was fair enough that those who were not connected with it should wish to make the most of the property. Offers had been made for the ground which was understood to be about £5,000. It had become then a matter for the Archery Society to consider whether they had the means of paying that sum to secure the ground and they could not see that they had. The Burton family then said they were as anxious as anybody to preserve the grounds and would give £1,000 towards its purchase. That, he thought would bring the amount down to within reach. Mr. Mock, in addressing the meeting said he had attended as Mayor of Hastings, because he felt that anything by which the attractions
were diminished would be so much to the detriment of the whole borough. He thought that those having property in the neighborhood should contribute largely, but also that the public generally should make a joint effort to keep the ground open for ever, if only on sanitary considerations. The Mayor then proposed That the preserving as Archery Grounds the present ornamental gardens is an object deserving the support of the public; and for this purpose it is desirable to raise the required sum, partly by donations and partly by shares as proposed in the prospectus.
Sir Woodbine Parish, in seconding the resolution, remarked that it was essential to those who had houses to let or to sell that places like the Archery Ground should be preserved. They had lost their cricket ground at Bopeep, and with it many young men and visitors to whom it was an attraction.
Mr Crake said the stipulation of the Burton family was that there should be no buildings erected on the ground except for pleasure garden purposes. The present donations for relieving the share capital were £611, and the promised shares were 233, representing a sum of £1165, making a total of £1761, independent of 25 shares a gentleman said he would take. He read a letter from Mr. Brassey and estimated the subscriptions in this neighborhood to amount to about £2000. The theory on which they had proceeded was that the Company would purchase the grounds and become owners in fee; that they would be as landlords using the grounds for certain purposes to be expressed in the articles of association; and that they would let to the Archery Society under certain reservations.
Mr. Gipps thought that the statement that the Archery grounds had been supported by the Burton family was a mistake. The Archery Society had been entirely self-supporting, and while their average receipts for the last twenty years had been £164, the average rent had been £21. Mr. Burton said the full value had never been put on the ground, as proof of which, Mr. Gant, who valued the land in 1861, had offered to -
