ShoH'  of  190o. 
Ixxv 
an  amount  which  would  waiTant 
their  holding  a Show,  he  should 
certainly  hold  up  both  hands  for  a 
Show  to  take  place. 
The  Rev.  D.  B.  Montefiore  said 
that  of  course  the  present  situation 
of  the  Society  was  one  of  much 
anxiety.  For  himself,  he  thought 
that  it  would  be  absolutely  dishonest 
not  to  hold  a Show  next  year,  as  he 
believed  that  quite  three-fourths  of 
their  Members  subscribed  because  the 
Society  held  a Show  each  year.  If 
no  Show  were  held  they  would  lose 
a great  many  of  their  Members,  for 
the  Show  was  the  very  essence  of  the 
Society.  They  should  take  their 
Members  entirely  into  their  confidence; 
and  he  would  suggest  that  the  Mem- 
bers of  the  Society  should  be  asked 
for  what  purpose  they  would  like 
their  subscriptions  put — viz.,  to  carry 
on  the  general  work  of  the  Society, 
or  for  Show  purposes.  People  were 
asking  why  they  were  appealed  to 
for  money  to  carry  on  the  Show.  He 
protested  against  the  6,000Z.  which 
the  Society  drew  from  its  Members 
being  expended  upon  every  other 
work  except  the  Show.  He  was  of 
the  opinion  that  if  their  Members 
were  appealed  to  on  the  subject,  they 
would  be  in  favour  of  3,000/.  of  the 
6,000/.  being  spent  on  administration 
and  scientific  work,  and  3,000/.  in 
connection  with  the  Show.  They  had 
over  5,000/.  promised  towards  next 
year’s  Show,  anti  if  they  were  to 
spare  3,000/.  out  of  their  6,000/.  they 
would  thus,  with  their  guarantee, 
have  over  8,000/.  for  a Show  in  1905. 
He,  however,  did  not  believe  that  they 
would  lose  such  a sura  as  8,000/.  over 
next  year’s  Show. 
The  Earl  of  Jersey  observetl  that 
they  must  not  think  of  honesty  to  their 
Members  if  they  ran  the  risk  of  being 
dishonest  to  their  cre<litors.  He 
thought  Lord  Derby’s  argument  was 
sound.  It  was  the  view  of  the  Council 
that  10,000/.  was  the  least  sum  that 
would  enable  the  Show  to  be  held  ; 
but  they  had  not  got  that  sum.  Out 
of  the  10,000  Members  appealed  to 
only  about  500  had  responded.  That 
did  not  look  as  if  the  great  body  of  the 
Members  were  intent  on  having  a 
Show.  Were  they  likely,  if  the 
question  of  having  a Show  or  not  Avere 
postponed,  to  raise  the  other  5,000/. 
or  whatever  other  sum  the  Council 
might  think  necessary?  He  could 
not  approve  a proposal  which  might 
land  the  Council  in  further  difficulty, 
but  he  should  support  Lord  Derby’s 
proposal  because  he  thought  it  was  a 
sound  one. 
Sir  Jacob  Wilson  said  that  the 
duty  of  the  Council  at  this  moment 
was  not  only  to  try  and  get  new  Mem- 
bers, but  to  maintain  the  membership 
they  already  had.  If  the  Show  were 
abandoned  next  year,  there  were 
hundreds  of  Members  Avho  would  take 
the  opportunity  of  withdrawing  from 
the  Society  this  year  and  never  come 
on  again.  He  thought  that,  consider- 
ing the  pros  and  cons,  and  looking  to 
the  future  of  the  Society,  they  must 
maintain  the  Show  for  next  year,  and 
in  that  way  maintain  their  member- 
ship. 
The  Earl  of  Feversham  said 
although  he  was  not  originally  in 
favour  of  the  change  in  establishing 
themselves  as  a fixed  Show,  still  he 
thought  there  were  very  strong  reasons 
assigned  for  holding  a Show  next  year. 
He  thought  that  it  would  be  a very 
great  disappointment  to  the  large 
number  of  subscribers  to  the  Society, 
and  to  those  who  had  put  down  their 
names  on  the  subscription  list,  if  a 
Show  were  not  held  in  1905.  They 
could  not,  of  course,  now  deal  with 
what  might  be  the  result  of  the  hold- 
ing of  a Show,  but  as  he  understood 
that  7,000/.  quite  covered  their  losses 
last  year,  and  they  had  now  5,000/. 
already  subscribed  as  a guarantee  for 
the  following  year,  he  could  not  help 
thinking  that  there  would  be  no  great 
difficulty  in  raising  the  balance.  He 
was  of  the  opinion  that  it  would  be 
desirable  that  a Committee  should  be 
formed  to  inquire  into  all  the  circum- 
stances with  respect  to  the  future  of 
the  Society.  He  could  never  contem- 
plate a rotatory  Show  again  unless  the 
Society  quite  understoo<l  that  the 
County  Show  in  the  district  in  which 
it  might  be  held  would  be  merged 
with  the  “ Royal.”  Wherever  they 
went  the  Society  should  have  the 
County  Show  to  join  them.  He  was 
of  the  opinion,  from  what  he  had  heard 
that  day,  that  there  were  sufficient 
grounds  for  hoping  that  the  Society 
H H 2 
