many things have been sent to me, and many things have been presented to the Society, and there should be some place where they can be cared for properly.

Colonel Elliott:-Mr. President, for the first time in my life I stand up in the Society of the Army of the Tennessee, and I am induced to do that now because I believe that this resolution contemplates an innovation upon the customs of this Society, which, in my opinion, will not be for its benefit. You and I, Mr. President, will outlive all these other gentlemen. You and I will be the last survivors of the Army of the Tennessee. And some time in the dim future we probably will obey the summons that shall have called these other gentlemen before us, and I believe it will be more convenient for you to come and visit me when we hold our last reunion, than it will be for me to visit you. As has been remarked by Doctor Plummer this Society can not be located anywhere. Its membership extends over too much territory. I believe if it is located in any one place, where we will have our reunions year after year, we will get into a kind of a groove, we will have the same committees, and there will be brought into it an element of sameness, which will not, in my opinion, be for the benefit of the Society. The very great pleas ure that a great many of us have had in this Society is because it is somewhat migratory in its character. Let it go from place to to place for the hearty greetings which this Society has had in every place where it has held its reunions, have had a very great influence, and I for one should be very sorry to have any innovation made upon the custom of holding the reunions first in one part of the country, and then in another. As Doctor Plummer has said, it enables men to attend the reunions of the Society when it is held in one place, who do not attend it when it is held in another. So I am very much opposed to any change in this regard. I have no objection to the establishment of a headquarters where the relics of the Society can be preserved.

Colonel Godfrey:-Mr. President, if this resolution is passed as it is, I think whoever is appointed on that committee should have the expression of the members present as to whether or not they are in favor now of making a permanent home for this Society. For one I think it would be detrimental to have the meetings all at one place. As to the part relating to headquarters, I have no objection. I do not know how it has been for the last few years,

but I presume the committee on location have had several applications from different parts of the country. I know, a few years ago, we had to work very hard to get it in Iowa. There were other places that wanted it. You locate the meetings at one place, and what is the result? Say Chicago; a few of us, who live near that place can go; but suppose you locate one of these meetings out in Kansas or Nebraska. I have been in the West a great deal. It is filled up with soldiers. It is filled with officers. Mainly they are not men of wealth, but they have just as much affection for the Army of the Tennessee as you and I; and they can not travel East. There are other organizations in this country. Take the Grand Army; they held their meeting last year in Maine. This year they crossed the continent, and went to California. What was the result? One of the grandest ovations that was ever known. Soldiers who never attended a National Encampment, attended there by thousands, and it brought together men. who had never seen each other since the war. I say the same of this, you put these meetings out in Kansas, Nebraska or Dakota anywhere, and the same thing will follow. That country is full of officers and soldiers. So for one, I am opposed to this committee being appointed with a view of locating the meetings in any particular place. I say we ought to go East, and we ought to go West; and in that way, you will get your membership increased from year to year. If you put it at Chicago, or any central city, I think the result would be right the reverse; therefore, I am opposed to the resolution as to putting the meeting in one permanent place.

Captain Everest:-Mr. President, I would say for the benefit of the last speaker that the members of the committee for selecting the time and place of holding the next annual meeting, had no invitation from any city in the country except Atlanta. A Grand Army Post there sent an invitation to this Society to meet there. We undertook to beg for invitations by sending telegrams, and we received but one reply. That was from Governor Alger, of Michigan. So, I think, we ought to put ourselves in a position where we can have a meeting, and not impose our presence upon people who do not desire it.

The President:-It seems to me we ought to discuss this question in committee of the whole, We are all together now, have plenty of time, and I would like to hear from anybody that has

suggestions to make. I think there is a principle of some danger involved in it. There may be a place of deposit where the two Secretaries reside, perhaps, in Cincinnati; but as to holding the meetings at one place, I am certain it is a question of doubt in the minds of many who are present. I would like to hear that point discussed. We have for twenty years met here and there and everywhere, and our meetings have been intensely interesting, not only to ourselves, but to the people whom we have thus visited. I know that myself, because I hear the expression of sentiment on the part of the people.

Major Mahon:-Mr. President, the remark of Captain Everest that we were begging for a place to meet, proves nothing. If we have to beg for a place to meet once, it seems to me we would have to beg a good deal more for a place to meet permanently, perhaps; and it occurs to me that as the years go by, our meetings will assume less of a public character, and I for one will be very glad when that time comes. Let us appoint a permanent place to meet that has ample hotel-room; and if we do not get any invitations to meet elsewhere, go there and meet, and be beholden to no one. If the people choose to recognize us, all right. If they do not, we are big enough to take care of ourselves. [Applause.] I was rather glad than otherwise, to hear that the committee was not flooded with invitations. I would much rather the Society would make their appointments, and go and take their chances on the recognition the public desire to accord them. I am not afraid of the consequences. Let us appoint our meetings from year to year without reference to invitations. Those are my sentiments. I would much rather go and have a good time with the boys, and perhaps not have so much public recognition, although I appreciate all that the different cities have done for us, and I feel their kindness as deeply as any one. This committee, that is to be appointed, will have one very grave consideration before it, and that is the expense of a permanent headquarters. Our annual dues are very small, and properly so, and we cannot afford a very large outlay, and unless some way can be devised whereby we can have permanent headquarters without very great expense, I think the committee will have a good deal of difficulty in figuring anything out. The Secretary can be authorized to hire an office from time to time, and I supposed he had something of the sort, until Colonel Dayton spoke this morn

ing; but I would impress upon the committee the expense of having a permanent headquarters. As for having the meetings at one certain place, I do not think there is any force in the arguments that have been made in favor of that. We can go where we wish and take care of ourselves. [Applause.]

General Dodge presented the following, as embodying the resolution and his proposed amendment:

Resolved, That a committee of five be appointed by the President of the Society, to take into consideration and report to the next annual meeting of the Society, first: The securing of a permanent location as headquarters for this Society, and what yearly expense it will likely incur; second: The advisability of holding our annual meetings at such, or at some other permanent location. Colonel Pearson:-I accept that in lieu of my resolution.

General Chetlain:-Mr. President, the difficulty seems to be, of getting our appointments at this place and that the lack of members in certain places. We are scattered all over the country. For instance in Detroit, there are only two or three members. In Chicago, we are more favored, because we have there some eighty members. One-fourth of the membership of our Society is in Chicago, and there we get along more easily. That ought to be considered. We are so scattered over the country that we have got to go somewhere where there are enough of our members to take the matter in hand, without borrowing from other societies.

Major Beardsley:-Mr. President, I am a citizen of Rock Island, and have been for many years. The citizens here consider themselves highly honored by the presence of this Society in their midst. While the citizens of Rock Island or any other city may feel proud of the presence of these distinguished gentlemen, I think the resolution that is offered, is proper, and worthy of our consideration. I do not believe in these portable governments. In the army, we had headquarters, and we knew where to go. We went to Grant and Sherman and such men as those. We did not have the Generals come to us. The nation has recognized, in the last three years, that there is a convention city, a city where the air is good and the water is pure, and it is magnificent in the times of the year when we meet there in convention. Their accommodations are greater than we can give you here. It is im

possible in the smaller cities with the limited accommodations that we have, to give the magnificent and kindly offices that can be given in that grand city upon the lake. This is not the time to argue at what point or place our headquarters should be, but let any man say if there is any city like that queen city, that has risen from its ashes, and has become greater and greater as time has rolled on. I say it is a place where every old soldier can manage to go at cheap rates, to visit the Army of the Tennessee. There we ought to have the headquarters. We like to have these meetings come to us, but I do not believe it is advisable to cry down this proposition; but let the committee be appointed to take this matter into consideration, and see whether or not we can establish permanent headquarters where we can at all times find some members of the grand Army of the Tennessee that we represent here to-day.

Captain Reid:-Mr. President, if I rightly understand the object of the organization of the Society of the Army of the Tennessee, as stated in the representatives chamber at the capitol at Raleigh, North Carolina, in 1865, it is to perpetuate the memories of the Army of the Tennessee. I recognized then that this Society was to be, as it were, a continuation of the habits of the army, as practiced during that year. The idea that we should become fixed is entirely repugnant to me as a member of the Society of the Army of the Tennessee. To return again and capture Fort Donelson would be ridiculous. The Army of the Tennessee moved from one river to the other, finally crossed the continent, and swept the whole face of North America, as it were, gaining a reputation for .being migratory, and let us in heaven's name continue it. [Laughter and applause.] Doctor Plummer's statement that we can only hope to add to our membership by holding our annual meetings at points remote from each other is correct. I believe Colonel Dayton will bear me out in the statement that we gain in our membership at the annual meetings. I was certainly disappointed to learn that we had no fixed home, no place where relics, papers of importance and such matters were kept. In the army, move where we would, camp where we might, in mind we reverted to some place, shadowy, that we call God's country, some place to which we might return. Let us have some permanent headquarters, in charge of the able gentlemen who have for so many years conducted the correspondence