JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



t February 20, 1873. 



had not fair play [loud cheers]. Now, let them discuss the 

 policy which the Council said they were determiued to carry 

 out, and it was for the Meeting to Bay if that was the policy 

 they wished their Council to persist in. It was quite evident 

 the Commissioners wanted something very hadly from the 

 Society. The Exhibition was practically in two halves — one on 

 this side, and the other at Prince's Gate. He believed that 

 without the sanction of the Society not one person could pass 

 through their property, and he had no doubt it would be a very 

 serious thing for the Exhibition Commissioners if they had to 

 pay a very handsome sum to the Society [great laughter]. If 

 he had the bargain to strike he should make them pay smartly 

 [renewed laughter]. But what did the Couucil say? They 

 wanted absolutely to pass all the Exhibition visitors over the 

 Gardens without any payment whatever [no, no, from the 

 Council]. Well, without any payment for that particular pri- 

 vilege [cheers]. The Couucil said "no, no," but he referred 

 now to the financial scheme in the Report, and the first clause 

 stated that the Society was to admit to the Gardens all visitors, 

 except on Sundays; and the second clause gave this quid pro 

 quOy that the Fellows were to be entitled to one non-transferable 

 ticket for the Gardens for each guinea — that was, they were to 

 give up the privilege of introducing, as four-gniuea Fellows, 

 every day six persons, for the magnificent present of four non- 

 transferable tickets for the annual bazaar [laughter and cheers]. 

 That was not the policy he wished to see followed [cheers]. 

 The question amounti^d tothis — " Shall we admit the Exhibition 

 visitors to our Gardens, and if we do, what shall they pay?" 

 Of course, there was a further qiiestiou — " Shall we refuse it 

 altogether, and cut ourselves adrift from the Commissioners, 

 and stand by ourselves on our own account?" Mr. Hardcastle 

 would show theni that when they did so they would have* a large 

 surplus. Last year they made i£1800 out of the Birmingham 

 Show, and that alone would form the foundation of a very re- 

 spectable sinking fund. In 1871 they paid their rent, and they 

 were perfectly safe until 1870 if they paid i^lGO in that year. 



A Fellow. — You are bound to apply the surplus of the year. 



Sir A. Slade. — Yes, but the lurplus only of the receipts of the 

 Gardens, not the surplus of Shows at Bath or elsewhere. He 

 could assure the Meeting he was perfectly up in his subject, and 

 that they would not find him astray [laughter]. He felt certain 

 that the majority of persons in that room were London Fellows, 

 and he asked them to look at the disastrous policy which the 

 Council asked them to persist in. The Gardens would be perfectly 

 ruined, and if they went into them to enjoy horticulture they 

 would find them filled with Exhibition visitors who came thera 

 to eat their sandwiches [hear and a laugh]. The charter stated 

 that the object of the Gardens was for the improvement of 

 horticulture, useful and ornamental, and the arcades were made 

 to keep the gardens from further encroachments. What pur- 

 pose did they serve now? Why, they were use! as exhibi- 

 tion stands, and refreshment buffets for Spiers &Pond [laughter 

 and hear, hear]. Concluding a speech which was frequently 

 applauded in its delivery. Sir A. Slade moved that the Report 

 of the Council, as it at present stands, cannot be received by the 

 Meeting, and that it be not adopted [loud cheers]. 



Mr. A. F. GonsoN rose to ask a question respecting the balance 

 sheets, two of which he held in his hands, which wei"e issued by 

 the same auditors and dated the same day. Both were sent 

 from the Horticultural Society to him, and one showed a differ- 

 ence in income from the other as between 1'13,G00 and i'15,300. 

 Which of these balance sheets were they discussing ? 



A Fellow. — Are we dealing at all with the balance sheets ? 



The Chairman. — No, sir, we are not. 



Mr. Godson. — The balance sheet is in the Report. 



Several Fellows. — None of us have received it [hear, hear]. 



A Member asked what was the precise object Sir A. Slade 

 had in view. 



Sir C. Daubenv. — At the Meeting this day week, Lord Henry 

 Lennox said he should embody Sir A. Slade's resolutions in the 

 Report, and make them a part of it. 



Sir A. Slade. — We are here, I take it, to consider the Report 

 of the Council. I did not press my resolutions last day, and 

 Lord Henry Lennox said he should not do anything until the 

 answer of the Council was given. 



A Fellow. — Should we not simply waste our time by going 

 into the accounts ? I have not seen them. 



Mr. Godson. — But I have [laughter]. 



A Fellow said he was of opinion that before the Annual 

 Meeting the accounts should be circulated amongst the Fellows, 

 so that they could discuss them and agree as to what should be 

 done. Although he was a Fellow of long standing, he had not 

 seen the Report or accounts [oh]. 



Mr. LiGGiNs thought there had been a great breach of faith 

 on the part of the Council [hear, and no] m some things. He 

 thought it the most monstrous thing that he had ever read — 

 that document which the Council asked them to support [cheers, 

 and no-]. He thought it a most disgraceful thing that the Royal 

 Horticultural Society should be ruled by General Scott, a double 

 Secretary, who sat at a Board which was ia direct antagonism 



to the Council [oh, and interruption]. He thought it a great 

 piece of effrontery that the Council should recommend that 

 General Scott should hold that position [hear, no, and con- 

 fusion]. He thought it monstrous to have as their Secretary 

 the Secretary of an Exhibition which ought to have been wound 

 up long ago — which should have been utilised for the public 

 good instead of being kept as a huge bazaar to the great injury 

 of the tradesmen of the country [hear, and laughter]. The 

 Society ought not to place themselves in the hands of Com- 

 missioners like these. What did they actually see taking place ? 

 The noble soldiers of Great Britain whitewashing, under General 

 Scott, the ceilings of the Exhibition [cries of question, and 

 much uproar] . He had been invited there to discuss the Report, 

 and he had never had an opportunity of seeing it. 



The Chairman. — According to one of the bye-laws, the printed 

 copy of the balance sheets may, seven days previous to the 

 Meeting, be given to any member applying for the same. 



Mr. A. F. Godson. — Which is the balance sheet I am asked to 

 believe ? 



General Scott in reply said there tvas a balance sheet as 

 between the Commissioners and the Society. His own opinion 

 was that the Society and the Commissioners were partners, and 

 for this reason — that after they paid their rental and debenture 

 debt, the profits were divided between the two [hear, hear]. 

 One of these statements was drawn up in conformity with the 

 Charter to meet this case of partnership between the Com- 

 missioners and the Society; the other in conformity with a 

 request of the Fellows at a meeting a few years age, that the 

 accounts should be drawn up in such a way as that the Fellows 

 should see what the receipts were and were not. If anything 

 was to blame for having a double account, it was the same 

 disorder in carrying on such a meeting as the present which 

 led to that result [loud cries of order and no]. But it was the 

 case. This second statement had been drawn up in conformity 

 with a resolution passed by the general body of the Fellows. 

 And with reference to the flower shows not appearing in the 

 Commissioners' accounts, they ought not, because it would 

 make a difference between the two statements. With reference 

 to the gains to be made by the country shows, although he 

 had been a little abused that day, he had had a principal hand in 

 starting them. But, then, at Oxford, there was a loss of it'300, 

 at Leicester they made nothing, and for the last six years 

 their total receipts on this account had been only £1800. If 

 there was a partnership between the two bodies it m^y have 

 served to stave off difficulties in the past. As far as he was con- 

 cerned, he should only be too happy to be released from such a 

 position as he occupied [no, no]. Rather than discuss the merits 

 of the Council individually, the Meeting should consider whether 

 they were prepared to pass a vote of confidence in the Council 

 or not, and in saying that he believed he spoke the sentiments 

 of the Council [hear, hear]. 



A Fellow remarked that if the Council had mixed the pro- 

 perty in partnership, it was not quite clear that the Council had 

 not a right to share in the profits made by Her Majesty's Com- 

 missioners [a laugh]. He thought it probable the Court of 

 Chancery might say they were. 



Mr. Lindsay wished it to be understood that those who had 

 come there to oppose the policy of the Couucil did not want to 

 oppose the legitimate harmony which should exist between the 

 Commissioners and the Society [hear, hear] . They felt it to be of 

 the greatest interest to the Society that it should be in harmony 

 with the Commissioners, but they also felt that the policy of 

 the Commissioners tended entirely in the one direction. He 

 felt, as a member of the Society, that did the policy of the 

 Commissioners prevail, all his interest in the Society would be 

 gone altogether. As a four-guinea subscriber, he felt that the 

 tickets under the new policy would be perfectly useless to him, 

 aud that he believed was the opinion of the majority of the 

 Fellows [hear, hear]. It was proposed to take away tlie pri- 

 vileges of the Fellows in order to enable the Exhibition visitors 

 to cross the Gardens to partake of tea and coffee. He looked 

 upon it as a great misfortune that the Exhibition should be 

 there at all, for it was the ruin of the neighbourhood, aud was 

 ruinous to the tradesmen [hear and laughter]. He thought 

 that when there were two parties to an undertaking there ought 

 to be a certain amount of harmony aud courtesy between them, 

 so that if either made a concession that party ought to have a 

 quid pro quo [hear, hear]. What was proposed would be a 

 direct loss to them individually aud collectively. The Council 

 said they should act in harmonj' with the Commissioners, but 

 the latter had proposed a scheme which took away all the 

 Fellows' privileges, aud he thought the way in which it ■\\8i3 

 attempted to settle the business was not creditable to the 

 Council riiear, hear]. The Council said if this policy was net 

 adopted they would resign — that they had come with that alter- 

 native. He had come prepared to say that a Couucil which 

 took up that position ought not to possess the confidence of the 

 Fellows, and ought to resign [cheers]. They now told the 

 Meeting that question was not before them because the Com- 

 I missioners had withdrawn it. Seeing the extraordinary policy 



