Thursdai/,  J)eeember  H,  1004. 
Ixxxvii 
and  the  Society  would  be  more  pros- 
perous in  the  future  than  it  had  ever 
been  in  the  past. 
The  Marquis  of  WiNCHESTEH 
thought  that  the  feeling  of  the  general 
body  of  the  subscribers  to  the  Society 
was  that,  if  the  Council  would  frankly 
tell  its  Members  what  steps  had  been 
taken  to  reduce  the  enormous  ex- 
penditure in  connection  with  both 
salaries  and  the  Society’s  house,  they 
would  go  away  from  that  room  feeling 
that  the  Council  were  desirous  of  doing 
what  they  could  to  improve  the  position 
of  the  Society.  Members  would  all 
feel  that  the  loss  of  the  Koyal  Agricul- 
tural Society  of  England  would  be  a 
great  blow  to  the  country,  and  he 
believed  that  they  would  put  their 
hands  in  their  pockets  to  support  it. 
It  was  no  use  saying  that  it  was 
intended  to  hold  another  Show  at 
Park  Royal  next  year  if  it  was  thought 
the  Society  would  sustain  another  loss. 
Lord  Der%  had  referred  to  the  local 
gentlemen  who  had  to  put  their  hands 
in  their  pockets  when  the  Society’s 
Show  came  into  their  district.  Speak- 
ing for  himself,  he  felt  sure  that  these 
local  gentlemen  would  gladly  do  so 
when  the  Show  was  held  in  their 
localities,  but  not  when  it  took  place 
in  London.  With  regard  to  Park 
Royal,  he  had  certainly  understood 
that  it  was  a freehold  property  ; but 
it  now  seemed  to  him  that  the  Council 
had  not  acquired  the  freehold,  and 
that  they  had  to  pay  a certain  sum  of 
money,  and  that  the  vendor  had  a pre- 
emptive right  to  purchase  the  site 
within  a certain  period  of  years.  He 
thought  that  the  Society  might  just  as 
well  get  rid  of  Park  Royal,  and  if  this 
was  done  after  next  year  he  would 
also  wish  that  there  should  be  a dis- 
tinct understanding  that  their  Council 
would  be  elected  by  the  Members,  as 
was  the  case  with  ordinary  agricul- 
tural societies.  There  was  one  other 
point  in  this  connection  which  had 
been  mentioned  by  Lord  Derby,  and 
that  was  the  election  of  the  Members 
of  Council  by  proxy.  Personally,  he 
deprecated  anything  of  the  sort,  for 
if  the  Members  of  the  Society  had  its 
interests  at  heart  he  thought  it  would 
not  be  too  much  to  expect  them  to 
come  and  vote  personally.  Proxies, 
moreover,  were  very  often  misused. 
In  the  Supplemental  Charter  which 
the  Council  were  now  engaged  in 
obtaining,  he  hoped  that  it  would  be 
distinctly  understood  that  there  would 
be  no  voting  by  proxy. 
Mr.  G.  Norris  Midwood  inquired 
if  one  item,  which  appeared  in  the 
statement  of  receipts  and  expenditure, 
could  be  explained  to  him,  viz.,  the 
meaning  of  the  word  “ Rent,”  in  con- 
nection with  the  showground.  As  he 
understood  the  position,  the  Park 
Royal  ground  was  purchased  for  260Z. 
per  acre,  and  that  a mortgage  was 
raised  on  the  property.  Would  it  not 
be  much  better  to  say,  “ Interest  on 
Mortgage  ” ? He  was  of  the  opinion 
that  the  item  was  wrongly  termed. 
He  would  further  ask  who  was  getting 
the  benefit  from  Park  Royal  from  the 
football  matches  that  were  being  held 
there  ? 
Lord  Derby  said  there  was  no 
doubt  that  when  Park  Royal  was 
acquired  it  was  meant  to  be  the  pro- 
perty, and  was  the  property,  of  the 
Royal  Agricultural  Society  of  England. 
The  question  had  arisen  whether  their 
Charter  would  allow  them  to  deal 
with  the  ground  at  a time  of  the  year 
when  the  Society  did  not  want  it. 
Acting  under  the  advice  of  the  Society’s 
solicitors,  a company  was  formed,  to 
work  pari  pasm  with  the  Royal 
Agricultural  Society,  for  the  control 
of  the  ground,  and  to  enable  the 
Society,  through  that  company,  to  deal 
with  persons  who  might  require  it  for 
football  or  for  any  other  purposes 
when  the  Society  had  done  with  it. 
Strictly  speaking,  the  ground  would 
not  otherwise  be  of  any  use  but  for 
grazing  purposes,  and  it  was  thought 
that  the  Society  could  make  money 
out  of  it.  The  Society  held  all  the 
shares,  the  Directors  were  appointed 
by  the  Council,  and  the  company  was 
the  creature  of  the  Society.  For  the 
purposes  of  account  it  was  found  that 
the  most  regular  way  of  presenting 
the  accounts  for  audit  would  be  to 
deal  with  Park  Royal  as  a separate 
company.  Therefore  every  farthing 
had  been  spent  for  the  benefit  and  in 
the  interests  of  the  Society.  The  item 
of  “Rent” — which  included  rates  alnd 
taxes — was  the  value  which  could  be 
charged  for  the  use  of  the  ground.  It 
was  all  the  Society’s  money,  and  it 
