PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
Reference :-
TELEC.O.
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17 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC-
COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO
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2. In his circular despatch of the 4th of September, 1903,* Mr. Chamberlain enclosed memoranda by the School Board for London and by the League of the Empire relating to the establishment of more intimate relations between the schools and school children of the Colonies and those of the mother country. He also appointed a small informal Committee, including educational experts, to carry out a suggestion which was made in the first instance to the Colonial Office by Mr. M. E. Sadler, who was at the time Director of Special Inquiries at the Board of Education, that very first rate lessons or lectures, to be illustrated by equally good lantern slides, should, on lines which it is understood have been followed out with special success in the United States, be drawn up and used in the schools of the Empire.
3. The Committee recommended that a beginning should be made on a small scale and in a very modest way, bearing constantly in mind that if the experiment is to succeed the letterpress and illustrations must be the best possible. Accordingly they drew up and submitted a syllabus of seven lectures on the United Kingdom, designed for use primarily in the schools of the three Eastern Colonies, Ceylon, the Straits Settlements, and Hong Kong. Copies of this syllabust in its final shape after frequent revision are enclosed. It will be noticed that each lecture will be illustrated by, roughly, some 50 lantern slides. The syllabus in its first rough form was sent out to the Governments of the three Colonies, who were asked, and consented, to give a grant of £300 each, to cover the expenses of the scheme. The total expenditure is expected not to exceed £700.
4. Funds being available, the Committee recommended that the preparation of the lectures, the selection of the slides, and the whole management of the scheme, should be placed in the hands of one very competent man, who should be paid an adequate fee for the purpose, and at their request I invited Mr. H. J. Mackinder, Director of the London School of Economics and Political Science, to undertake the work. Mr. Mackinder delivered the seven lectures at a London training college. They were reported verbatim, were then most carefully revised, and printed off, the result being a book which is the property of the three Eastern Colonies. At the same time he was at pains to select the best possible slides from very various sources, some being bought in the open market from the leading firms, some being supplied by private individuals, and not a few being specially prepared. The selection of slides was, in fact, a more difficult matter than the preparation of the lectures, and the lectures were delivered and written with a view to the slides, rather than the slides procured to supplement the lectures. The cost of a full set of slides to the Eastern Colonies is roughly £43 10s.
5. The lectures have, of course, been prepared, and the slides selected, with a special view to the three Eastern Colonies, and, though the greater part of the lectures and of the slides would be appropriate for use in other parts of the British Empire, the Committee have suggested that special editions might with advantage be prepared for use in the different divisions of the Empire. They have suggested that for this purpose the Empire, exclusive of the Eastern Colonies, should be divided into the following eight groups:-
The Mediterranean Colonies. The South African Colonies. The West African Colonies.
The West Indies.
British North America. India.
Australia.
New Zealand.
and that the Egyptian Government should also be invited to take advantage of the scheme.
An edition intended for South Africa, for example, would require to have Lecture 1 for the most part rewritten and a large number of the accompanying slides replaced. The first four or five slides in Lecture 2, again, would require alteration, and some small change might be appropriate in the slides illustrating Lecture 7. There might also be references and turns of expression throughout the book which it
• 31903: not printed.
† Miscellaneous No. 174.
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would be well to alter in order to suit the change of locality. Mr. Mackinder would be willing to take charge in each case of the revision of the lectures and the selection of a certain proportion of new slides adapted to local requirements, and he has given £100 as being a rough estimate of the initial cost of the adaptation, the details being as follows:-
Cost of adaptation of slides:-
Cost of new slides introduced :-
12 new slides at 10s. (Andrews)
35 new slides at 1s. 6d. (Newton)
Minus cost of slides for which these have been
substituted:
12 at 2s. (Andrews) 35 at 1s. (Newton)
Cost of adaptation of lectures:—
£
s. d.
£ s. d.
6
0
0
1 12 6
£7 12
6
£1 4 0 1 15 0
2 9 0
5 3
Fee for adjustment of lectures and supervision of new slides Cost of altering plates and printing new lecture (say)... Payment to Eastern Colonies on account of copyright (say).
or say £100.
31 10 30 0 0
0
30 0 0
£96 15
0
This would not, of course, include the cost of one or more sets of slides, but would only cover the preliminary expenditure of making the slides applicable to the special purpose.
6. I may note that the eight groups given above do not include all parts of the British Empire; for instance, they do not distinctly include Mauritius or the East African Protectorates; but it is, of course, open to any particular locality within the Empire to have these lectures and slides adapted for its special use. I am only now concerned to let you know what has been done, and to give you the opportunity of taking advantage of the scheme should you desire to do so.
7. I may add in conclusion, that it is hoped to supplement these lectures on the United Kingdom by lectures on the Colonies for use in the schools of the United Kingdom, but I am not prepared to enlarge upon the details of this side of the scheme in this despatch, and it has to be considered by whom, and from what source, any initial expenditure for this latter purpose should be provided. I would only suggest that if and when such lectures are taken in hand, it would be well that their pre- paration, or at any rate their final supervision, should be entrusted to Mr. Mackinder in order to preserve uniformity.
I have, &c.,
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No. 3. GIBRALTAR.
ALFRED LYTTELTON.
DEPUTY GOVERNOR DALTON to MR. LYTTELTON. (Received May 18, 1905.)
I HAVE the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your circular despatch of
(No. 64.)
SIR,
Gibraltar, May 13, 1905.
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