interest, by means of which admission was granted
to provincial and metropolitan artisans, with their wives and
families, at greatly reduced rates.

"It may safely be asserted that a vast amount of public good has
arisen from the holding of this Exhibition. No one can have
failed to notice the earnest attention paid by all classes of
the visitors to the contents of the Exhibition; and the
instruction which was derived from an examination of the varied
objects displayed therein cannot but tend to a better knowledge
of the outlying portions of the Empire, among the inhabitants of
the mother country.

"At a previous Meeting I referred to the appointment of the
Finance Committee, to its enlargement, and to the manner in
which its labours were being conducted, and I would now
specially draw your attention to the Report they have presented
to me. The accounts now before you, which have been circulated
for your information, have been subject to a continuous and
careful audit. They have been made up at the earliest possible
day consistent with the proper realization of the assets
belonging to the Royal Commission, and with the settlement of
the many and varied claims presented after the close of the
Exhibition, and which the Finance Committee had necessarily to
adjust. You will see that the fullest information in ample
detail is given under appropriate heads of the entire receipts
and expenditure of the Royal Commission up to the 23rd April,
and I am sure that you will share my satisfaction at the
gratifying result of a substantial surplus of L35,235 7_s._
8_d._ remaining in the hands of the Royal Commission.

"I am anxious that the appropriation of this surplus, and the
objects to which it should be devoted, should be in harmony with
the wishes of the entire body of the Royal Commission. I desire,
therefore, to draw your attention to a paragraph in the Report
of the Finance Committee, to the effect that in view of the fact
that this Exhibition, and those which preceded it, have to a
certain extent been considered as one series, consideration
might be given to the requirements of any former Exhibition, the
financial results of which have been less satisfactory than
those of the present undertaking. In this recommendation I
entirely concur, and a Resolution in that sense wil