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H. A. RYDINGS
for them being devoted to publishing the quarterly catalogues." We may doubt whether these proposals, which were not attempted, would have worked in practice without some form of compulsion such as operates in the case of copyright deposit libraries; but it is interesting to find this suggestion of a centralised cataloguing agency at this early date, even if with different motives and to serve different purposes from those of the present day organizations of this kind.
By the end of 1867, as already noted, there had been a further decline in the membership of the Victoria Library, so that it was inevitable that some changes in its organization should be made. To decide what form these should take, a special general meeting of the subscribers was called for 4.00 p.m. on 18th December. The China Mail noted that this had unfortunately been timed to start one hour before a rowing match between English and Scottish "fours" organized by the Victoria Regatta Club, and feared that the attendance at the library meeting might suffer accordingly. However, in the event over a dozen of the 43 members turned up. The report of the meeting is contained in the China Mail of December 18th (the Mail was an evening paper even then). The Treasurer, Mr. Mitchell, stated that the income from subscriptions had fallen to about $1,000, whereas expenses were over $1,300 a year. He went on to inform subscribers of an offer from the Club Lusitano to provide a room in the new Club at a rent of $15 a month, no extras for light or coal, and free access to the Library for members when the Club premises were open. This seemed a most liberal offer, but was apparently made in the hope of encouraging members of the Library to join the Club also. If this offer, the best which had been made, were not accepted, Mr. Mitchell said he would recommend that the Library should be handed over to the proposed new City Hall. He concluded by proposing acceptance of the offer of the Club Lusitano for one year in the first instance. After some discussion the proposal was accepted unanimously.
The China Mail in a leading article on the following day applauded this decision, and paid tribute to Messrs. Mitchell, White, Smith and Crawford, who had formed the nucleus of working members whose efforts had kept the Victoria Library going. The Mail took the opportunity to repeat the suggestion it had