Th privilege of presiding at this meeting in San Francisco is an honor, of which a native son of California is sincerely appreciative. Your preceding presidents have presented to you the beginning, the progress, and the future of our Society, which has been the foundation of the specialty of Proctology in America. It would be like putting sand in the mortar for me to attempt to add anything to the structure so well built.

In an effort to depict fully the theme of this address "Our Society Today," and to give due credit to the men, the members of standing and special committees, who are responsible for our present status, I have deviated from the usual trend of presidential addresses, and have asked the chairmen of these several committees to present a brief resume of their work to you.

Our Society, a comparatively small, although a closely allied part of the American Medical Association, is confronted with the common enemy of the American way of life, that is, federalization, regimentation, or socialization of medicine. Although at this moment this subject does not have priority in our law-making bodies, it has not been forgotten and will be brought out with a greater effort when the opportune time arrives. Many States, including California, have voluntary medical plans which are answering a part of the question of pre-paid medical care. This subject will be presented to you by the Chairman of the Committee on Public Policy and Legislation, Doctor Joseph W. Ricketts, our President-elect.