Countrij Meeting o/1893. xxix 
that a cotsiderable accession of new 
Members, as well as means, would 
follow. He only knew one objection 
against them, and that was they 
would be told it was not their turn, 
that Lancashire had had a visit more 
lately than many other places. He 
did not imagine, however, that the 
Council had any rule as to the order 
in which they should visit any par- 
ticular place, and they had to con- 
sider what would contribute most to 
the interests of their Society. If it 
were true that there were other places 
which had a prior claim, the objection 
was overruled by other considerations 
of a more practical kind. It was 
nearly twenty-four years since the 
last Show at Manchester, and he did 
not think it was an unreasonable 
thing for the Society to come and 
look at them once in a generation. 
Mr. Edwin Guthrie, in the un- 
avoidable absence of the Right Hon. 
J. T. Hibbert, Chairman of the Lan- 
caster County Council, stated that the 
visit of the Society to Manchester 
had the hearty approval of that body, 
representing the whole of the county 
of Lancaster. Perhaps it was custom- 
ary to regard Slanchester as a manu- 
facturing centre ; but Lancashire 
was a large county, and a very large 
proportion of its area was strictly 
agricultural. 
Mr. Alderman Mark (Deputy 
Mayor of Manchester) apologised for 
the absence of the Mayor cn account 
of a very important monthl}' meeting 
of the City Council. A communica- 
tion had been received from Lord 
Lathom regretting his inability to be 
present, and expressing his best 
wishes for the success of the deputa- 
tion. Lord Winmarleigh had also 
written expressing the very great 
interest he had taken in the Society 
for over fifty years, and aPo his 
sincere regret that, owing to his age 
and state of health, he was not able 
to be with ihem that morning. The 
Earl of Sefton was confined to the 
house hy influenza, and Sir \Vm. 
Houldsworth, their senior Member of 
Parliament, was unavoidably detained 
abroad. The Mayor of Sadford was 
also detained by his municipal duties. 
The invitation from Manchester was 
supported by the whole strength of 
the county, through the County 
Council, and through the local agri- 
cultural societies, of which there 
were twenty-three, and whose Meet- 
ings were always very largely at- 
tended, showing the interest taken in 
agriculture by the general population 
of Lancashire. The invitation was 
also supported by nearly all the muni- 
cipal corporations of Lancashire. 
The site upon which they relied was 
a very exceptional one. The pictu- 
resque park of Sir Humphrey de 
Traiford had been placed at the dis- 
posal of the Society with no condi- 
tion or qualification whatever. The 
Show' portion would be 110 acres, 
while the whole area of it was some- 
thing like sixteen or seventeen hun- 
dred. The site w’as considered good, 
and, moreover, it wSs accessible to 
many lines of railway and to the 
great Bridgewater Canal, which, if 
the Ship Canal should not be com- 
pleted, would be a ready means of 
delivery of the live stock and heavy 
implements to the Show ground. In 
appealing to the Society, they did 
not altogether base their claim upon 
the population, but they urged that 
commerce relied very much upon 
agriculture ; that they were the centre 
of a very large agricultural district ; 
and that Manchester was more acces- 
sible to a considerable proportion of 
Cheshire than any other place of im- 
portance. He believed that w'ith the 
growth of population and of wealth 
and prosperity, the results would not 
be less satisfactory than at the highly 
successful Meeting at Manchester in 
1869. They might rely upon receiv- 
ing a very hearty welcome from the 
municipality of Manchester, and that 
every facility would be afforded for 
making the Show a great success. 
Sir James Fergusson, Bart., M.P., 
said he attended that day in support 
of the deputation as one of the Par- 
liamentary representatives of the city 
of Manchester. The names attached 
to the subscription list would show 
the Society that this was not a pro- 
posal made by Manchester alone, but 
that it was really one which came 
from all Lancashire. The Council 
might rely that when the city of 
Manchester took anything in hand it 
did it thoroughly. There was no 
place in England where all exertions 
would be less spared to make the 
