172 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ Feb;nary 
between any two annual meetings, the other members of the Council 
may fill up the vacancy so created by the appointment of some other 
discreet Fellow ; and any Fellow so appointed shall for all purposes 
be deemed to occupy the position of the person to whose seat in the 
Council he has been appointed.” 
By-law (1!) adds, “ For the purpose of the last by-law a member of 
the Council may be deemed incapacitated who is absent from England 
for more than three calendar months, or delares that he is incapable 
from illness, urging duties or otherwise, from efficiently performing his 
duties as member of the Council.” 
Acting in conformity with these the Council appointed Mr. Philip 
Crowley to the vacancy on the Council created by the “ incapacity ” of 
Mr. Morris. 
By-law 7C> enacts that—“The President, the Treasurer, and the 
Secretary shall vacate their offices on the second Tuesday in the month 
of February in every year, but shall be re-eligible, as hereinafter men¬ 
tioned. In the event of any vacancy occurring in any of these offices 
by the death, resignation, or incapacity of any of the officers, such 
vacancy may be filled up by the Council.” 
Acting upon this the Council further appointed Mr. Crowley to be 
Treasurer in the room of Mr. Morris (incapacitated), and in accordance 
with the former half of it Mr. Crowley duly resigned his office of 
Treasurer on the second Tuesday in February last, and was re-elected 
thereto by the unanimous vote of the general meeting of Fellows. 
From these by-laws it did not occur to the Council that it was neces¬ 
sary to submit Mr. Crowley’s appintment to the Council to the annual 
meeting for ratification (though they would gladly have done so had 
anyone so much as suggested the desirability thereof). Mr. Crowley 
“ being deemed to occupy the position ” Mr. Morris held on the Council 
nothing further seemed needful ; indeed, by-law 70 seems to infer that 
such submission of Mr. Crowley’s name for election would have been 
out of order, for it directs that, “ If at the time of any annual meeting a 
vacancy in the Council, created by the death or incapacity of any 
member has not hetn JiUed vp hy the Council, such vacancy shall be 
filled up at that meeting in the same manner as if the member vacating 
were one of the three who had been removed by ballot at the meeting ; 
and in such case the number of members of the Council to be balloted 
out at the meeting shall be proportionately reduced.” There is no sense 
or meaning in directiug what is to be done if the Council have not filled 
the vacancy if, as you urge, the same is to be done if they have filled it ! 
As to the by-laws being in accord with the Charter I do not venture 
any opinion ; it is a matter for lawyers, who drew up both the Charter 
and the by-laws, and certified the latter to be in harmony with the 
former. I will only point out that the particular by-laws in question 
are of very old date indeed, and that the Supplementary Charter enacts, 
“ And further that the existing by-laws of the said Society shall con¬ 
tinue in force in their integrity, and shall be binding upon ‘ the Society’ 
and the members thereof, except and in so far as they shall be repealed 
or altered by any by-law to be made by ‘ the Society.’ ” This, I believe, 
fully covers the by-laws in question. 
But even if we go behind this, it does not appear to me that Mr. 
Crowley’s appointment to the Council needed to be submitted to the 
general meeting. The Supplementary Charter says :—“ In case of the 
incapacity from any cause whatever of any member of the Council, or 
of the President, Treasurer, or Secretary, between any two annual 
meetings, the Council shall nominate or appoint some other discreet 
person, being a Fellow of ‘the Society,’ to supply the place of the 
member of Council, and of the President, Treasurer, and Secretary 
respectively, until the annual meeting next following; and such 
member of Council, President, Treasurer, and Secretary, so nominated or 
appointed shall until and on such next annual meeting be deemed to 
stand for all purposes in the place of the person or officer in or to 
whose place he shall have been so nominated or appointed, or should 
have succeeded.” 
It is true that in the above the words “ until the annual meeting ” 
appear to limit the appointment, but inasmuch as ac the annual meet¬ 
ing any member of Council may be displaced by a vote (duly given 
notice of) of the meeting, the Council could not absolutely appoint Mr. 
Crowley beyond the annual meeting, but only “ until ” it, but at the 
same time if not removed by vote of the meeting he, in common with 
all other members of Council not removed, continues in office. This 
appears to be further emphasised by the words on;" the only 
meaning of which addition can be that the member appointed by the 
Council to fill the vacancy not only does so “ until ” but “ on ” the 
annual meeting. If, therefore, Mr. Crowley was a member of Council 
not only “until ” but “ on ” the annual meeting, he did not require to 
be “ elected on to the Council ” of which he was already a member. 
That this is the legal and correct interpretation appears to be proved 
by the following paragraph of the Charter, which would be absolutely 
senseless if the same procedure was to be followed in the precisely 
opposite case to that which it contemplates :—‘‘And further, as regards 
any member of Council becoming incapable in the interval between any 
two annual meetings, and whose place shall not be supplied by the 
Council as aforesaid, the place of such member of Council shall at the 
next annual meeting be supplied from the Fellows of ‘ the Society,’ 
by ballot as aforesaid, and in such case the number of Fellows to be 
balloted out at such meeting shall be proportionately reduced, Seirr,; 
Our will and pleasure that the vacancy or vacancies by reason of death 
or incapacity, not supplied hy the Council, and actually existing at the 
time of any annual meeting, shall be treated and supplied as and in lieu 
of a vacancy by ballot. ’ 
This tells us what is to be done if the Council shall not have filled 
the vacancy, and it therefore “ actually exists,” but if I understand 
your last week’s issue aright, you tell us we are to do precisely, exactly, 
and identically the same when the Council have filed the vacancy, and 
which therefore does not “ actually exist at the time of the meeting.”' 
Considering these points, I think the Council will prefer to abide by 
their lawyer’s advice that the by-laws are correct than to adopt your 
most kindly tendered advice.—'VV. Wilks, Sec. R.U.S. 
[We insert the above letter with pleasure. We have not questioned 
the accuracy of the by-laws, neither have we questioned Mr. Wilks’ 
interpretation of those he has called into operation. But may we 
suggest that Mr. Wilks does not commence his citation soon enough 
and ends it too soon P By-law OG has precedence over by-law 68, and 
governs it on a vital point, as it does another which is quoted ; indeed it 
is the key to the whole position affecting resignations, and, consequently, 
re-elections, and embodies a cardinal principle in the constitution of the 
Society. By-law 66 runs thus : “Any member of the Council may resign 
hisseaton the Council, but such resignation shall not he deemed complete 
until it has heen accepted hy a resolution passed at the next ensuinp 
annual meeting, and the acceptance of any such resignation shall not be 
entertained by such general meeting unless the member proposing tO’ 
resign has signed a paper in the form marked E in the Appendix, and 
has left it with the Secretary on or before the 1st of January preceding 
such annual meeting.” We seldom use italics, but in this case follow 
the example of the Secretary of the R.H S. 
It is to be observed that unless the stipulated form is complied with 
a resignation cannot even be entertained ' (considered) ; and if the 
resignation has been made in due form it cannot then be “completed”’ 
except by “ resolution ” passed by the Fellows of the Society at their 
annual meeting. We should like to knovi' Mr. Wilks’ interpretation of 
that by-law which he appears to have overlooked. We hold that it 
governs every other providing for the resignation of office bearers ; and 
for a very substantial reason—namely, that the rights of the Fellows- 
shall be safeguarded. They constitute the Society, and the appoint¬ 
ment of officials is invested in them. We do not for a moment suppose 
t'aat the present Council has the remotest desire to usurp the pr.vileges- 
of the Fellows, but precedents, even if established by accident, may be,, 
as they have been, dangerous things. 
We have now to turn to another by-law, which also appears to have 
been overlooked by the Council. Mr. Wilks cites by-law 76 as bearing 
on resignations by “ incapacity,” but in the case of Mr. Morris’ resigna¬ 
tion it is necessary that by-law 81 be complied with. This really 
provides for the resignation of that gentleman under the circumstances, 
and most assuredly, in our opinion, its provisions have not been com¬ 
plied with. It would be interesting to have Mr. Wilks’ interpretation 
of that by-law, and of the procedure which it involves. 
Certain points in the Charter of the Society may be debatable, as n>o 
doubt they are, but that contingency is provided for, and in all cases 
of even “seeming” contradiction, the “words and meaning of the- 
Charter must prevail.” 
Our contention is that neither the words nor meaning of the- 
Charter has been complied with. 1, Mr. Morris’ resignation has not 
been completed in accordance with the Charter and by-law 81. 2, The 
vacancies in the Treasurership have on'y been temporary vacancies,, 
and filled in a temporary manner. 3, Mr. Crowley’s nomination to 
the Council has not been submitted in prescribed form to an annual 
meeting. 4, The balloting lists were not in accordance with the- 
Charter ; and (5) in consequence of the iiragularities (accidental, we 
admit), Mr. Morris remains responsible both as a member of Council 
and Treasurer of the Society. 
It is no pleasure to us 'hat this is so. We should only be too glad' 
for the wishes of the Council to be carried out without any infringement 
of the Charter, and the valuable services of Mr. Crowley .secured con¬ 
sistently with those of Mr. Morris being retained. We have pointed 
out how this could be done without any question, we believe, as to its- 
legality, and if the objects in view can be accomplished in any other 
way, within the law, we shall not raise the slightest objections to the- 
procedure. 
But “outsiders” may excusably wonder why we attach importance 
to adherence to prescribed forms. It is the Royal Charter that was- 
granted to the Society by the Sovereign that gives to the Society a rank, 
and position above all horticultural societies in the kingdom, and it 
cannot be generally known that supporters of any other Societies are 
not entitled to rank as “ Fellows,” otherwise there would be no pedantic 
usurpation of that title either established or proposed. We think it 
would be a pity if at this juncture, when the Royal Horticultural Society 
is, we trust, on the threshold of prosperity, that anything should occur 
through misconception to strain the law by which alone it has been 
held together so long, and under which we are convinced its influence, 
usefulness, and stability can alone be maintained.] 
Scientific Committee.— W. T. Thiselton Dyer, C.M.G.. in the 
chair. Present: Mr. McLachlan, Professor Scott, Professor F. Oliver, 
Professor Marshall Ward, Professor Church, Dr. Muller, Rev. W. Wilks, 
G. F. Wilson, Dr. Bonavia, and Dr. Masters. 
Action of Galvanised Wire on Peach Trees.—The Rev. W. Wilks 
showed specimens of the injuries observed on shoots of Peach trees 
which were in contact with galvanised wire during the recent severe 
frost. The shoots at the point of contact with the wire were apparently 
blackened and frozen through, so that the distal part of the shoot,. 
