The President Writes to All Members
It was with great concern that I received and read a few days before the A.G.M last May 19th an anonymous circular sent to me through the post. This purported to be written by someone in touch with senior members of the Society and urged those entitled to vote in the elections to use their votes in favor of particular persons who were standing either for membership of the Council or as Vice Presidents. Presumably, it was intended to be a counterblast to a pamphlet put out by the West Kent Archaeological Group recommending several names for support by the electors and asking for an inquiry into the management of the Society.
But apart from its anonymity, which was deplorable, it also contained a personal attack on Mr. Brian Philp and an assertion that there exists a clique among members only interested in rescue archaeology who wish to take over the management of the affairs of the Society. I was sufficiently concerned by the character of this circular to summon an emergency meeting of the Council at Ashford School immediately before the election and A.G.M. and was surprised and relieved to discover that most members of the Council appeared not to have received either circular. Fortified by the fact that both circulars had only reached a limited number of members, that according to our Hon. Secretary something like two-thirds of the ballot papers had been sent in before the anonymous circular went out, by legal advice that the circular did not invalidate the election and supported by the overwhelming vote of the Council members present, I decided that the election should proceed and this was clearly the will of the full meeting. I can well understand that this may have annoyed some of those who failed to secure seats, who have since pressed for new elections... a request which seems to me quite out of order. As an impartial President bent on the work of reconciliation of the different elements in our Society which appear to be in disagreement, I must give it as my considered opinion that the results of the elections really indicate the distress that many ordinary members of the K.A.S. feel at these continuing divisions and their effect on the work of the Society... in such matters as the collapse of the project for a History Trust, funded in part by the Kent County Council, which had great support among members; the voting may well show concern also at the Court action now pending between Mr. Philp and ten senior members of the Society. This last is a sad business and since I have great respect for Mr. Philp as an archaeologist of immense energy and ability, I am still hoping (and praying) that he will reconsider his position.
But in the meantime, I must make it clear that in the future if our elections and A.G.M. are not to be annually disrupted by disputes about their validity, those who wish to issue circulars in favor of various candidates should see that they reach all members of the Society and that they should be properly signed.
The business of proxy voting was rejected as a normal practice by a decisive vote of the A.G.M. and the debatable point as to whether we should really ask Vice Presidents to submit to election each year was referred to the Rules Committee for further scrutiny.
In case I did not make this clear at the A.G.M., I want to emphasize the fact that the County Council in rejecting the project for a History Trust in its original form has not closed the door on backing some sorts of projects concerned with the advance of historical and archaeological studies in Kent with financial support, provided that the Society can come up with suggestions that are really likely to further our activities in a worthwhile way without controversy. I would ask that those who read this letter may do some real thinking and then suggest to the Council through our Hon. Secretary projects that may win the support we all desire from the County funds.
Derek Ingram Hill.
