Moiitlil//  Council,  October  (>,  1904. 
Ixii 
to  diminish  their  liabilities.  What 
they  had  to  do  was  to  try  and  place 
the  Society  in  the  eyes  of  the  public 
upbn  a sound  financial  basis.  Unless 
they  showed  the  public  that  they 
were  determined  to  face  the  position 
and  to  pay  off  their  debts  before 
going  on  with  another  Show,  they 
would  not  get  the  general  support 
they  desired.  He  would  be  very 
sorry  if  the  Show  were  not  held. 
If  it  were  not  held  it  would  create 
a terrible  blank  in  the  history  of 
the  Society.  At  the  same  time,  when 
they  were  in  a dangerous  position 
like  theirs,  some  sacrifice  must  be 
made  of  their  sentiments  in  the 
matter.  First  of  all,  it  was  necessary 
to  decide  how  they  could  place  them- 
selves in  a better  position  before  the 
public,  and  they  could  not  do  this 
until  they  decided  how  they  would 
meet  their  present  liabilities.  If  the 
proposition  put  forward  by  Lord 
Derby  were  pressed,  he  felt  that  he 
must  certainly  oppose  it. 
Mr.  Stratton  thought  it  most 
important  that  the  continuity  of  the 
Show  should  not  be  broken.  If  they 
once  broke  that  continuity  it  would 
be  a serious  blow  to  the  reconstitution 
of  the  Society.  The  Royal  Agricul- 
tural Show  was  a great  national 
agricultural  asset  to  the  breeders 
of  pedigree  stock  in  this  country. 
Foreigners  came  to  the  Show  to 
purchase  stock,  and  looked  forward 
to  it,  and  animals  were  being  pre- 
pared for  it.  That  appeared  to  be 
the  feeling  at  the  Conferences  held 
on  the  previous  day.  If  an  appeal 
were  made  to  the  exhibitors  and 
Members  they  would  make  an  effort 
to  maintain  the  Show.  It  was  true 
they  were  in  a bad  financial  position, 
and  no  doubt  they  were  putting  the 
cart  before  the  horse  in  not  giving 
consideration  to  the  position  of  the 
Society  first.  However,  as  the  ques- 
tion of  the  holding  of  the  Show  had 
been  brought  forward,  he  thought 
they  should  go  on  with  it  on  the 
lines  suggested  by  Lord  Derby. 
Colonel  Cuetis-Hayward  ex- 
l>ressed  the  opinion  that  it  was 
generally  felt,  rightly  or  wrongly, 
that  the  cause  of  their  disaster  was 
the  action  of  the  Council  in  abandon- 
ing the  system  of  migratory  Shows. 
He  had  been  satisfied  at  the  time 
that  it  was  absolutely  necessary  to 
abandon  the  country  meetings  be- 
cause of  the  difficulty  of  securing 
suitable  sites.  Several  of  the  towns 
in  giving  invitations  had  done  so  on 
the  gi'ound  that  it  was  the  last  time 
that  they  could  receive  the  Society. 
That  was  a point  which  had  not  been 
brought  forward  sufficiently  clearly. 
He  knew  that  Sir  Jacob  Wilson  had 
proposed  that  they  should  reduce  the 
size  of  their  Shows ; and  no  doubt  if 
that  were  done  the  Society’s  Shows 
might  be  continued.  He  would  like 
to  suggest  that  means  should  be  taken 
to  ascertain  the  number  of  towns 
with  suitable  sites  on  which  a Show 
on  their  present  scale  could  be  held ; 
and  he  believed  if  this  were  done 
they  would  find  that  only  a small 
number  would  be  available,  and  they 
could  not  visit  the  same  town  again 
at  intervals  of  less  than  ten  years. 
Mr.  llANSOME  said  there  could  not 
be  any  doubt  whatever  that  the 
exhibitors  of  both  machinery  and 
stock  would  be  very  sorry  if  they 
were  to  discontinue  their  Show.  He 
thought  a guarantee  fund  a very 
desirable  thing,  if  the  Show  were 
once  started  upon  a business  footing, 
and  could  pay  its  way.  Before  they 
determined  to  hold  a Show  next  year, 
they  should  appeal  to  their  Members 
to  see  whether  they  were  willing  to 
increase  their  subscriptions  — not 
merely  for  one  year.  If  the  Royal 
Agiicultural  Society  were  of  value  to 
the  country  generally,  he  thought  21. 
as  against  \l.  would  not  be  at  all  too 
much  to  expect  the  Members  to  pay. 
No  doubt  some  alteration  in  their 
income  might  be  effected  by  a revision 
of  the  entry-fees.  He  had  ventured 
to  point  out  at  the  Conference  the 
previous  day  that  the  fees  paid  by 
exhibitors  in  one  portion  of  the  Show 
were  not  equal  to  those  contributed 
by  exhibitors  in  the  other  portion  of 
the  Show.  It  was  necessary  that  a 
greater  equality  should  be  established 
between  them,  and  until  this  was 
done  thej'  wouhl  not  get  a general 
support  from  the  implement  exhibitors. 
Hitherto  the  success  of  the  Society’s 
Show  had  been  dependent  upon  the 
shillings  received  at  their  entrance 
gates  from  the  working  man.  They 
