th e case now, because a good d eal of th is was due to m is u n d e rs ta n d ­ in g an d suspicion w hich w ould be rem oved if th e y knew each o th e r b e tte r. As fa r as th e I n s titu te was concerned th e y w an ted th e t r a d e union leaders to ta k e m ore in te re s t in its w ork. H e h ad been su rp rise d som etim es to find how little was know n of w h a t i t was doing. H e also w a n te d th e em ployers to give i t m ore s u p p o rt. C onsidering th e conditions w hich m any of th e ir w o rk in g m em ­ bers h ad suffered from i t was a m arvel to him t h a t th ey h a d k e p t th e m em bership u p so well.

They were help in g to tr a i n m en to fill positions in th e in d u s try an d th e y looked to th e em ployers to help them in t h a t w ork by su b scrib in g to th e

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I n s tit u te an d by clioosing from its ra n k s th e m en who w ere w an ted to occupy p o sitions _ as forem en or m an ag ers. W hen m en s p e n t th e ii S a tu r ay aftern o o n s, a n d o fte n one o r tw o n ig h ts in t 1© week, on th e w ork connected w ith th e I n s tit u te , th e y deserved th a t co n sid e ra tio n should be given to th em when a responsible p o sitio n h a d to be filled. If th e em ployers w ould do t h a t h e w ould

be very well satisfied. ,

The P r e s i d e n t concluded by pro p o sin g th e to a s t of th e V isitors, a n d called u pon M r. P o rte r to respond.

Indirect Results.

M r. Porter said it was n o t only a p le a s u re to come am ongst th e m ; i t was also an e d u c a tio n . H e th o u g h t he could safely say t h a t tile m en he re p re se n te d w ere conscientious w orkm en who took a p rid e in th e ir c ra f t. T he em ployers would a p p re c ia te t h a t p o in t of view. The c ra fts m e n of th is c o u n try w ere equal to those in an y o th e r co u n try . They w ere also m en who a p p re c ia te d a sq u are deal and w hen th e y g o t i t w ould n o t fa il to c a rry o u t th e ir p a r t of th e b a rg a in . T h e w ay to re a l progress w as alo n g th e p a th of m u tu a l u n d e rs ta n d in g an d ag reem en t. They h a d reach ed a sta g e in in d u s tria l m a tte r s w hen th e b u lly w as a d an g er, n o t m erely in a p a r tic u la r shop, h u t to th e in d u s try a t larg e, an d to avoid tro u b le ill th e fu tu re m en should be fre e an d f r a n k w ith each o th e r, so t h a t each side w ould be able to a p p re ­ c ia te fully th e position of th e o th e r side. H e did n o t know m uch a b o u t th e I n s tit u te , h u t lie g a th e re d t h a t its objects w ere in th e m a in tech n ical, th e y w ere also h y g ien ic, a n d b ein g h ygienic w ere necessarily h u m an e. Those w ere th r e e c a rd in a l p o in ts. H e tr u s te d t h a t th is v is it of th e I n s tit u te to M an ch ester a n d its f u tu r e efforts would red o u n d to its c r e d it a n d pro v e beneficial to th e in d u s try in g e n e ra l an d th e com­

m u n ity to w hich th e y all belonged.

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