When the Society's holdings were being checked with reference to the above memorial fund, it was discovered that there were over 8,000 volumes awaiting binding. In contrast to this, only 5,400 volumes had been bound. In order to over-take some of this enormous accumulation of unbound material, a special appeal was made to members for funds for bookbinding. This brought a ready response, £60 being received immediately, allowing a commencement to be made. This was augmented at once by a credit of £100 with the Government Printer by the State Director of Finance, who repeated the grant for a number of years. The book-binding fund as such became exhausted late in 1938.

The increasing costs of publication of the Proceedings caused the council, in 1938, to take firm measures to prevent persons joining the Society solely to have particular papers published. The following resolution was adopted:

Before papers are accepted for publication wholly or partly at the charge of the Society, the length of period of membership of their authors should be examined, and that where the author has not been a financial member or associate member for a period of 5 years, he or she should be asked to give a written undertaking to retain his or her state of financial membership until it shall have extended over a period of at least 5 years.

At the same time, it was affirmed as a general principle that universities and government departments should contribute in part, or in full, to the cost of publication of papers submitted by their officers. This principle, receiving the support of the institutions concerned, assisted the Society greatly in following years in its financial commitments.

Royal Society of Victoria