xliv 
Anniversary  General  Meeting,  May  30,  1904. 
Mr.  H.  M.  Simmons  inquired  if,  in 
reference  to  the  balance-sheet,  he  was 
right  in  assuming  that  there  had  been 
a loss  of  3,000/.  on  the  ordinarj’ 
expenditure. 
The  President  explained  that  the 
accounts  had  been  stated  under  the 
advice  of  the  Auditors,  and  it  had 
been  considered  desirable  to  place 
before  the  Society  the  figures  as 
plainly  as  they  possiblj’  could.  The 
Council  had  thought  it  their  <luty 
to  let  the  Members  know  exactly  the 
position  in  which  the  Society  stood, 
and  there  was  no  endeavour  to  hide  or 
conceal  anything.  He  (the  President) 
would  frankly  confess,  on  behalf  of 
himself  and  his  colleagues,  that  the 
position  was  one  not  altogether  free 
from  anxiety.  No  great  change, 
however,  such  as  that  which  the 
Society  had  undergone  and  which 
they  were  now  carrying  out  could  be 
made  without  initial  difficulties.  It 
would  be  within  the  recollection  of 
every  one  that  the  circumstances  of 
last  j-ear  were  not  such  as  enabled 
them  to  take  full  advantage  of  the 
ground  which  they  had  acquired,  and 
very  much  would  depend  upon  the 
Show  of  this  present  3mar.  But  they 
were,  it  was  believed,  better  equipped, 
and  knew  better  how  to  deal  with  the 
work  of  the  Show  of  1904  than  could 
possibly  be  the  case  last  year.  He 
would  be  glad  to  afford  information 
on  any  particular  point  whict  might 
be  indicated  by  any  Member  present, 
as  far  as  he  possibly  could ; but  he 
thought  he  could  best  save  the  time 
of  Members  by  saying  that  their 
accounts  had  been  most  carefully  gone 
through  by  the  Society’s  Auditors, 
and  had  been  stated  in  accordance 
with  commercial  practice ; so  that 
the  Council  and  their  Members  could 
see  exactly  how  the  affairs  of  the 
Societj^  stood.  The  Sub-committee 
on  Finance  that  had  been  appointed 
had  made  certain  recommendations, 
which  had  been  laid  before  the 
Council.  These  recommendations  had 
been  referred  to  Committees,  who 
were  considering  how  the  reductions 
could  best  be  carried  out.  The 
Finance  Committee  were  doing  their 
utmost  to  reduce  the  Society’s  ex- 
]>enditure,  and  would  only  recom- 
mend expenditure  that  was  absolutel}' 
necessary  in  connection  with  the  work 
of  the  Societv^ 
Mr.  Simmons  said  that  he  was  of 
the  opinion  that  the  time  had  now 
arrived  to  reconstruct  the  Societj-, 
with  the  view  of  reducing  expen.ses. 
Surgeon  Lt.-Col.  Ince  suggested 
that  the  subscri|)tion  of  Members  of 
the  Society  be  raised  from  1/.  to  1/.  ].<. 
per  annum. 
Vote  of  Thanks  to  Chairman. 
No  other  member  rising,  the  Right 
Hon.  Henry  Chaplin,  M.P.,  pro- 
posed a vote  of  thanks  to  the  President 
for  his  services  in  the  Chair.  (Cheers.) 
It  had  been  a year  in  which  the 
Society  had  had  to  encounter  difficul- 
ties of  no  ordinary  character.  The 
noble  President  him.self  had  made  the 
observation  that  the  position  of  the 
Society  at  the  present  moment  was 
one  which  was  by  no  means  free  from 
an.xietyq  and  that  much  would  depend 
upon  the  success  or  otherwise  of  the 
Show  to  be  held  next  month.  Under 
these  circumstances,  they  all  of  them 
owed  the  President — and,  indeed,  any 
President  who  might  be  in  the  Chair 
at  such  a time — the  best  thanks  that 
they  could  give  him  for  the  services 
which  he  had  rendered  to  the  Societj'. 
Surgeon-Major  Hutton,  in  second- 
ing the  resolution,  observed  that  he 
would  like  to  see  20,000  Members  of 
the  Society  instead  of  10,000;  and  if 
every  member  could  get  another  to 
join  it,  they  would  soon  arrive  at  this 
result. 
The  motion  having  been  put  by 
the  Secretary  was  carried  unani- 
mously. 
The  President,  in  reply,  said  he 
felt  very  deeply  the  kindness  with 
which  they  had  received  the  vote  of 
thanks  to  him  for  such  services  as  he 
had  been  able  to  render  to  the  Society 
during  the  past  year.  He  need  hardly 
tell  any  one  present  in  that  room  that 
he  felt  it  doubly  at  a moment  like  the 
present,  when  in  the  exercise  of  their 
duty  they  had  a situation  not  free 
from  anxietj'.  It  was  only  through 
the  President  feeling  that  he  was  sup- 
ported by  the  Members  that  the  work 
of  the  Society  could  be  carried  out 
in  the  spirit  that  it  always  had  been 
— that  is,  bj'  mutual  self-reliance. 
He  did  not  wi,sh  to  take  up  an\'  time 
