Monday , May 22, 1905. 
131 
(6) All the ordinary Members of the newly elected Council will hold 
office until December, 1906, when one-third of them will retire. The 
various electoral districts have been divided (in the Second Schedule 
to the bye-laws) into three groups, and the particular group of 
counties, &c. (A., B., or C.). whose representatives are to retire in 1906, 
will be settled at a later date by ballot of the new Council. The 
representatives of another group (also to be settled by ballot) will 
retire in December, 1907 ; and the representatives of the remaining 
group in December, 1908 (Bye-law 82). 
8. The Council are advised that in view of the phraseology 
of Clause 6 of the original Charter of March 26, 1840 : “ The 
President shall be an annual officer of the Society and not 
re-eligible to the office of President for three years,” the period 
for which Lord Middleton was elected President of the Society 
cannot be legally extended beyond the time contemplated by 
that Charter, viz., the closing of the Society’s forthcoming Show 
(June 30). To meet this difficulty, Sir John Thorold, Bart., 
President in 1894-5, has at the request of his colleagues of the 
present Council, consented to allow himself to be placed in 
nomination, in accordance with the terms of the old Charter, 
for election as President at the Anniversary General Meeting to 
be held on May 22, on the understanding that he is only to 
hold office as President during the interval between Lord 
Middleton’s retirement and the election of a new President at 
the first Annual General Meeting of the Society to be held 
under the Supplemental Charter. If elected on May 22 to 
succeed Lord Middleton, Sir John Thorold will assume office 
as President on July 4, and will preside at the “Annual 
General Meeting ” to be held on Tuesday, August 1, when a 
new President will be elected, who will come into office at 
once, together with the Trustees and Vice-Presidents also to be 
elected on that occasion, and the ordinary Members of Council 
whose election by the various electoral districts will be 
announced to that Meeting (see Bye-law 86). 
9 . The Balance-sheet for the year 4904 has been duly 
examined and certified as correct by the Auditors appointed 
by the Members and by Messrs. Welton, Jones & Co., the 
professional Accountants employed by the Society, and it is 
printed as an Appendix to this Report [see pp. xii and xiii]. 
The figures recorded therein have already been fully dealt 
with in the Report of the Council presented to the last meeting 
of Governors and Members on December 8, 1904, when it was 
pointed out that “ the two heavy losses on the Shows at Park 
Royal in 1903 and 1904, added to those on the provincial 
Shows of 1898, 1899, 1900, and 1902, have entirely exhausted 
the Society’s Reserve Fund, and have brought it face to face 
with a most serious situation.” The economies already decided 
upon in general administration will not have their full effect 
