Bengal National Chamber of Commerce Report of the Committee For The Year 1931

List of Associations Affiliated to the Chamber xi A Brief History of the Bengal National Chamber of Commerce 1 Proceedings of the Annual General Meeting held on the 5th February 1932 6-3o Secretary's Report 7 Presidential Speech Adoption of the Report of the Committee and the 'Statement of Receipts and Disbursements for the year 1931 25 Election of Office-bearers and Members of the Executive Commi [...] cjjelucive to the interests of the commercial classes of Bengal." Early Beginnings The opening paragraph of the Report of the first Executive Com mittee submitted to the first Annual General Meeting of the Chamber held on Monday the 3oth April r888 reveals how keenly they felt the humble position of the Indian mercantile community. [...] The principle of Local Self-Government was first recognised by the Government in the matter of the administration of the Calcutta Port Trust in 1888 when they introduced in the Bengal Council a Bill for amending the Calcutta Port Trust Act and providing for the election of four representatives from the Bengal Chamber of Commerce and one from the Calcutta Trades' Association. [...] In 1888 the Marquiss of Lansdowne the then Viceroy of India in replto the address of welcome presented by the Chamber to His Lordship upon his assumption of the office of Viceroy acclaimed the Bengal National Chamber of Commerce as the accredited exponents of the views of the Native mercantile classes of Bengal." Twenty-two years later Lord Hardinge in reply to the address of welcome prese [...] To recount only a few of such problems I should refer to the various issues involved in the immnent change in the constitution of India the budgetary and financial problems of the year and last but not least the momentous developments in the currency system of the country which proved so disturbing to the commercial community for the uncertainties involved and so dangerously harmful to the ec