The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1866-06-26 00:00:00

SALISBURY.

CHIOS 14•1/(117. —OW monthly chow mukot
was bold on Thursday. There were shout y tons
pitched. New Aims railroad 28.. to 34a. ; new halt-
skime, 50. to 60..; new Somoraets, thts. to 70e. ; old
Cboddarr, 90a. per cwt.

THE MAYOR, AND THE BATH AND WEST
OF ENGL AND SHOW.
A special meeting of the Town Council of the
city of Salisbury was held at the Couocil Chamber.
on Widnesday, the 20th day of June, 1866, for the
purpose of bearing a statement from the Mayor,
relative to the events which occurred in connection
with the reoent meeting of the Bath and West of
England Society in this city.
Present: The Mayor, Mr. Alderman Kelsey,
Mr. Alderman Woodlands, Mr. Alderman Fawcett,
and Comocillors Style, Eigclen, Ottaway, Middleton,
Sidford, Whitlock.
The minutes of the last meeting were read and
con rmed.

The Mayor then read the following statement
Gentlemen,—l believe that you will be of my opinion
that you are entitled to bear some statemest from me
in explanation of the miespprehensiou which appears to
exist with respect to the reception of the Rath and
West of England Society upon their recent visit to the
town, by the Mayor and Corporation of Salisbury • for
nth misapprehensiou has subjected us to no ;mall
amount of harsh and severe criticism, and in justice
alike to you end myself, I my I cannot but think you
will consider moose explanation from me I, neseesery.
The burden of the complaint made against us, as ter
as I can understand, is firstly, that the reception of the
society by the authorities of the city, was not 'efficiently
demonstrative, and that that spirit of welcome and
coagrat.ulatioa the society is supposed to hays expected,
and sale usual upon its visit to other similar towns,
was not evinced by us; and secondly, that the recep-
tion of the satiety, in what has been celled • becoming
meaner, was not only not initiated by me, but that all
the wishes and esdeavoure of iodividnals in the town
for the promotion of some demonstration of the kind
were perversely repressed and frustrated.
This, I say, sa the charge made, as far as I have been
able to ascertain, and this is the chai
make r to which, with
reset' 771:at •Illn. purpose
ea romible to reply.
business
as
It will be unneceasary for me, I think, to refer
you to the earlier hiatory of the visit of the society
to Salisbury, and I will therefore tette up the subject
from the date of the visit of a deputation of the more
active members of the council in the spring of the
present year, when they were here for several days,
making their arrangements in the city and neighbour-
hood upon the details of their exhibition; in fact, from
the date of the first official visit of the stewards of
the society to this city, and from the time when the
actual preparations front the show may be said to have
oommeeoed.
About the 28th February, then, I and the Town
Clerk had an interview with those members of the council
of the society for the express purpose of ascertaining
from them what form the remotion of their society by
the city should assume, and what manifestations of
congratulatioe would be expected of tie that we might
be in a position to advise with the Town Coasted aeon
the subject, and that the society might be received by
us with that amount of courtesy and consideration they
were entitled to.
The result of our enquiries was that the council of
the Society begged us to make no demonstration at all.
"Pray do nothing." they said; "them public receptions
occupy time we can ill afford to spare, they themes the
enemas already sufficiently large, to which you are
subjected in remeneenee of our visit, the object of the
toddy is oedema not Measure—work not play. We
are eltremely obliged to you for your kind intention,
but the greatest service you ems do us, now that you
have supplied our pecuniary and other requirements in
the handsome manner you have, is to leave us to our-
selves;" and this view of the matter was on the 28th
March subsequently pressed upon us by Mr. Goodwin,
the secretary of the society, and who »quieted that no
public reception should be given them.
This than, gentlemen, is the reason no proposition of
any public reception of the society was made to you by
me. Whether I was tight or not in my observation of
the expremed wishes of the society may be a point
upon which differences of opinion may be impeded to
be entertained; but I can only my that this was the
advice I received, did I then believed and still believe
that that advice was sound. sad I do not doubt when
you consider for a memeet the heavy expenses to which
the town and neighbourhood had been then already sub-
jected in providing for the necemities of the visit of
this society, and, moreover, the liability to which we
were then still subject in connection therewith, you
will be of opinion that it was wise in us not to volun-
teer to involve ourselves in further obligation', that
were not only not called for, but contrary to the ex-
pressed wi-hes of officials of the society, for it will be
borne in mind that at this time we were under an en-
gagement to provide the society with a sum of no lees
than £I.BOO towards the expenses of their visit, besides
having to provide them the rround for their eshibition,
and • hod of other less important, but in the whole,
costly requirements, and instead of having already ac-
complished thin we were some £250 actually in arrear,
the burden of which, I have little hesitation In sayiog,
must have directly, at host, fullest mainly upon you and
myself, and this, I roped, is the reason no proposition
emanated from me for any public reception of the Beth
awl Wed of England Society.
The second portion of the misapprehension which
exists, namely, the repression by me of endeavours
which are alleged to have been made by other parties in
this city to get up some sort of public demonstration
upon the occasion in question, is more easily disposed of,
foe it has not only no (emulation in fad, but I assert,
without hesitation Or fear of contradiction, that it
is a
singular and direct inversion of the truth, and of this
you will not fail to be convinced as I detail to you the
circumstances as they took place, and which I will
shortly proceed to do.
The first mention of the subject of the reception of the
society I received front other quarters, was on the 18th
May. when the ex-Mayor of the city, and a gentleman
of this neighbourhood, and the of the most prominent
and active members of the society, called upon me
upon the subject, to whom lex eed the determine,
tom which had been come to, a the reasons an I have
just stated them to yin at which that determine-
tine arrived at, and in which they expressed
their concurrence; ingesting only that it might be,
perhaps, proper, that some entertainment should be
given to the stewards of the 'society in the week pre-
Gooding the meeting, when they would be here superin-
tending the details of the show; and this it wee arranged
should be done privately by me. Retardate intimation
whatever was exprswed to me of a desire in any querter
that any public reception of the society should be I,
until the morning of the 30th of May, when • gentleman
from the Town Clerk's office (the Town Clerk himself
being from home) waited upon as to my, th.t an
opinion had been espremed at the office that there
shosid be some public forte of recerptioe of the society,
and expressing an eadety to know if anything of the
kind was intended.
Upon this intimation I took the earliest opportunity
of procuring an interview with the Town (jerk and
discussed the subject again with him, and ingeded the
propriety of calling a toenail together to take the sub-
ject into consideration; but thie I wee advised was un-
necessary, the Town Clerk smearing me that it was not
done on the occasion of the Royal Agricultural Society
visiting Sali-bury, and that there was no strong feeling
in the city he believed upon the subject, and that I may
relieve my mind of any nominees upon those ground".
In the afternoon of the same day a young men woo
repremented himself to be tbe secretary to a number of
gentlemen who had, he said, formed themselves into a
committee to 'Seamans Medd demonstration upon the
ossuion of the dociety's visit, called upon me to request
my attention to certain resolutions his committee had
the effect that the town should be decorated
II
15 to
theweek of the show, and that bands of music
8 be provided for the amusement of the visitors
daring the evenings of their visit, and he stated that he
was requested to obtain the permission of the Mayor
for these purposes, and to ask for the ass of the Council
Chamber for the meetings of the committee, and he
farther stated that a subscription had been opened to
defray the expenses of thews proceedings, to which he
was also instructed to request the Mayor to allow his
same to he added. To all and each of these proposi-
tions without hesitation I replied ha the affirmative,
adding only that with rasped to the subscription my
same must be added in my eddies especatv, cad sot as
the Mayor of Salidary, for WY not at liberty, I con-
eldered (and in this view I think you will Dot disagree
with me) without some sort of previous understaading
with the Town Council to pledge myself as it were
officially to any private enterprises of this kind, the more
especially considering the expenses to which we had
I already committed ourselves and the further °Wisdom
I to which we were liable.
The neat incident in connection with this subject I
have to IDGDiiOO is the trilling one of the attempt of this
committee of gentlemen to obtain the services of the
military beads, the moiety had engaged Inc their show
yard, to day in she town in the evenings after the show
yard was closed, and this they requested one of the
stewards of the society to ask me to endeavour to effect
for them which he did at my dinner table, upon the
"4"":g the
en stewards
doubt for o moment h dininst withme
that I
octle3th
May. lou oaotshould
have been only too pleased to bast complied with so
moderate • request as this, bat the subject was imme-
diately taken out of my bands by the steward of the
musts department of the society's exhibition who was
present at the table, and he and the gentleman in
question settled the matter in their own way, un-
fortunately, I believe contrary to the wishes of the
committee, the stewaid naively enough adding that If
the bands in their employ did their duty in the show
yard during the day, they could hardly be expected be
supply the requisemeate of the city in the e,sulsse, and
he then and there, as I have said, I believe,
against granting their services, sad this brings me to
the lit of Jane, when it was determined upon the
' advice of the Town Clerk, sad that there may
be no possibility of any went of courtesy to
the 'eddy being alleged against us, to sell
private meeting of the Town Opened to °gadder
fluidly, as to whether any and what steps should be
taken for the reception of the society, in the ensuing
week. The Coupon met, sad it was resolved, sa you
are aware that the presidency and stewards, of the
society, abOuld be invited to a publie Idahoan at the
Council Chamber, on the Thunday_fellowiag. and that
the application for the use of the Miter/ Saud, in the
employ of the moiety should he mowed, and a letter
only received dsrlsg the Attie( was also reed trace the
mcretery of the society. requesting that the Mayor and
Corporation would visit their exhibition in state OD
Monday. Tiny* aware, too, that these resolutions were
aseded Into offset, ,ad yes know with what resultal;
our Invitation to the president, and steward, was