The Position of the Society. 
lxvii 
and new Members of the Council 
qualified by practical business know- 
ledge should be forthwith appointed, 
with power to call for any information 
from officials, and to employ profes- 
sional assistance, if they considered it 
necessary, from accountants, solicitors, 
and valuers, to thoroughly investigate 
the entire position of the Society, and 
to make a report to the Council as to 
what reforms and economies they con- 
sidered desirable to put the Society on 
a sound footing again. He himself 
felt that some such course as that was 
desirable, as they needed a thorough 
investigation as to what future econo- 
mies and what arrangements could be 
made for the satisfactory working of 
the Society. 
Mr. Forrest having seconded the 
motion for the appointment of such a 
Committee, 
Mr. Stratton said he desired 
strongly to support the proposition 
made by Mr. Bowen- Jones. He thought 
that a Committee of the kind men- 
tioned was most desirable in order to 
restore the confidence of the Members. 
He thought it would be expected of 
the Members of the Council that they 
would ventilate their views with regard 
to the future of the Society. They 
were undoubtedly in a serious position, 
but a Society like theirs with 10,000 
Members had not lost its prestige, and 
would go on and prosper provided they 
started on economical lines. The Show 
had, unfortunately, been a great source 
of loss for some years, so far as making 
money at the gates was concerned ; 
but so far as general business was 
concerned, and the quality of the 
exhibits, they had never had a better 
Show than that held at Park Royal 
this year. That view was endorsed 
by the implement makers, as well as 
by the exhibitors of stock, and he 
maintained that there lay the element 
of their success. He was of opinion 
that those who profited by the Show 
should pay a larger share of the ex- 
penses. They could not be continually 
appealing to the public to carry on 
the Show. Those who exhibited gained 
benefit by the Show, and every owner 
of pure-bred stock was a great gainer. 
If the Show ceased to exist, the value 
of pedigree stock would go down 
throughout the country. 
He had always been of opinion that 
it was necessary to offer high prizes, 
and to have small entry fees, but he 
was bound to admit that high prizes 
were not necessary to secure a first-class 
Show. He must also admit that they 
could not get low entrance fees ; it 
was the duty of exhibitors to pay 
higher fees. He maintained if they 
could not do that they could not have 
the Show. The Show would, he 
believed, be none the worse if they 
charged double the present fees. 
Another question was with regard to 
the size of the Show. It seemed to 
him that the ground might be very 
considerably curtailed, and they might 
let off a portion, if not sell a portion, 
and possibly better terms could be 
arranged than those offered at the 
present time. At all events, the Show 
was unnecessarily large. There was 
no particular object so far as the 
general public was concerned in having 
duplicate and triplicate implement 
exhibits. He thought that the expenses 
of the Show could be very considerably 
cut down. This was one of the matters 
that should be investigated by the 
Committee. 
He was aware that it was said that 
as they had borrowed money on low 
terms on Harewood House it did not 
cost them much more than ordinary 
offices would cost. He could not help 
thinking, however, that Members 
looked upon that house as a standing 
hindrance to economy. The house 
was certainly a most valuable asset, 
but to continue to use it as offices for 
the Society in its present position was 
certainly the reverse of economical. 
It was necessary to dispose of the 
house to propitiate their Members, 
and unless they were propitiated the 
Society would never be successful. 
The sooner the public knew they were 
going to work on those lines, the 
sooner their membership would in- 
crease. He suggested that they might 
admit tenant farmers as Members at 
a lower fee than now. The more 
Members they had the smaller would 
be the expenses per head. 
With regard to the Journal, the 
general opinion was that it was not 
worth the money it cost, and if they 
had to curtail anything, they must 
curtail expense in that direction. He 
