634 



financial statement sliows a small balance of £1 16s. lOd. due 

 to the Treasurer. Tlie annual exhortations by the Hon. Secre- 

 tary requesting the members to promptly meet their 

 obligations do not appear to have met with a ready response, 

 for the following year the subscriptions had still further fallen 

 off, and the amount due to the Treasurer had increased to .£30. 



The Council recognize-d two possible ways of adjusting 

 this unsatisfactory state of its finances. The first was by 

 curtailment of expenses, which could not be done without 

 diminishing the usefulness or impairing the attractiveness of 

 the Society; the other way was by a material increase in its 

 membership. The second alternative was chosen as a solution 

 of the difficulty, but it evidently failed, for in 1868 it 

 was found necessary to realize upon the property. This 

 was done by effecting a sale of some museum cases to the 

 S.A. Institute for a sum of £40. As these same cases had 

 cost them £50 a few years previously, the transaction could 

 not be regarded as altogether a favourable one. It enabled 

 the Society, however, to restore the Treasurer's account to an 

 equilibrium, leaving it with a small credit balance for 

 the year. This balance was increased the following year, 

 by a still further encroachment upon the property. This 

 time it was a sale to the Institute of the valuable set of 

 Transactions of the Royal Society of London, for a sum 

 slightly in excess of the original cost. The proceeds of the 

 sale were received in two annual instalments. The cost of 

 printing the yearly report and transactions for the succeeding 

 year was, however, greatly in excess of what had been pre- 

 viously paid, so that 1870 ended with a much more slender 

 balance than had been anticipated. 



The colony had now fallen upon troublous times, and 

 these were reflected in the fortunes and finances of the Society. 

 In its report for the two years ended September 30, 1872, 

 the Council, while expressing its satisfaction at the growing 

 interest in its proceedings by the public, as exhibited in their 

 general attendance at its meetings, nevertheless directs atten- 

 tion to the fact, so significant of the times through which it 

 was passing, that out of 62 ordinary members, only 34 had 

 paid their subscriptions for the current year. 



It is not therefore surprising, that a letter dated 8/2/71 

 should be found amongst the correspondence in the Archives, 

 asking the S.A. Institute to reduce the contribution to £12 

 per annum. Two reasons are advanced in support of this 

 request: (1) "Because we can secure a comfortable room in 

 the Town Hall for 10s. 6d. per meeting," and (2) "because 

 our expenditure is in excess of our income." The request 

 was granted. 



