2 
a.d. 1878. 
RAFFLES SOCIETIES. 
And whereas' the Government contributed the sum of 
one thousand and two hundred dollars annually, for the 
purpose of carrying on the said Gardens, the rest of the 
funds having been raised by private subscription; 
And whereas the said Society became unable, owing to 
the want of funds, to carry on the work at the said 
Gardens in such a way as to be useful to the public, and 
in the year 1874, applied to the Government for assist¬ 
ance, offering to make over the whole of the property of 
the Society to Government, for the use of the public, on 
condition of Government paying off the debts incurred 
by the Society, that is to say, the sum of four thousand 
dollars due on the mortgage above set out, and a further 
sum of five hundred and eighty-six dollars and twenty 
cents due to the Honorary Secretary for advances made 
by him for current expenses, and on the further conditions 
that the subscribers to the Gardens should continue to 
enjoy the privilege theretofore enjoyed by them of pro¬ 
curing plants and flowers from the Gardens when 
available, and that Government should carry on the 
works at the Gardens from the public funds, with such 
aid thereto as might be raised by voluntary subscriptions; 
And whereas thereafter the debts of the said Society 
were paid off by thg Government, and the title deeds of 
the property of the Society were made over to Govern¬ 
ment, and pending the passing of an Ordinance to 
legalise the transfer, the said Gardens have been managed 
by a Committee called “ The Raffles Library, Gardens, 
and Museum Committee 
And whereas certain individuals in or about the year 
1844 established a circulating Library under the name 
of the Singapore Library, for the use of themselves and 
of such persons as they admitted as subscribers, and in 
the year 1874, the proprietors of the said Library, being 
indebted for books furnished- and being unable any longer 
to support the Library in an efficient manner, offered to 
make over to Government the books and property of the 
Library, on condition of Government upholding a Public 
Library from the public funds, with such assistance as 
might be received from subscribers for the use of the 
oooks lent out, and on the further condition that the pro¬ 
prietors, on surrendering their property, should be 
entitled to the rights of subscribers during the period of 
