April 6, 1905 J 



NA TURE 



539 



The success of the scheme is shown by the fact that 

 It has resulted in a considerable profit ; of this one half 

 has been returned to the subscribers in the form of 

 additional whole-plate photographs, and the other half 

 will provide funds for carrying on the worl< of the 

 committee for at least four years. In a strictly business 

 undertaking it is to be presumed that a good slice of 

 the profits would disappear in " wages of superintend- 

 ence," and subscribers may therefore regard their 

 additional photographs as a gift from Prof. Watts. 



THE SOCIETY OF ARTS AND THE LONDON 

 INSTITUTION. 



ON Wednesday next a special meeting of proprietors 

 of the London Institution will be held to consider 

 a scheme for its amalgamation with the Society of 

 Arts. Founded in 1805 by merchants and bankers of 

 the City of London, given a charter two years later, and 

 housed in its present imposing, if rather sombre, pre- 

 mises in i8ig, the London Institution has done good 

 work in its day. The object of its founders was to 

 maintain, in what was then a central position, an ex- 

 tensive general library of reference, comprising works 

 of intrinsic value and utility in all languages; to pro- 

 vide reading rooms for periodical publications and 

 interesting contemporaneous pamphlets ; and to pro- 

 mote the diffusion of knowledge bv lectures and co)i- 

 vcnazioni. But since the foundation of the institution 

 circumstances have greatly changed, and not to the 

 advantage of the institution. In 1817, and for many 

 years afterwards, the City contained a large residential 

 population, which for a long time past has been 

 gradually disappearing, until now the number of pro- 

 prietors who use the institution as a centre of intellec- 

 tual culture is comparatively small, and is more likely 

 to grow smaller than to increase. In these circum- 

 stances the board of management has recognised that 

 if the institution is to live and thrive some scheme 

 must be devised for increasing its usefulness, and the 

 proposal to amalgamate with the Society of Arts is the 

 outcome of prolonged consideration of a difficult 

 problem. 



The Society of .\rts carries on to a large extent work 

 of the same nature as that for which the London Insti- 

 tution was founded, but whereas the institution has 

 suffered from residential changes, the society was never 

 more prosperous. But it, too, has had its ups and 

 downs. In the early 'forties of the last century it 

 began to show signs of decrepitude, and in 1841 a 

 committee was appointed to examine its position and 

 make recommendations. But little seems to have been 

 done until measures were taken for obtaining a Royal 

 Charter of Incorporation, which was granted in 1847. 

 Tlien it was proposed to hold an exhibition of English 

 industry. Prizes for modern industrial art were offered, 

 and eagerly competed for, and bv 1S50 the membership 

 had risen again to 1500. .\n exhibition of ancient and 

 mediaeval art was held which was verv successful, and 

 a proposal to hold an international exhibition cul- 

 minated in the Great Exhibition of 1S51. Since then 

 the Society of .Arts has done much good work in pro- 

 moting industrial art and encouraging inventive 

 genius. Tlie prosperity of the 'fifties was followed bv 

 some lean years, but for a generation past it has been 

 highly prosperous, largely owing to the sagacious 

 guidance of its present secretary. Sir Henry Wood has 

 always attached great importance to the constitution of 

 the council of the societv. He has not onlv sought for 

 and found eminent men, he has got those who were 

 willing to give time and attention to the affairs of the 

 society, men like Sir Frederick Bramwell, Sir F. .Abel, 

 Sir W. Siemens, .Sir Dousrlas Galton. Lord .Mverstone, 

 Sir J. W. Barry, Sir \V. Preece, the Duke of .Abercorn, 



and Sir W. Abney. All these gentlemen have served 

 as chairmen of the council, and the society owes them 

 much. 



Both institutions are financially strong. The London 

 Institution possesses a site which is worth at least 

 150,000/., besides a fund invested in consols of the 

 present value of 31,000/. Its income in 1903 was 

 3383/., and its expenditure was 3616/. The Society of 

 .Arts has an annual income which last year exceeded 

 1 1,000/., a capital fund of about 20,000/., which has 

 accumulated from surplus income during the last 

 twenty years, and trust funds amounting to nearly 

 15,000/. What, then, are the inducements to the one 

 institution and the other to consent to an amalgama- 

 tion? It is not proposed that either should absorb the 

 other. The suggestion is amalgamation into a single 

 body for the promotion of science, art, and literature, 

 and their practical applications, the members of each 

 corporation preserving all their present rights, and 

 sharing in the government of the new institution and 

 in the direction of its future action. 



The determining consideration with the Society of 

 Arts is that the amalgamation would give it a per- 

 manent local building. The society does not own its 

 premises. They were built for it by the Brothers .Adam 

 in 1774, but the lease has run out, and it is^ now 

 practically a tenancy at will. Moreover, the building 

 is inadequate for the growing needs of the society, and 

 the funds at its disposal are not sufficient to enable it 

 to build for itself, whereas by amalgamation with the 

 London Institution, which would sell its Finsbury pre- 

 mises, ample funds would be available. It is believed 

 that the accommodation required could be got for a 

 sum of 100,000/.. and a suitable site found "east of 

 Charing Cross and west of Chancery Lane." If it 

 were decided to erect a building of sufficient size there 

 are several other societies who would probably be pre- 

 pared to join in the scheme, separate and distinct 

 accommodation being provided for each, much as 

 Burlington House now accommodates a number of 

 independent institutions. 



The amalgamation would give the London Institu- 

 tion a large accession of annual income, and the 

 revenues of the new institution would justify the ex- 

 tinction in perpetuity of the annual payment of two 

 guineas now required from the proprietors of the 

 London Institution, while leaving them a permanent 

 property in their shares disposable by will, or otherwise, 

 as heretofore, the Society of Arts having approved of 

 this as one of the terms of amalgamation. It would 

 be part of the arrangement that any proprietor pre- 

 ferring to withdraw from the scheme and to surrender 

 his share would be enabled to do so, and be paid 25/. 

 in discharge of his rights and interests in such_ share. 

 Those who remained would be members of an institu- 

 tion of verv great importance and influence, well en- 

 dowed, and in a position to carry into effect many 

 objects of the highest public, scientific, and economic 

 importance. 



It is not to be supposed that the proposed amalgama- 

 tion will be carried through without encountering 

 opposition, but it will probably be found that a very 

 large majority of both institutions is prepared to accept 

 it. In the opinion of eminent counsel, the effect of its 

 charter is to constitute the London Institution in a 

 legal sense a charity, with the result that its property 

 and funds are impressed with a charitable trust, and 

 cannot be divided or applied to any other purpose than 

 that prescribed by the charter. Consequently, the 

 propertv could not be divided up without serious risk. 

 If the amalgamation is to be carried through, the 

 most convenient and least costly way of carrying it into 

 effect would be to promote an .Act of Parliament for 

 the purpose, and. granted the authorisation of general 

 meetings, this will be done. But an .Act cannot be got 



NO. 1849, VOL. 71] 



