March 11, 1675. ] 



JOtJBNAL OF H0BTICULTCB3 AND COTTAGE GABDENEB, 



195 



of the Council free from objection [loud cheers]. UnJer these 

 circumstances I am to inform you that the Commissioners will 

 have pleasure in resuming oflicial relations with the Council of 

 the Society " [applause] . I doubt not, gentlemen, that dispatch 

 is satisfactory to you to hear as it has been to the Council to 

 receive [hear, hear]. We are now in the position we have long 

 desired to be — in immediate relations with Her Majesty's Com- 

 missioners, which has, as we believe, smoothed the way to an 

 amicable and equitable discussion of the bases on which the 

 affairs of this Society are to be administered ; and we think that 

 with these amicable relations existing between us and the Com- 

 missioners nothing need stand in the future between us and 

 financial success, and the success of the Society in the aspect of 

 a horticultural body [cheers]. Passing away for a moment 

 from that, I touch for one moment on the position of the Society 

 with regard to horticulture ; and perhaps you will allow me to 

 say two preliminary words with regard to my own position. I 

 know it has been thoujiht, as appears from some of our horti- 

 cultural journals, that I am one of those outside Fellows — those 

 " local " Fellows as I believe they are called — who are not alto- 

 gether acceptable to horticulturists pure and simple. Well, 

 gentlemen, 1 beg to say for myself I am President of the Royal 

 Horticultural Society, and as such I am neither a "local" 

 Fellow nor a " horticultural" Fellow [laughter]. Since I have 

 had the honour of occupying this chair I have never, in all the 

 meetings I have attended, done anything which would further 

 in a greater degiee the interests or the objects of "local" 

 Fellows or the local objects of horticulture. I felt it was my 

 duty as chief of your Society to maintain an entirely neutral 

 position [Lear, hear], and I trust all those who know me, and 

 I trust all who sit around me, will support me when I say such 

 is the position which I have always assumed [cheers]. There- 

 fore, gentlemen, I request you to take an honest expression of my 

 opinion — as indei^endent an opinion as it is possible for me to 

 form. I should oppose any action on the part of " local " Fellows 

 I thought injurious to the well-being of the Society ; and I would 

 equally, if I found it necessary, oppose any action of the section 

 called "horticultural " if I thought it was injurious [hear] ; and 

 I consider in so doing I should be loyal to both, because I 

 should be loyal to the Society to which both belong [applause]. 

 Under these circumstances I have been exceedingly sorry to 

 learn it was the intention of the purely horticultural section of 

 the Society to oppose the adoption of our Report this day. I 

 trust the opposition which has thus lieen announced is only the 

 opposition of a very few members of the Society [hear, hear]. 

 You must remember that on your Council at the present 

 moment there is an actual majority of what are called " horti- 

 cultural " Fellows. I am sorry that distinction between " hor- 

 ticultural " and "local" Fellows has ever arisen [hear, hear]. 

 I believe it is injurious to the best interests of the Society, and 

 that unless you can get rid of it your Society will go altogether 

 to the wall [hear, hear]. I can asEure you at the Council 

 Board upstairs that division is not felt, and that the interests 

 of the Society have been invariably brought to the front, and 

 that our duties have not been regulated by a broad liue divid- 

 ing the "horticultural" and "local" Fellows, but by the in- 

 dependent opinion of members as to the best interests of 

 the Society. When such is the case with the Council you 

 have called upon to represent you, such should assuredly be 

 the case outside these walls. And I think if the Society 

 will reflect upon the position in which we now are, they will 

 find that all "horticultural" Fellows and "local" Fellows 

 — if you still retain the name — are equally willing to sup- 

 port the Council on the present occasion. It is true we have 

 been in great financial embarrassment. We are still in great 

 financial embarrassment. Our best escape from that is not 

 by throwing-up the game in despair [cries of hear, hear], but 

 by putting our shoulders to the wheel and working together 

 [cheers]. We see now, being in amity with Her Majesty's Com- 

 missioneiB, an opportunity of landing you in smooth wa't^r ; but 

 this is scarcely the time to propose to surrender the gardens we 

 have held under agreement into the hands of Her Majesty's Com- 

 missioners. I thmk we may truly say that is a suggestion un- 

 English and, indeed, cowardly [hear, hear], and I will further 

 say that from all personal communications with Her Majesty's 

 Commissioners I am satisfied they are not desirous of possessing 

 these gardens. I go farther — they would feel a certain embarrass- 

 ment in the possession of these gardens from which we as 

 partners with them in the gardens and well-wishers of the 

 Society should relieve them. Therefore I_ think if any " horti- 

 cultural " Fellow proposes to throw upon o'ur bands this Report, 

 which has been carefully taken and remodelled to meet the 

 objections expressed at the Annual General Meeting of the 

 Society, and if they do not adopt this Report, I think they will 

 commit a mistake in the interests of the Society. It has been 

 said the present Council have not sufficiently devoted themselves 

 to the interests of horticulture pure and simple. One of the 

 objections made is that the schedule proposed for 1875 has not 

 been adhered to, and that the four shows advertised in the 

 schedule have been withdrawn by the Society. When the 

 matter was brought before the CouncU they went into it on its 



merits. They found that the funds did not admit of paying the 

 large sum which was set apart for prizes. When you have no 

 money you can spend no money. We were therefore bound to 

 make a reduction in that respect, and the mode of reduction was 

 the questiou. We proposed to do it by withdrawing four of the 

 Shows advertised, and we were told by members of our Council 

 who well represent the interests of horticulture that that would 

 not be agreeable to horticultural interests generally, and we 

 therefore appointed a committee and gave them this instruction 

 — " It is absolutely necessary that if these prizes be given we 

 should save a certain sum of money ; if you can retain all the 

 shows advertised in the original schedule and still show the 

 saving we will reconsider the schedule." We appointed to that 

 committee gentlemen who had an entire ac(iuaintance with and 

 the respect of the horticultural world. Their report has been 

 now presented to us, and I have the satisfaction to tell you that 

 all the shows advertised to be held in 1875 will be held [hear, 

 hear], but that of course, as we have not money to pay all the 

 prizes to their full extent, we must diminish the amount of the 

 prizes. We have taken the opinion of many of the smaller 

 exhibitors who would have been shut out from the exhibition 

 by the non-holding of these four shows ; and also the opinion of 

 the larger exhibitors, who are very much concerned in the 

 matter. The latter have very handsomely said they would 

 exhibit whatever the amount of prizes might be, and that ia 

 because, as I hope and firmly believe, our horticultural exhibi- 

 tions are not intended simply for the money value of the prizes 

 they bring, but iu the distinction gained by those who win 

 prizes [hear, hear]. I hope that will be taken as an evidence of 

 the strong desire on the part of the Council to meet the views of 

 the horticultural members of the Society as far as it is consistent 

 with their funds to do. I do not think, gentlemen, there are 

 many more subjects on which I need detain you. There is one 

 point which at one time I thought might have produced some 

 discussion at this meeting, and that is that since the com- 

 mencement of this meeting, of which this is an adjourn- 

 ment, two of the members of our Council have fouud it neces- 

 sary to withdraw from our Council Board. The gentlemen 

 so resigning were members who have always taken a most 

 active part in the affairs of our Society. They have brought 

 to bear upon the management of the Society the exceedingly 

 valuable qualities of industry and of ability, and the Council 

 regret their absence ; and the Society, I am sure, will regret 

 their absence extremely, because they are very strong props 

 of the Society [hear, hear]. It was thought at one time 

 that their vacancies would come before this meeting to be 

 filled-up, and it was well, therefore, for the Council to be 

 clearly aware of what their legal position was on that matter 

 before they met the Fellows here to-day. The Council have 

 obtained the joint opinion of Mr. Cole, Q.C., and of Mr. Lind- 

 ley, Q.C., both being names which will command the assent of 

 all present here, because we all know their high legal standing 

 and their deeply solid acquaintance with the affairs of the 

 Society. We are informed that under the bye-law, the validity 

 of which is not impugned, vacancies caused by the resignationa 

 of Sir Alfred Slade and Mr. Chetwynd must be flUed-up by the 

 Council, and not by the Fellows generally. They were elected 

 at the Annual General Meeting, and to far as that election is 

 concerned the business of that meeting is at an end. The re- 

 signations, therefore, of these two gentlemen will come in 

 the ordinary form before the Council, and will not be sub- 

 mitted to the Fellows of the Society. In support of that, as I 

 believe there is some difference of opinion among members of 

 the Society, I will read to you counsels' opinion. [Several 

 members, " Taken as read."] Well, then, gentlemen, you may 

 take it on my word that question shall not trouble us or come 

 before us at all. I think, gentlemen, I have now touched upon 

 the principal topics which it is my duty to notice. I am glad 

 to say that our relations with Her Majesty's Commissionera 

 are now of a perfectly amicable character, and that if any 

 body can carry throughout to its desired consummation the 

 affairs of the Society, the Council which have now the honour 

 of addressing you have as good a chance as anybody else 

 [cheers]. There is one point which, perhaps, it might be ad- 

 visable for me for a moment to advert to, because upon it I 

 have heard that some Fellows found an objection to our Report 

 — and that is the last two clauses of the Report which say, 

 "This increased revenue the Council suggest may be obtained 

 by concerted action on the part of the Fellows whether resident 

 in the neighbourhood or not, and by increasing the number of 

 Fellows. The Council are prepared to invite a general meeting 

 of Fellows to discuss this question in detail. A definite scheme 

 will then be submitted for consideration." Now, gentlemen, I 

 have heard it said that the wish of some of the Fellows is to 

 send back this Report to us — in other words, to adjourn the 

 meeting until we can tell them what that proposal ia. Now I 

 say distinctly that that clause was worded in the way it waa 

 deliberately and advisedly. The first object we had before na 

 at the meeting of the 9th of February, of which this is the ad- 

 journment — and the only object in point of fact we had before 

 US — waa to obtain such recognition from Her Majesty's Com- 



