The Position of the Society. 
lxix 
would be able to make such economies 
as would give satisfaction to the 
general public, and would result in 
their putting the Society on a better 
financial standing than it was at the 
present time, or had been for many 
years past. 
Mr. Mathews said he thought the 
Committee ought to know the view of 
the Members generally, because that 
was a mistake they made some time 
ago, when they decided to have a 
permanent Show at Park Royal. 
He would like a circular sent to 
every Member of the Society, to 
include a number of questions as to 
whether (1) the Member was in favour 
of holding a Show in 1906 ? (2) If so, 
whether it should take place at Park 
Royal or elsewhere ? (3) If in favour 
of the Show, whether he would con- 
tribute, in the case of a Life Member 
1Z., and in the case of an Ordinary 
Member 21 ., towards the Show ? (4) 
If not in favour of continuing the 
Shows, what should the Society do to 
keep itself in evidence before the 
Members ? He suggested that each 
Member of Council should undertake 
to send out such a circular to the 
Members of the Society resident in 
his own county. The answers should 
be sent to the Member of Council, and 
he should be asked to analyse them, 
and send the results to the Special 
Committee, as it would be a great 
help to the Committee in coming to 
a decision with regard to the Show. 
His own impression was that the 
majority of replies would be in favour 
of a Show somewhere next year. One 
good result that would arise from the 
sending out of that circular would be 
to bring the Members of Council in 
touch with their constituents, and he 
was sure that they would learn a 
great lesson as to the people who 
belonged and who did not belong to 
the Society. They would then be in 
a position to get a great many new 
Members, which would show the 
subscribers that the new Council were 
not going to be a thing of nought, but 
were doing their very best to forward 
the interests of the Soicety. 
Col. Curtis-Hayward said that 
before a Committee set to work on the 
question as to how to put their house 
in order, he thought they ought to 
decide the question as to whether or 
not a permanent Showyard was the best 
for the Society. He believed that the 
majority of their Members considered 
that the whole of their disasters were 
caused by their having given up the 
migratory Show, but he thought that 
they could not sufficiently have read 
the report of the Committee which 
showed the failure of the migratory 
Show system. A suggestion had been 
made that day that they should call 
a conference of representatives of the 
local Agricultural Societies. If this 
proposal was adopted, the Council 
could ascertain authoritat ively whether 
there were any sites in the different 
districts for the Society’s Show ; 
whether the county Societies were 
prepared to co-operate ; and whether 
they would give up their own Shows 
at the time that the “Royal” came into 
their neighbourhood. The Council 
would then know whether a return to 
the system of migratory Shows was 
possible. Until that was decided 
the Special Committee could not 
tell in what directions they were to 
reform . 
After some further discussion, Mr. 
Bowen-Jones formally moved, and 
Mr. Forrest seconded, the following 
resolution, which, on being put, was 
declared by the President to be 
carried unanimously : — 
“That a Special Committee be ap- 
pointed, with power to call for any 
information from officials, and to employ 
professional assistance, if they consider 
it necessary, from accountants, solicitors, 
and valuers, to thoroughly investigate 
the entire position of the Society, and to 
make a report to the Council after 
the recess as to what reforms and 
economies they consider desirable to 
put the Society on a sound footing.” 
This Committee was constituted as 
follows : — The President, Mr. T. L. 
Aveling, Mr. Richardson Carr, Mr. 
R. P. Cooper, Mr. R. Forrest, Sir John 
Gilmour, Bart., Sir Gilbert Greenall, 
Bart., Mr. W. Harrison, the Earl of 
Jersey, Mr. Christopher Middleton, 
Mr. T. S. Minton, Mr. F. Reynard, 
Mr. John Rowell, Mr. E. W. Stany- 
forth, Mr. Richard Stratton, Mr. George 
Taylor, Mr. John Thornton, and Mr. 
C. W. Wilson. 
(This Committee subsequently held 
a preliminary meeting and decided to 
sit again on September 20 and 21.) 
