The fourth Annual Meeting of the Otago Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals was held in the Town Hall buildings on Wednesday evening. Mr. Justice Williams (President) occupied the chair, and there was a sparse attendance.

The Chairman said he regretted very much that there should be such a small attendance that evening, and especially regretted the absence of any ladies. But it was only reasonable, looking at the inclemency of the weather, that there should be a small attendance. Several familiar faces were absent on this occasion. Archdeacon Edwards was unfortunately confined to the house by illness. The Rev. Dr. Stuart had forwarded a note of apology stating he was sorry that an engagement into which he had entered in ignorance of the time of the Annual Meeting of the Society would prevent his being at the meeting. Dr. Stuart further said in the note :—"I would like to say that the Society is, in a quiet was, pervading the community with the sense of our obligation to treat with kindness the animal creation, which is so serviceable to our race." Mr. Dick, one of their Vice-Presidents, was also unable to be present; and Mr. Livingston, the Treasurer, and Mr. Wilkie, one of the members of Committee, were both prevented by indisposition from attending. Copies of the Report, he thought, had been circulated among the Members, and he presumed it would be taken as read.—(Assent.) He would now move its adoption. There was really very little to say beyond what was contained in the Report. They would see that their Society, in common with every society in Dunedin, had suffered from the hard times; that though they had a respectable credit balance, yet their operations had been to a considerable extent crippled for want of funds; and funds were especially necessary, as stated in the Report, for the purpose of "printing and circulating cautions and appeals on behalf of our dumb clients." He thought it would not be difficult with the aid of a little canvassing, especially if ladies would help them in their canvass, to get a number of additional members. The subscription was very small, and if they could obtain 20 or 30 additional members at 5s. apiece it would help the Society very considerably. The Report showed what had been done by the Society during the past, year : 131 cases had been investigated; 15 persons were prosecuted, all of whom, with one exception, were convicted. There was one matter which had not been mentioned in the Report, and that was this :—At the last Annual Meeting it was suggested that there should be a ladies' committee to assist the ordinary Committee in the work of the Society. He believed a ladies' committee had been appointed, but they had hardly yet got into working order. It was to be hoped that in the future the opera- page 10 tions of the Society would be materially benefited by their assistance, It might be mentioned that several ladies had attended the meetings of the ordinary Committee of the Society. Inspector Weldon and the police under his charge had, as would be seen by the Report, worked in complete harmony with the Society, and the Committee wished to point out that the thanks of the Society were due to Inspector Weldon and the officers under him. They would observe in the Balance-sheet that no charge had been made for legal expenses, although the Society had conducted a number of prosecutions. It would also be seen that no charges had been made for the services of veterinary surgeons. The services of solicitors and veterinary surgeons were given gratuitously by honorary solicitors and veterinary surgeons, who had, as the Committee stated, been at all times most ready to give their professional services when required. The following letter from the Rev. Mr. Gibb had just now been put into his hand :—"I should have very much liked to be present at the Annual Meeting of the above Society, over which you preside, to-night. It is, howerer, impossible for me to attend. I write to express regret that I cannot be present, and to say that I very deeply sympathise with the objects of the Society."

Mr. R. K. Murray said it afforded him much pleasure indeed to second the adoption of the Report. The Society was one that quietly and unobtrusively prosecutes its work, but its objects must commend themselves to every man who possessed the instincts of our common humanity. If they looked at the Report for the year they would find that the Society had done an immense service to the community. One remarkable feature was that all the persons connected with the Society were doing their work gratuitously. If this were not the case the work could never have been carried on successfully, because, it would be observed, the gross revenue and expenditure was excessively small. Another remarkable feature referred to in the Report was that there had been a change made in the law, giving to magistrates power to deal with cases where animals suffered. A case occurred during the present year in which neither the driver nor the animal seemed to get a sufficiency of food. The horse fell down purely through want of food; and he believed some persons went to his Worship and asked if he would give them power to end the sufferings of the animal then and there. He said, "If I give you power I will have to pay for the animal," and the animal was allowed to continue suffering in consequence. Since then the law had been altered, and if any magistrate found an animal incurable he had the power to put an end to its misery. The alteration of the law was one of many instances of good done by the Society. He did not think it was necessary to refer to other matters, as the Report spoke for itself.

The motion for the adoption of the Report was then put to the Meeting, and crrried unanimously.

Election of Officers.

Mr. W. Mills moved that the following officers be re-elected for the ensuing year :—President, Mr. Justice Williams; Vice-Presidents, page 11 the Hon. Thomas Dick and Mr. G. Fenwick; Honorary Treasurer, Mr. A. R. Livingston; Honorary Secretary, Mr. E. C. Quick.

Mr. G. P. Clifford seconded the motion which was carried.

On the motion of Mr. Livingston, Mr. WM. Brown was elected as Auditor for the Society.

The Rev. Mr. Lichtenstein moved that the following gentlemen be appointed Honorary Solicitors to the Society :—Messrs. A. Bathgate, F. R. Chapman, J. Copland (Lawrence), J. F. M. Fraser, T. W. Hislop (Oamaru), F. H. McCoy (Lawrence), D. D. Macdonald, D. Reid (Milton), R. L. Stanford, D. Stewart (Balclutha), F. Stilling, D. M. Stuart, Hon. R. Stout, and H. Newton (Oamaru).

Messrs. J. G. Douglass and S. Slesinger were elected Honorary Veterinary Surgeons.

Mr. E. C. Quick moved—"That the following ladies form a ladies' committee, with power to add to their number :—Mesdames Brown, Chamberlain, Dymock, Dick, Edwards, Hocken, Livingston, Stewart, Walcott, and Miss Sievwright.

The motion was seconded by Mr. G. P. Clifford, and carried.

On the motion of Mr. Slesinger the following were elected a General Committee :—His Worship the Mayor for the time being, Dr. Brown, the Rev. B. Lichenstein, Dr. Hocken, General Irvine, Messrs. J. Hardie, R. Ewing, J. Robin, W. H. Taggart, R. K. Murray, A. Thomson, W. Mills, and P. Mitchell.

The Annual Meeting.

The Rev. Mr. Lichtenstein said that he would move—"That the next Annual Meeting be held in the first week in February." He regretted to see so small an attendance present at every Annual Meeting. It seemed as if the outside public did not take so much interest in the Society as they should do; but if the Annual Meetings were held at a more seasonable time, he thought the attendance would be larger and a greater interest would be taken in the Society Perhaps the meetings would also be better attended if they were held in the afternoon, before business people went home to their dinners.

Mr. E. C. Quick, in seconding the motion, said he certainly thought this was a bad season to hold the Annual Meetings. It was an indisputable fact that every year the attendance had been smaller and smaller. He believed that there was only one Member of the Society I present that night besides the Officers of the Society. There seemed to be the greatest apathy in the world on the part of many with regard to the interests of the Society. He did not know whether the Officers of the Society were to blame. He thought that it was just possible if the Meetings were held at a different time there would be a larger attendance than at present. He was sorry to see the number of Members of the Society was falling off and the income was falling off. He thought I the Committee had been very economical. A good deal had been done in getting school children to join the Society, but there were not sufficient means to do so much as might be done. If by any means they could gain the interest of the public more it would certainly be I a very desirable thing.

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Mr. G. Fenwick said he thoroughly endorsed the remarks which had been made in support of the motion brought forward by the Rev. Mr. Lichtenstein. He must confess that it was disheartening in the extreme to the Committee, who took a warm interest in the Society, to find that on an occasion of this kind—an Annual Meeting—the membership of the Society was, outside of the Committee, represented by only one or two. Hut he had no doubt that in a great measure the meagre attendance could be attributed to the weather. He supposed that they could alter the rules so as to change the date of the Annual Meetings, and felt sure that if it were done they would have a far better attendance at their future Annual Meetings. He could scarcely think that the reason advanced by Mr. Quick—want of confidence in the Officers appointed—was a moving cause of the lack of interest in the Society by Members as manifested by the small attendance. He had attended the Committee meetings pretty regularly; and Mr. Quick, who was one of the prime movers in the establishment of the Society, was, he considered, deserving of the highest praise for the energetic performance of his duties as Hon. Secretary, he did not think they could advantageously replace Mr. Quick in that office by any person with whom he was acquainted. The lack of interest apparently shown by the small attendance might be due to Members of the Society having full confidence in the Officers, recognising the good work being done, but having a mistaken impression that the objects of the Society were accomplished. The first object was to encourage the sentiment which would lead to the abolition of cruelty to animals on the streets and elsewhere, and the second object was to inflict punishment upon persons who were guilty of cruelty. With regard to the first object, the lack of funds had been so manifest that they had not been able to do anything at all; the Home Society expended large sums of money in the dissemination of handbills and tracts, but this Society had not been in a position to spend anything as yet in that manner, though that was one of its principal objects. Until they obtained more funds so as to enable them to circulate appeals on behalf of animals, that object would not be accomplished. If the Rev. Mr. Lichtenstein's motion were carried it would lead to the Annual Meetings being more largely attended, and probably more enthusiasm would be aroused in the Society's objects.

Mr. Murray supported the motion, and referred to the fact that out of a membership of 208 they had surely a right to expect that a tithe of that number would attend the Annual Meeting.

Mr. Clifford also supported the motion. Mr. Quick seemed to attribute the small attendance to want of confidence in the Officers, but he thought the reverse was the case.

The Chairman cordially agreed with the motion. What was wanted at these Annual Meetings was a little more enthusiasm, if possible. He thought that if the Meetings were held in summer it might lead to more interest being taken in the Society.

The motion was then put to the Meeting and carried.

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Complimentary.

On the motion of Mr. Clifford, votes of thanks were accorded to the honorary Solicitors, Veterinary Surgeons, and the police.

M. Slesinger, in responding to the vote of thanks on behalf of the Veterinary Surgeons, mentioned that since the Society started a great deal had been done in the way of putting a stop to the practice of burning lampers in horses.

The Meeting terminated with a vote of thanks to his Honor Mr. Justice Williams for presiding.