MAY 1. 1848. 171 



confirmed by the Council, and are described in the following- 

 document, the perusal of which makes it obvious that there is 

 great diiiiculty in dealing legally with many cases ; and the 

 Council submit to the consideration of the Meeting whether it 

 may not be desirable to amend the Bye- Laws, or to seek for new 

 powers in their cliarter. 



" Rei'okt to the Council from the Finance Committkp^, 

 agreed to March 23, 1848. 



" The Finance Committee think it desirable that they should now 

 report to the Council what progress they have made in reducing- 

 the arrears due to the Society by Fellow s. They therefore beg 

 to state that their first meeting was held on the 16th of Decem- 

 ber, 1846, and their last, at which this Report was agreed to, 

 on the 23rd of March, 1848. During this period they have 

 held seven meetings. 



In the course of their inquiry they have been furnished with 

 various memoranda from the Treasurer and the late Accountant- 

 Clerk, upon which and their own knowledge they have disposed 

 of 32.3 cases, each case having been separately inquired into. 

 The Committee have found that many names of Fellows have 

 remained upon the Society's books, of whom some have long- 

 since formally resigned, leaving their arrears unpaid ; others have 

 alleged that they had resigned long since, although not form- 

 ally, as required by the bye-laws, and the Society had no official 

 knowledge of their intention ; others are bankrupts or insolvents ; 

 others appear to be dead, although no such proof of their decease 

 has reached the Society as would have justified their being struck 

 off the list of the Fellows ; others have been habitually in arrear, 

 paying their subscriptions fi-om time to time as suited their con- 

 venience ; others have died leaving half a year's subscription 

 unpaid ; others have been elected subject to a nominal payment 

 of half a year, which it is not customary to claim, and which 

 should have been reported to the Council by the Accountant- 

 Clerk in order that it might be cancelled. Moreover, they have 

 found the names of many persons wrongfully inserted by the 

 Accountant-Clerk in the list of Fellows, with many years' sub- 

 scriptions accumulated against them, although, having never 

 paid their admission-fees, they had never become Fellows, and 

 consequently were not liable to any annual subscription whatso- 

 ever. 



These cases have been divided by the Committee into three 

 classes : — 



Of the first class, consisting of persons against whom the 



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