6 "ANNIVERSARY ADDRESS. 
so. But I am sure I am only speaking the conviction of the 
majority of our members when I say that the time has 
arrived when we ought to have, when we must have, a home of 
our own. Every kindred Society that I know of is provided with 
a home at Government expense, both here and in other places. 
In England, the Royal and other Societies are provided with 
splendid rooms in Burlington, House, which must have cost the 
Government upwards of £100,000. They receive also annual 
grants from the Government, and this year the Royal Society’s " 
share is £5,000, a clear proof of the value of such an institution 
in the community. Coming nearer home, the Royal Society in 
Victoria received from the Government a piece of land in Mel- 
bourne, and £2,000 towards their building, together with an 
annual grant of £200. In Tasmania the Royal Society is pro- 
vided by the Government with fine rooms, and has an annual 
grant of money, and so in other places ; while the Royal Society 
of Sydney has never received any assistance from Government 
except the printing of our Journalsince 1873. This is not a fair 
position for us to be in; and I am convinced that if we rightly 
represent the matter, we shall obtain the assistance we need to 
enable us to extend our usefulness. I will not here discuss the 
question of how this should be done; but I think it is a proper 
object to place in the hands.of a committee of the members. 
With one remark bearing upon the subject I will leave it. 
The question may be asked, does it pay to foster science? We- 
have not far to look in the experience of other countries for an 
answer, and their experience points unmistakeably to the fact 
that science is the mainspring of advancement in arts an 
manufactures. Let science keep in the back-ground, and art at 
once becomes a machine, reproducing the same thing age after 
age, with a gradual deterioration proportionate to the wear and 
tear, as we seein Eastern countries ; but let science take its 
legitimate place, let instruction and means be given to the 
thoughtful workers in its fields, and it is soon found to be but 
an easy step from pure science to pure art. 
“ 
