Proceed iJigs of the Soutli African Philosoiiliical Society, xxv 



question was whether they, as a Society, should intervene hy petition. 

 He thought they were perfectly entitled to do so. Such action would 

 he quite within the scope of the Society. 



Mr. D. Tennant, jun., said he had great pleasure in seconding 

 Mr, Baker's motion. It w^as difficult to understand the position 

 taken up by the Town Council. First of all, they said the portico 

 was an obstruction. That argument hardly held water, as there was 

 the whole of Greenmarket Square before the Town House, and 

 therefore plenty of elbow-room. Moreover, it had been there for 

 a great number of years, and had never before been found to be an 

 obstruction. What seemed really to be the case was that they had 

 deliberately let the portico fall into this state of disrepair simply to 

 provide an excuse for getting rid of it. Then it was urged that the 

 portico was a danger to the public. If that was really so, he could 

 only say that the Town House authorities had done a very wrong 

 thing in allowing crowds to gather under it at the time of the Eoyal 

 visit, or so lately as on the occasion of the arrival of Lord Milner. 

 He considered that old landmarks should not l)e thus ruthlessly 

 destroyed, and that the ratepayers as a whole should be prevailed 

 upon to protest against such destruction. A great deal of sentiment 

 was associated with the building. There were so Iqw old buildings 

 linking the present with the past. The Town House had been the 

 scene of many memorable events. No other building in the city 

 had so many historic associations, and he considered that the City 

 Council had been guilty of a very high-handed proceeding in taking 

 destructive measures without consultmg the people of Cape Tow^n. 

 He hoped sincerely that the old portico would be restored. 



It was agreed nein. con. that the Society forward a formal resolution 

 to the Corporation urging the rebuilding of the portico. 



The President summarised Dr. A. W. Roberts's paper, " The 

 Variation of the Star C.P.D. - 4r-4511." 



Mr. D. E. HuTCHiNS read a note on the introduction of a decimal 

 coinage, weights and measures for South Africa. 



After some discussion, it was resolved that a Committee con- 

 sisting of the President, Dr. Beattie, Dr. Crawford, Professor 

 Thomson, Mr. E. T. Littlewood, and Mr. Hutchins be appointed, 

 with power to add to its numbers, to prepare a report on the 

 advisability of introducing or legahsing a decimal coinage and the 

 metric system of weights and measures into South Africa. 



The President briefly summarised Mr. H. G. Eourcade's paper, 

 " On a Stereoscopic Method of Photographic Surveying," and 

 intimated that time would be afforded for a demonstration and 

 discussion of the method at the next meeting. 



