ANNUAL REPORT. 



5 



9. Finance. 



The Council think the present a favourable moment, when 

 interest in the work of the Victoria Institute is on the increase, to 

 place the Society on a firmer financial basis. This is a matter of 

 urgency. In spite of the increase in our membership, the accounts 

 show that we have overstepped our income by £242 in the past 

 year. This is chiefly due to the enormous rise in the cost of printing, 

 which alone has cost us £381 in the last twelve months, as com- 

 pared with £267 pre-war. The duties of the Secretary, once 

 salaried, are now discharged gratuitously by three Members of the 

 Council, to whom our thanks are due, and we are endeavouring 

 to economize as far as possible in printing. We have not increased 

 our subscriptions, as other societies have done, nor are we having 

 recourse to an appeal for contributions to a special fund — an 

 appeal so liberally responded to in 1919 — but we are making an 

 appeal for a united effort on the part of the Members and 

 Associates to get additional adherents to the Institute by special 

 invitation. A circular has therefore been sent round to all 

 Members and Associates inviting their co-operation. The 

 Council recommend this to the serious attention of all. 



10. Donations. 



The following special donations have been received : A. H., 

 £5 ; Col. A. W. C. Bell, 11^. ; A. Greenlees, Esq., £1 Is. ; Col. 

 W. Sidebottom, J.P., £10 10^. 



11. Audit. 



At a meeting on March 10th, 1920, the Council decided to have 

 the accounts audited by an accountant, instead of the two 

 gentlemen who had hitherto so kindly lent their services, and 

 Mr. E. Luff Smith, incorporated accountant, was appointed for 

 the year. 



12. 



The sale of " Tracts for New Times " has continued to give 

 satisfaction. The Council are hoping soon to reprint No. 5, 

 " The Bearing of Archaeological and Historical Research upon 

 the New Testament," by the Rev. Parke P. Flournoy, D.D., 

 for which there has been a special demand. They hope, too, to 



