day, March 22nd, 1884, to receive the Report of the
Executive Committee. Details of receipts and outlay were presented.
Reference was made to the wide interest awakened by the Exhibition, the
attendance of fishermen from many lands, as well as from all parts of
the United Kingdom, and the success of the attempt to sell fish at
prices hitherto unknown in our great towns. The Report and Balance Sheet
having been presented, the Prince of Wales thus spoke:--

"You have all listened, I am sure, with great interest to the
report that has been read to you by the Chairman of the
Executive Committee. From what we have heard, I think it is
patent to all that the late Fisheries Exhibition has in every
point of view been a success. It has been a financial success,
and it has also been a success as regards the enormous number of
people who have visited it, not only of our own countrymen and
those from our colonies, but from every part of the globe. It is
unnecessary for me on an occasion of this kind to enumerate the
objects of this Exhibition, but I maintain that its two salient
objects--viz., the scientific and practical ones--have fully
justified its existence: its scientific object by the display of
every possible kind of modern appliance, thus showing the great
improvements that have been made in the fishing industry of the
world; and its practical object because it not only showed to
our own countrymen, but to all the world, what a valuable means
of subsistence fish is. Many, I believe, had no idea of its
value; while the existence of varieties of fish was made known
which had not even been heard of by the great majority of
people. Well, gentlemen, you have all heard that there is a
surplus amounting to L15,243, and the question is naturally how
to employ that sum. In the address that I read to you at the
closing of the Exhibition I held out some hope that this might
be applied in a useful and practical manner, and I would
therefore now suggest to the General Committee that one of the
best objects by which to perpetuate the results of this
successful Exhibition would be to appropriate, say, about
L10,000 to alleviate the distress of widows and orphans of sea
fishermen. I use the words 'alleviate the distress' because I do
not wish to bind any of you to our erecting an orphanage. That
would cost a great d