XX

EXHIBITION OF 1851

The Executive Committee.

Before the issue of the Royal Commission, an Executive Committee had beenappointed by the Council of the Society of Arts to carry into effect the contractwhich has already been alluded to. This Committee had been afterwards confirmedin Her Majesty’s Commission of the 3rd January, 1850. It then consisted of thefollowing Members: Mr. Robert Stephenson, Mr. Henry Cole, Mr. C. WentworthDilke, Mr. E. Fuller, Mr. G. Drew, Mr. M. Digby Wyatt, (Secretary). Of these,Mr. Drew had been nominated by Messrs. Munday to represent their interests,according to a provision in the contract.

Immediately on the Commissioners availing themselves of the power to annul thecontract, and thereby assuming a different relation to the management of theExhibition, the then Executive Committee considered it becoming to leave theCommissioners wholly unfettered in the choice of their Executive Officers, andaccordingly tendered their resignations. Under these circumstances Mr. RobertStephenson retired, and was nominated a Commissioner by a supplementary warrantfrom Her Majesty; and Lieut.-Colonel, now Colonel Sir William Reid, R.E. wasappointed by Her Majesty’s warrant dated February 12, 1850, to succeed him inthe Executive Committee. The other Members of the Committee were requestedto continue their duties, but Mr. Fuller and Mr. Drew stated that they were unableto devote the whole of their time to the service of the Commission, and the principalpart of the duties fell therefore upon Sir William Reid, Mr. Cole, and Mr. Dilke.It then became their duty practically to carry into effect all the decisions of HerMajesty’s Commissioners, and to exercise that continued watchfulness in everydepartment which was requisite in so vast an undertaking, and which could only besecured by the agency of persons constantly engaged in its management, and pos-sessing authority to dispose of such questions of detail as could not conveniently bodelayed for the consideration of the Commissioners. The Executive Committeehave been engaged in this manner without intermission until the present time.Sir W. Reid more particularly undertook the duties of communicating with thepublic departments, Mr. H. Cole the questions of space and arrangement, andMr. C. Wentworth Dilke the charge of the correspondence and general super-intendence. The services of Mr. Fuller and Mr. Drew were principally employedin organizing the collection of subscriptions in the earlier period of the labours ofthe Commission.

Some idea may bo formed of the extent of the duties devolving upon the actingExecutive Committee, from the table of correspondence subjoined to this Report (Ap-pendix III.); but this only represents a portion of their labours, which necessarilyincluded also much personal attention to subjects of the most miscellaneous cha-racter, arising at different periods of the preparations and conduct of the Exhibition.

Another Appendix (No. I V.) contains a Catalogue of printed documents amongwhich will bo found those used by the Executive Committee, and which iH lls ”trate many parts of tire duties performed by them and by other Committees.