Thursday , June 28, 1906. 
xxxvii 
The President said that a note 
had been taken by the Secretary of 
the various points raised, which would 
be considered by the Council. Some 
of them had received consideration, 
but would be again brought under 
notice. 
Thanks to Chairman. 
Mr. Joseph Martin, in moving a 
vote of thanks to the Chairman, said 
that as an old Member of Council he 
had had the pleasure of acting with 
the President. Mr. Cornwallis had 
always been willing to exert his in- 
fluence on behalf of anything for the 
benefit of agriculture. He had taken 
office under unfavourable circum- 
stances, but he was the right man 
in the right place. The result of 
their present Show proved that he 
had done his duty not only to the 
satisfaction of the Royal Agricultural 
Society, but with great credit to 
himself. He had much pleasure in 
proposing a vote of thanks to Mr. 
Cornwallis for his services in the 
Chair. 
Mr. Richard Stratton seconded 
this resolution. As one of the oldest 
o£ the present Members of the Council 
he had known very many predecessors 
in the office held by Mr. Cornwallis 
who were most excellent men of 
business, but no President had had 
a more arduous time or had done his 
duty better than Mr. Cornwallis. He 
could assure them that the amount 
of work and anxiety that had devolved 
upon the President was more than 
many of them could realise. He had 
had to employ practically the whole 
of his time and thoughts in the in- 
terests of the Society. They had had 
to go through a very important stage, 
and he hoped he might say that great 
reforms had been effected. In future 
they would look back upon Mr. Corn- 
wallis’s year as being the turning point 
in the Society’s career of prosperity. 
The Secretary then put the 
resolution, and it was carried by 
acclamation. 
The President, in reply, thanked 
the meeting most sincerely for the 
vote which had been passed. This 
vote of thanks on previous occasions 
had generally contained a valedictory 
note, but under the new bye-laws he 
had another five months to hold office 
as President of the Society. He hoped 
that the rest of his term of office 
might be free from a great deal of the 
anxiety that had undoubtedly hung 
over the earlier part of it. No one 
could have received greater indulgence 
or more loyal support from his col- 
leagues. As the previous speaker had 
said, changes of considerable impor- 
tance had been effected. Those 
changes had necessarily entailed a 
large amount of work upon all con- 
nected with the Society, especially 
upon the staff, and that staff a 
reduced one, for the state of their 
finances had compelled them, to their 
great regret, to part with many who. 
had worked most loyally and well for 
the Society, and who had been bound 
to it by the closest ties. He would 
not be doing justice to them if he did 
not acknowledge the great help that 
they had given to the new Secretary 
when he was taking over his duties. 
He was perfectly certain that the 
Secretary would desire to acknowledge 
that assistance as sincerely as he did. 
He had also to acknowledge the 
help that Mr. McRowhad given him on 
all occasions. That he had come to 
them as no recruit in the Society’s 
service was proved by the way he 
got into his saddle almost directly, 
and he had worked hard ever since. 
Other changes of great importance 
had had to be carried through . These 
were matters of common knowledge, 
and were absolutely necessary in the 
state of the Society’s finances at the 
time. Might he say, in conclusion, 
that whatever economies were prac- 
tised, whatever energies were thrown 
into the various spheres of the Society’s 
work, none of them considered that 
the Society could be firmly established 
until they reached a considerably 
larger membership ? He appealed to 
every Member to help them in this 
respect. With their help he was sure 
that the Society would get the support 
which they and he believed it so richly 
deserved. He thanked them very 
heartily for their vote of thanks, and 
assured them that there was no honour 
which he appreciated more than that 
of being President of their great 
National Agricultural Society. 
The proceedings then terminated. 
