The Daily Alaska empire., 1948-09-22
CANADIANS N BETTING C
 ALASkANS
Delegates of Boards of Trade. Chambers of Com-
 merle Are in Session

The promise of an ever-develop. ing relationship between Alaska and
 Central British Columbia, was the
 keynote of the opening session of
 the Associated Boards of Trade of
 Central British Columbia and af- filiated Chambers of Commerce of
 Southeast Alaska, which was held this morning in the Elks Hall In attendance were Fl delegates and visitors from Canada, members of the Juneau, Haines. and Ketchikan l Chambers of Commerce. i Dr. L. M. Greene, President of the
 Association. officially opened the 17th Convention and stated that it marked great and historic occa- Ision as this is the first meeting ever held on American soil. Gov. Ernest Gruening voiced the hope of all Alaskans when he stated that he would like to see develop n.ent of closer relationship be- tween the two neighboring regions for the mutual progress of both countries. In conclusion, the Cover nor said that it was his hope that
 this was not the last but the first | of many meetings to help solve mu- tual problems.
 Delegates Welcomed On behalf of the City of Juneau, Mayor Waino Hendrickson welcom- ed the delegates and stated that the city was honored to have heen ch6s-
 en as a meeting place for the
 group Joseph Mclean. President of the Juneau Chamber. which is
 host fnr .the. ocqasipP welcomed the !, Canadians and outlined the pro-
 gram of enterta nment that has
 been arranged
 /; Four Past Presidents of the ABT
 are in attendance at the Conven- ton and President Greene called upon them for few words
 George McAdams, Past President
 from Terrace, stated it was his personal belief that the boundaries
 separating Canada and America
 should be completely obliterated and he believes that this meeting will help materially toward that ob- jective. Tn conclusion. he reminded the delegates that what we say here will ring bell both in Wash Iington, D. o., and Ottawa"
 Juneau Complimented
 Frank Dockrill. former President from Telkwa. praised Juneau for the substantial progress that has been made since his last visit in 1904.
 He said that as citizens of the
 United States and Canada. we should recognize that we are on the spot in world affairs. To ward ioff other idealogies, it is our duty to show that the free enterprise system will provide better govern : ment and better living. This grave responsibility can te met, Dockrill Istated, by everyone accepting indi- vidual responsibility.
 Other past presidents speaking were J w. H. Day of vanderhoof. B. C., and Jim Harvey. of Prince Rupert. Officials introduced at the meet ing included: John T. Gawthrop, Direction Regional Development Di- vision of the Department Trade
 and Industry who is representing 1 the government of British Colum-
 bia; H. w. Brighton, Vancouver representative of Department of Trade and Commerce; D. C. Knapp, representative of the Pacific North west Trade Association; w. H.
 Crocker, Field Representative of Department Trade and Industry;
 F. w. Dobson, President of the Northern Interior Lumbermen's As- sociation.
 President Gives Report i President l.. M Green presented
 his report on the yearly activities. He stated that the confirmation of the establishment of Celanese plant at Prince Rupert was the greatest development of the year. He cited the interest of the Alumi- hum Go. of Canada in establish ing an even larger manufacturing plant in the area augured well for igreater progress.
 He reported on the resolutions
 made at the last years convention
 and stated the pressure that they
 had brought to bear on the govern
 ment by the resolutions. would soon show tangible results.
 ! pr. Greene. who was in Scotland
 at the time of his nomination. re-
 ported on his trip to the United
 Kingdom and said three British firms displayed interest in coal