was laid before the Council the power was cut down to IJd., and when 

 subsequently under the Borough Funds Act, the Bill was remitted to a 

 Ratepayers' Meeting, the clause was struck out altogether. 



The only alternative, therefore, is to reduce the expenditure, which 

 might be done either by striking oif some branches which might not be 

 considered essential, or by cutting down the expenditure all round. 



Suggestions were made to abandon the Lending Libraries, to close the 

 Reading Rooms, or to give up the Lectures, but the Committee, after 

 serious and anxious consideration, are unwilling to curtail the usefulness, 

 and restrict the operations which have been so successful until compelled 

 by absolute necessity to do so. They have, therefore, determined to perse- 

 vere for the present, at least, in maintaining every branch in its integrity. 

 They cannot of course exceed the amount allotted by vote of the Council, 

 and the experience of the coming year will determine their course in the 

 future. 



The standing expenses of maintenance, salaries, lighting, cleaning, 

 rates and taxes, &c., cannot be reduced. Unfortunately any reduction 

 has to come oif that portion of the expenditure which is the life-blood of 

 the institution, viz., the purchase of books in the Libraries and of speci- 

 mens in the Museums. For this the Committee are not responsible. 

 Their duty is to expend the income placed in their hands in the best 

 manner for the furtherance of the great educational objects entrusted to 

 them, and this they will endeavour to do to the utmost of their power. 



A collateral subject has also to be reported. Mention was made in the 

 last report of the decease of Mr. Joseph Mayer, the founder and donor of 

 the Museum of historical art, which bears his name. It was always his 

 intention to have completed his magnificent gift by bequeathing the 

 remainder of his collections to the City, but circumstances arose which 

 prevented this being carried out. 



It was the desire of his executors that the collections in their hands 

 should be transferred to the City for a sum moderate in proportion to 

 their value. This was estimated at £10,000, but by eliminating such 

 portions as did not necessarily appertain to a museum, the amount was 

 reduced to about ^6,000, and the terms of payment made so easy that an 

 annual outlay of £300 would suffice to purchase the entire. A proposition 

 was laid before the Council to remit the subject to the Finance Committee, 



