case was the collection made at such a small cost. The whole of the money contributed, with the exception of three per cent., which was the cost of collection, went direct to the funds of the hospitals and dispensaries. They had no rent, rates, or taxes to pay, for through the kindness of each successive Lord Mayor they were able to carry on the whole of the business at the Mansion House. They had collected on an average during the last thirteen years between £28,000 and £30,000 on Hospital

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... ay, from about 1500 congregations ; but that was not anything like the sum they ought to collect or would collect if the question was fairly and clearly understood by the public of that great metropolis (applause). £34,000 only enabled them to contribute about one-eighth of what was absolutely necessary for carrying on these hospitals and dispensaries. The number of patients coming to the London hospitals continually increased, not merely in proportion to the ratio of the population, but as they increased the facility of communication between the metropolis and large towns in the country districts, patients who could not be as efficiently and carefully dealt with in the country were continually sent up to London in larger and larger numbers. He hoped, therefore, that all provincial visitors to London, of whom there were so many at this time of the year, would give a contribution in recognition of the use made of the London hospitals by the country people. He called attention to a statement in the Dail ,y Telegraph that morning, challenging the idea that all the great London hospitals-Guy's, St. Thomas's, and Bartholomew's-were in debt. As treasurer of