I^t'porf  of  Finance  Connniffee. 
Ixxvii 
far  as  the  postponement  of  a decision 
to  the  month  of  January  was  con- 
cerned, lie  only  desired  to  point  out 
that  he  raised  the  question — and  from 
the  discussion  that  had  arisen  he 
thought  he  had  done  so  usefully — 
because  he  felt  they  should  not  go 
forward  recklessly.  On  the  other 
hand,  if  they  could  go  forward  with 
a sufficient  guarantee  against  every 
possible  contingency,  he  thought  they 
were  all  agreed  that  they  should  do  so. 
The  President  said  he  quite 
agreeil  with  Mr.  Cornwallis’s  resolu- 
tion. He  was  of  the  opinion  that  if 
the  matter  were  left  in  this  manner 
more  subscriptions  would  come  in. 
Every  day  he  heard  of  people  intend- 
ing to  subscribe,  but  who  were  waiting 
to  see  what  others  were  doing. 
After  some  further  conversation, 
the  resolution  was  put  from  the  Chair, 
and  was  carried  unanimously. 
The  Reports  of  the  various  Stand- 
ing Committees  were  presented  and 
adopted  as  below  : — 
Finance. 
Sir  Nigee  Kingscote  (Chairman) 
reported  that  the  accounts  for  the 
month  of  November,  1904,  showed 
receipts  amounting  to  1,430/.  1.5, s’.  9(f. 
(including  92.5/.  1,5.«.  (iif.  special  con- 
tributions), and  expenditure  amount- 
ing to  6.56/.  17.S’.  llrf.  Accounts 
amounting  in  all  to  1,871/.  2.v.  2tl. 
had  been  ])assed.  The  receipts  and 
expenditure  for  the  Society’s  Show  at 
Park  Royal,  held  last  June,  had  been 
submitted  to  and  examined  by  the 
Society’s  Accountants  and  by  the 
Auditors  appointed  by  the  Members, 
and  showed  an  actual  loss  to  the 
Society’s  funds  of  6,920/.  9.f.  10^/. 
Sir  Nigel  Kingscote  further 
reported  that  the  Finance  Comnuttee 
had  caused  to  be  circulated  with  the 
summons  to  Members  to  the  General 
Meeting  the  following  Memorandum 
as  to  the  actual  financial  position  of 
the  Society,  which  at  the  last  meeting 
the  Council  had  requested  them  to 
draw  up : — 
Memorandum  hy  the  Finance 
Comm  it  tee. 
1.  It  will  have  been  apparent  to  the 
Members  from  the  Balance-sheet  for 
1903.  submitted  at  the  .Anniversary 
General  Meeting  held  last  May,  that 
the  Society  had  to  commence  its  opera- 
tions tor  the  current  year  without  any 
free  assets  which  would  be  immediately 
available  for  realisation  in  the  event  of 
the  Society’s  operations  for  1904  result- 
ing in  a loss,  as  has  unfortunately  i)rovod 
to  be  the  case. 
2.  It  was  stated  in  the  Report  pre- 
sented to  the  Members  on  December  10, 
1903,  that  “the  adverse  result  of  the 
first  year's  Show  at  Park  Royal  ought 
not,  in  the  opinion  of  the  Council,  to 
deter  the  Society  from  perseverance  in 
the  new  enterprise  upon  which  it  has 
embarked,  and  they  have  therefore 
decided  to  hold  a Show  in  1904  upon 
the  same  general  lines  as  in  1903.”  But 
as  the  holding  of  this  Show  of  1904  has 
resulted  in  a further  cash  loss  of  6,920/., 
it  has  become  necessary  for  the  Society 
to  consider  carefully,  before  the  organi- 
sation of  another  Show  is  entered  upon, 
how  the  necessary  expenses  and  the 
possible  future  losses  are  to  be  met. 
3.  The  total  Income  of  the  Society 
from  Annual  Subscriptions  was  6,291/. 
in  1903,  and  will  be  somewhat  less  in 
190-1.  A sum  of  6,000/.  is  therefore  all 
that  can  be  relied  upon  at  present  to 
meet  the  cost  of  administering  the 
Society  and  providing  the  whole  body 
of  9.,5d0  Members  (including  3,500  Life 
Members)  with  their  privileges. 
4.  The  total  Expenses  of  the  Society, 
other  than  those  directly  connected 
with  the  holding  of  the  Annual  Show, 
but  including  the  cost  of  organising  at 
Hanover  Square  the  preliminaries  of 
the  Show  (only  a part  of  which  has 
heretofore  been  debited  to  the  Show 
Account),  were  in  1903, 10,200/.,  of  which 
9,055/.  appears  in  the  “Ordinary”  In- 
come and  Expenditure  Account,  and 
1,149/.  in  the  Show  Account.  It  is  im- 
ortant  in  the  best  interests  of  the 
ociety  that  the  several  departments 
of  its  public  work  should  be  continued, 
so  tar  as  funds  will  permit.  The  Council 
see  their  way  to  effect  various  econo- 
mies by  reductions  of  the  salaries  of 
the  higher  officials,  savings  in  clerkage, 
&c.,  a diminution  of  the  Journal,  re- 
arrangements in  the  Chemical  and 
Veterinary  Departments,  and  letting  off 
part  of  Harewood  House,  which  will 
bring  down  the  Head  Office  expenses 
in  the  future  by  a sum  which,  when  all 
the  new  arrangements  have  been  com- 
pleted, and  it  the  Society’s  debts  can  be 
paid  off,  will  be  about  2,200/.  a year, 
thus  reducing  the  total  cost  to  8.000/.  a 
year.  The  adjustment  of  the  total  cost 
as  thus  reduced,  which  seems  to  the 
Committee,  after  careful  consideration, 
to  be  fair  as  between  the  General 
Account  and  the  Show  Account,  is 
6.000/.  to  the  former  (including  the 
Journal  and  all  the  scientific  depart- 
ments) and  2,000/.  to  the  latter. 
5.  Thus,  though  the  Society  might  in 
the  future  be  able  to  carry  on  all  its 
departments  of  public  work  other  than 
the  Shows,  out  of  the  income  which  it 
at  present  receives,  it  could  not  with 
such  an  income  organise  a Show,  nor 
could  it.  having  no  longer  a Reserve 
Fund  of  its  own,  or  the  considerable 
