Wedne.^day,  June  22,  1904. 
xHx 
Others  present  included  the  Earl  of 
Onslow  (Governor),  Sir  John  Heron- 
Maxwell,  Bart.,  Sir  Oswald  Mosley, 
Bart. : and  there  was  a large  attendance 
of  the  general  body  of  Members. 
The  President,  in  opening  the 
proceedings,  said  that  the  meeting  was 
held  annually,  under  the  Charter,  and 
it  was  customary  to  hold  it  in  the 
showyard.  He  did  not  know  that 
there  was  very  much  to  be  brought 
before  the  meeting,  and  the  circum- 
stances under  which  they  now  met 
in  their  own  showyard  obviated  the 
necessity  for  some  of  the  resolutions 
which  used  to  be  proposed.  They  had 
now  become  rather  more  established — 
as  he  hoped  most  of  them  had  recog- 
nised— upon  the  ground  which  they 
had  acquired,  and  of  which  they  took 
possession  last  year.  Of  the  state  of 
things  last  year  perhaps  the  least  said 
the  better,  except  that  they  might  con- 
trast it  favourably.  He  hoped  that 
would  be  their  verdict.  They  would  see 
that  the  ground  was  in  gradual  process 
of  being  more  organised.  They  had 
tried  to  bring  the  extensive  exhibits 
more  together.  They  had  improved  the 
roads,  and  year  by  year  they  trusted 
that  they  should  learn  by  experience 
to  make  still  better  arrangements,  and 
to  make  this  great  Show  all  that  it 
ought  to  be.  (Hear,  hear.)  They 
must  not  judge  of  the  attendance 
altogether  by  the  numbers  apparently 
present,  as  it  was  obvious  that  a large 
showyard  like  the  present  would 
appear  to  be  more  sparsely  attended 
than  a smaller  showyard  with  the  same 
number  of  people.  Any  new  under- 
taking would  inevitably  require  a cer- 
tain time  to  make  the  general  public 
acquainted  with  it,  and  to  let  people 
find  out  that  it  was  not  a thousand 
miles  from  the  Metropolis  to  the  Show, 
while  they  also  hoped  that  the 
various  conveniences  afforded  by  the 
railway  companies  for  transit  would 
be  improved  from  year  to  year.  They 
had  met  in  the  best  of  weather  instead 
of  the  worst.  At  their  last  Show  they 
were  in  a transitional  state. 
He  now  ventured,  as  the  President 
about  to  lay  down  his  office,  still  to 
cherish  the  hopes  he  had  expressed 
before  as  to  the  future  of  their  Show. 
Of  course  if  people  wilfully  held  back 
from  the  Show  there  was  no  reasoning 
with  such ; but  they  should  bear  in 
mind  the  greater  proposition  and  not 
the  less — not  the  success  of  any  one 
Show,  but  the  success  of  the.  Royal 
Agricultural  Society.  He  hoped,  there- 
fore, that  they  would  stand  shoulder 
to  shoulder  and  back  them  up. 
(Cheers.)  Some  people  appeared  to 
think  that  they  were  mean  enough  to 
have  feelings  of  jealousy  of  the  large 
societies  in  the  counties  and  districts 
of  counties — such  as  the  Bath  and 
West,  the  large  Northern  shows,  the 
Royal  Counties,  and  so  forth.  On  the 
contrary,  they  welcomed  their  efforts, 
and  only  hoped  that  they  might  be  the 
central  pivot  around  which  those  large 
and  important  bodies  might  revolve, 
and  that  they  might  help  the  Society 
as  the  Society  was  determined  to  help 
them  in  discharging  the  duties  imposed 
upon  them.  In  leaving  the  Chair  he 
thanked  the  Council  and  the  Members 
for  the  willing  support  they  had 
uniformly  given,  not  to  him  personally, 
but  as  President  of  the  Society.  He 
hoped  that  his  successor  might  rely 
upon  as  cordial  assistance  from  the 
Secretary,  from  the  staff,  and  from  the 
IMembers  and  others  connected  with 
the  Society  as  had  been  extended  to 
himself,  and  for  which  he  now  returned 
his  grateful  thanks. 
Vote  of  thanks  to  the  President. 
The  Earl  of  Onslow  then  moved, 
“ That  the  best  thanks  of  tlie  Society 
are  due  and  are  hereby  tendered  to 
the  Earl  of  Derby,  K.G.,  for  his 
services  as  President  during  the  past 
year.”  He  said  there  was  an  old 
English  saying  that  “ What  Lancashire 
thought  to-day  England  would  think 
to-morrow.”  They  were  well  advised 
in  the  early  days  of  their  great  change 
to  select  as  their  President  a man 
from  Lancashire.  He  had  a difficult 
task  in  following  as  their  President 
H.R.H.  the  Prince  of  Wales.  His 
Royal  Highness  and  His  Majesty  the 
King  had  always  envinced  the  greatest 
interest  in  the  Society,  and  it  was  a 
matter  of  regret  that  the  numerous 
engagements  which  crowiled  round 
His  Majesty,  and  which  were  fraught 
with  the  deepest  interest  not  only  to 
England,  but  to  foreign  lands  as  well, 
had  prevented  him  this  year  from 
following  his  annual  practice  of  being 
