Loff her (20)
T/H14
Tharliet
Extract from Draft Minutes of the Thirteenth Meeting
of the Advisory Committee on Education in the Colonies
held in the Colonial Office on Thursday the lat
October, 1931, at 11 a.m.
4. Cultural Relations with China (Hong Kong University). Discussion of the Report of the British Economic Mission to the Far East (circulated with ACEC 16/31) was resumed from the 29th Meeting (minutes item 6). A Memorandum by Lord Lugarà (ACEC 20/31 had been circulated.
The Chairman thanked Lord Lugard on behalf of the Committee for his emorandum. He pointed out how- ever that this memorandum had been written in July, since when the financial situation in this country had changed considerably. This affected particularly Lord Lugard's recommendations for applying for assistance from the Empire Marketing Fund and the Colonial Development Fund. The Chairman very much doubted whether the Secretary of State would be prepared to adopt these suggestions; or whether, if he did, there was the smallest prospect that assistance would be given. He explained that, he was expressing his personal opinion and was without explicit instructions in the matter.
Sir James Currie considered that if the suggestions commended themselves to the Committee they should be recommended to the Secretary of State irrespective of their `chance of being adopted.
The Chairman mentioned in this connection that in so far as the Colonial Development Fund was available for educational purposes, advances could be made for technical education only.
Air. Horrabin added that he had obtained a promise from the Secretary of State in the House of Commons that applications of this kind would not be rejected out of hand on account of the reduction in the Grant. They would be considered on their merits though those schemes which would give the greatest and speediest benefit to the United Kingdom would stand the best chance of success. Lord Lugard in his memorandum had made out a strong case from the commercial point of view, which should operate in favour of this proposal.
4.