STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 207 



Mr. Pearce arose and stated that he dissented entirely from all of 

 the report except that part agreeing to the correctness of the 

 accounts of the Secretary and Treasurer. He was a member of the 

 executive committee; was not present at their meeting in August, 

 but approved their acts. He did not see how any committee could 

 have acted differently. 



Mr. Underwood. As chairman of the executive committee, I 

 will say that the finance committee appears to have overlooked the 

 fact that the action of the executive committee was fully author- 

 ized by resolution of the society last winter, which will be found 

 on page 137 of the report of 1883, and also that the understanding 

 was the same at the meeting in June last, without a dissenting 

 vote at either meeting. If anybody has violated this old forgotten 

 by-law, adopted when we had no funds but membership fees and 

 not much of that, it is the society itself, not the committee; and it 

 has been doing this outrage on itself every year for three or four 

 years past, ever since we got our State appropriation. 



What does the finance committee think we could have done 

 in this Philadelphia business, anyway, with fifty dollars ? Or how 

 could we have got out our premium lists and paid our awards? If 

 this report is made in earnest, and anybody is really dissatisfied, 

 the members of the executive committee are ready to foot the 

 whole bill and take it all in stock in the medal. 



C. L. Smith. It appears that the cost of the collection and 

 exhibit, delegate's expenses, etc., is less than $400, and of this 

 $200 was paid by the Grovernor. Instead of any idea of extrava- 

 gance, I have often heard expressions of surprise that so much 

 could have been done with so little money. 



Col. Stevens. The general opinion is that the whole matter was 

 well devised by the executive committee, and well and economi- 

 cally managed by Mr. Gibbs. The State is proud of it, and de- 

 lighted with the honors paid us in the award of the medal. It is 

 worth to the State of Minnesota all that this society has cost in 

 seventeen years. 



Truman M. Smith. If there is any fault it is with the society. 



Mr. Grould read the resolution of last winter referred to by Mr. 

 Underwood. 



C. L. Smith. I move that so much of the report as approves the 

 accounts of the Secretary and Treasurer be adopted, and the rest 

 of it be stricken out. 



Mr. Fuller. I will say for the committee that we have acted 

 conscientiously in this matter. We found the by-law, and we also 



