PROCEEDINGS AT GENERAL MEETINGS. 01 



plying with the rules of the charter. As I read the rule, the Directors shall only 

 invest money suhject to the approval of a general meeting. 



Mr Murray of Dollerie said that the sum of L.500 was still in hand, and that 

 it was the intention of the Directors to invest the money so soon as they found a 

 suitable investment, which would he submitted to the next general meeting. 



Mr Lyall said he observed from the accounts that there had been a sum of 

 L. 2479, ICs. invested, and he had not heard that there had been any approval 

 asked at this meeting. 



Sir William Gibson-Craig said that the usual course had been followed in this 

 ease. It was stated in the accounts that the sum had been invested, and it had 

 been presented to the meeting for approval. 



The subject then dropped, and the accounts were agreed to. 



Argyll Naval Fund. — Admiral Sir William Hope Johnstone gave in the 

 accounts of the Argyll Naval Fund, which were approved. 



The Aberdeen Show, 1868. — Mr Kinloch, yr. of Gilmerton, said that he had 

 to state, for the information of the meeting, that the last general show of the Society, 

 held at Aberdeen in August last, was a successful one, although it would cost 

 them something like L.450. He was much pleased to hear the opinion of the 

 noble Duke, the late President, about it. The exhibition of stock in those classes 

 in which His Grace took part was acknowledged to be first-rate. He regretted 

 that he could not say that the exhibition in all the other classes was equally 

 successful. For instance, the exhibition of thoroughbred horses was a complete 

 and wretched failure. The exhibition of this class of stock at Kelso was bad 

 enough, but at Aberdeen it was ten times worse. He hoped that hereafter the 

 Directors would not allow local pressure to cause them to offer prizes for stock 

 which they themselves did not approve of. The exhibition of Clydesdale horses 

 and Ayrshire cattle was not such as they were accustomed to see at the shows of 

 the Society ; but there were special reasons for that in the refusal of the railway 

 companies to make certain concessions in their regulations for the conveyance of 

 stock. He then alluded to the opposition show held in Glasgow by those gentle- 

 men who did not send their stock, owing to the failure to make a suitable arrange- 

 ment with the railway companies. These gentlemen would have met with the 

 sympathy of the members of the Society ; but what did they do ? At the last 

 moment they organised an opposition show in Glasgow, to be held on the same 

 day as the Society's show. He could only wish that these exhibitors had heard 

 the remarks that were made in the show-yard at Aberdeen in regard to their con- 

 duct. When they read in the newspapers of the following clay that the " show on 

 Tuesday in Glasgow was the most successful of the kind that had been held," they 

 knew that the animals so exhibited were the animals that should have been stand- 

 ing in the empty stalls at Aberdeen. He supposed, however, that bygones must 

 be bygones. He was glad to state that, owing to the kind services of Mr Stirling 

 of Kippendavie, he had good hopes that the railway companies would make some 

 concessions previous to the Edinburgh Show. He trusted they would be able to 

 announce that horses and bulls would be carried free on their return journey in 

 horse-boxes, and also that all stock might be conveyed to and from the show in 

 special cattle trains. That, he knew, did not fully meet the demands of the 

 requisitionists in the south-western districts ; but he hoped they would give the 

 Directors credit for having gone carefully into the matter. He might say that it 

 was the unanimous opinion of the Directors that it would be unreasonable to ask 

 anything more of the railway companies. In connection with the Show at Aber- 

 deen, he felt bound, on the part of the Directors, to apologise to those gentlemen 

 who were kind enough to act as their judges for the entertainment that was given 

 them. The entertainment was not such as the Society had a right to expect in 

 what was considered to be a first-class hotel. He complained of the public dinner, 

 and said that they could have got in any small market town, at a 3s. 6d. ordinary, 

 such a dinner as was served to them at the contract price of half-a-guinea a-head. 

 The fact was that he and Mr Menzies had so much to do in the show-yard that 

 they could not look after that matter properly, and he hoped that the Directors 

 would arrange that the duty should be discharged by others who would be able to 

 give attention to it, and see that their guests were properly attended to. He 

 begged now to move as follows : — 



"1. That the best thanks of the Society be given to Alexander Nicol, Esq., 

 Lord Provost, and to the Magistrates of the city of Aberdeen, for their cordial 



