part 1] ANNUAL EEPOET. 



Xlll', 



less than half the pre-war out-turn of printed matter, and this, 

 means a reduction b}?- a half of the time required for editorial, 

 work in the Society's offices ; the same Library expenditure 

 similarly represents a reduction in Avork done, though not to the 

 same extent. With an increasing expenditure on staff there has. 

 been a material diminution in out-turn of work, and the necessity 

 has arisen of revising not merely the scale of remuneration, but 

 the number and duties of our staff. 



II. Review of Present Conditions. 



(•I) In reviewing the present financial condition some reference 

 needs to be made to the Societ3^'s invested funds, which stand at . 

 a book value of £14,191 ; were the realizable value anything like 

 this the amount would be ample, but at present values the invest- 

 ments would not realize more than about £7750 ; of this, too, 

 £475 stands on a different footing from the rest, as it represents, 

 money which, having accumulated at the credit of the Society, 

 was placed at the disjDOsal of the Nation in a time of national 

 emergency, but this had only accumulated through the practical, 

 suspension of publication owing to the war, and should in equity 

 be reserved for bringing up arrears of publication. Deducting 

 this, the actual realizable value of the invested funds is little over 

 £7000, or not much more than two years' income. For the 

 security of the Society this fund should be raised to the realizable 

 value of not less than three years' income and, as there is no 

 present prospect of doing this, it is essential to avoid anything 

 which might lead to a necessity for trenching on the present 

 inadequate reserve. 



(5) Before proceeding, it will be useful to consider what income 

 would be necessar}^ to enable the Society to carry on just as before 

 the war, to publish the same amount of matter and to maintain all._ 

 its then activities on the same scale. This we find to amount to 

 from £5200 to £5300, an all-round average increase of about 

 75 per cent, on the pre-war expenditure of about £3,000. The 

 income from all ordinary sources amounted last year to £3432, but 

 this is in excess of the normal ordinary income, as more than one 

 cause cooperated in giving an unusually large accession of Fellows ; 

 it is probable that these causes have not ceased to be effective, and 

 that the income of £3542, estimated for the present 3"ear, may be 

 reached, but this level is not likely to be permanently maintained, 

 and the actual average income from all sources is, in existing 

 conditions, between £3200 and £3300. This income has the 

 satisfactory quality of being to some degree elastic, as the in- 

 creased contributions received from newl3^-elected Fellows will lead 

 to each year being on the average about £50 better than the 

 preceding one, but it is at present quite £2000 short of that 

 needed to maintain pre-war activities. 



