January 11,1873.] THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
553 
be extended to the Benevolent Fund, which certainly was 
in want of all the assistance which could be obtained for 
it; an increase of 1 per cent, in the interest on their in¬ 
vestments would enable them to do considerably more for 
persons in need of assistance from the Benevolent Fund, 
perhaps to add three or four annuitants. The sole ques¬ 
tion was as to the security, and he must say that freehold 
land or ground rents Avere fully equal to the Funds. 
The President read a letter from Mr. Sandford, who 
was not able to attend, in which he deprecated the adop¬ 
tion of the resolution on various grounds, but suggested 
that the funds of the Society might be invested in India 
Bonds to pay 4 or 4^ per cent. 
The Vice-President inquired what was the average 
rate of interest paid by the whole of their invest¬ 
ments. 
Mr. Hides said he could not say exactly; it would be 
from 3| to 3f; certainly under 3^ per cent. 
Mr. Sutton said India Bonds were now becoming A 7 ery 
prominent as an investment, and they were just as good 
as English Government securities; at any rate, this was 
the opinion given to him by a legal gentleman whom he 
had recently had occasion to consult. 
Mr. Hills said that might be so, but India Bonds did 
not come within the definition of Government securities 
to which they were limited by the Bye-laws. 
Mr. Greenish said investments in India Bonds were 
allowed by the Court of Chancery. 
Mr. Baynes said there were two classes of Indian se¬ 
curities, one guaranteed in India, and the other having 
the guarantee of the Imperial Government, but the 
latter, he believed, paid a much smaller rate of interest 
than the former. 
The Vice-President said he did not think this latter 
class of Bonds could be brought to pay more than 4 per 
cent. The Treasurer had informed them that the ave¬ 
rage rate of interest was about 3|, and he should like 
to know where they could invest their money upon 
freehold land without buildings upon it, which would 
pay a rate of interest exceeding that which their Go- 
vemment investments brought in at the present time. 
He did not think they could do so unless they went into 
speculative purchases on the contingency of the land 
increasing - in A'alue, and that was totally foreign to the 
objects of the Society, and ought not to be encouraged. 
It would open the doors to what might prove hereafter 
a A r ery awkward state of things. Freehold ground rents 
were no doubt a very good security, but he did not think 
they could be purchased to pay more than 4 per cent., 
not such ground rents as they would have anything - to 
do with. He had known such property sold repeatedly 
for from 26 up to 32 years’ purchase, and 25 years’ 
purchase, which would only give 4 per cent., was a low 
average value to give for ground rents of an unexcep¬ 
tionable character. Personally, he should be very sorry 
to confine himself to the Public Funds for any invest- 
ments he had to make ; but they were trustees for the 
Society, and were placed in a different position. 
Mr. Bottle said the question of changing invest¬ 
ments was an idea which he himself had proposed some 
fifteen years ago, when he felt extremely warm upon it, 
and urged the Council to do what was now proposed with 
all the force he was able to command ; but fifteen years 
had made a change in circumstances relating to freehold 
ground rents, and at the present time he should feel 
bound to vote against the resolution. Had they made 
a purchase of freehold land fifteen years ago, probably 
£10,000 invested then would be worth £15,000 now, 
but he saw no prospect of a similiar increase in the 
value of land taking place in the next ten or fifteen 
years; on the contrary, he thought it had reached its 
maximum value, and taking into account the 
salaries and expenses which would be requried in 
managing this class of property, he thought they would 
be losers rather than gainers if they invested £10,000 
in freehold ground rents rather than in Consols. 
Mr. Hills said he should prefer the matter being re¬ 
ferred to the Finance Committee to report upon. 
Mr. Baynes said he made a similar motion some time 
ago, referring the matter to the Finance Committee, but 
it came to nothing'. 
Mr. Urwick, in reply, said he had confined himself 
to testing the opinion of the Council with regard to the 
investment of £10,000 from the General Fund before 
going into the question of the Benevolent Fund, though 
he should be glad to see all the funds invested more 
profitably. He thought Mr. Brown was in error, as he 
could speak from experience of 4 per cent, and even 
more being easily obtained in ground rents, though he did 
not believe more than 34 could be obtained from the 
purchase of freehold land. He differed, howeA'er, from 
Mr. Bottle in thinking that land had reached its ulti¬ 
mate value in England, for he did not think this was the 
case by any means. As a security he believed freehold 
ground rents were preferable even to the Funds, and 
with that class of security he should suggest there would 
be no difficulty in collecting. With regard to foreign 
funds, which had been suggested by Mr. Sandford’s 
letter, the Council had no power to invest in them, 
and although India Bonds might pay better interest 
than Consols, still most of them now stood at from £103 
to £110, and were liable to be paid off at £100, and if 
such a thing were to happen, the percentage would be 
considerably reduced. But the Council had no poAver to 
invest in Indian securities. 
The motion was then put,with the following result:— 
For —Messrs. Baynes, Shaw and Urwick. 
Against — Messrs. Atherton, Betty, Bottle, Brown, 
Greenish, Haselden, O wen,f Radley, Schacht, Stoddart, 
Sutton and Williams. The motion was therefore lost. 
Mr. Hills and Mr. ITampson were present but did 
not vote. 
General Arrangements oe the House. 
Mr. Betty, in accordance with notice, moved— 
“ That the house committee be instructed to inquire- 
into and report upon the present duties of the clerks, 
and house servants, and generally as to the arrange¬ 
ments and accommodation of the establishment.” 
He said the present arrangements of the establish¬ 
ment were most inconvenient in many ways, not 
only for the Council, but also at the times of exam¬ 
inations. On a recent occasion there were upwards 
of .forty young men ’crowded into two rooms which 
was most undesirable in a written examination. Great 
confusion consequently existed, and great annoy¬ 
ance, not only to those who were being examined, but to 
the whole establishment. It was certainly very clear 
that a young man could not pass an examination with 
satisfaction to himself in the midst of such bustle and 
confusion as took place under such circumstances, 
especially with the knowledge present to his mind that 
he was then in one of the most important crises of his 
career. Various suggestions had been made at former 
times for the purpose of remedying these evils, but he 
hoped now the whole matter would be relegated to a 
committee, and that they would deA'ise some means of 
more satisfactorily carrying out the Society’s business. 
Mr. Williams had great pleasure in seconding the 
motion. He was very sorry the Society did not see its way 
some two years ago, to take advantage of an opportunity 
which then occurred of purchasing the Inns of Court 
Hotel, and conA r erting the portion fronting Lincoln’s Inn 
Fields into a proper edifice for the use of the Society. 
However that was past now, but the question which Mr. 
Betty now brought forward was of even greater im¬ 
portance. He did not think that proper accommodation 
could be obtained in the premises they occupied without 
very considerable alteration, involving the expenditure of 
a large sum of money ; and he hoped one of the first steps 
would be to carry out the principle of Mr. Urwick’s 
motion, and im r est a sum of money in purchasing the 
