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95
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
Reference :-
TTIEN C.O.8
سلسل
•885
17 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO
SIR,
No. 136.
MR. A. H. P. STONEHAM to COLONIAL OFFICE.
(Received April 15, 1907.)
[Answered by No. 137.]
30 and 31, St. Swithin's Lane, London, E.C., April 12, 1907.
I BEG to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of March 26th last,* written under Lord Elgin's instructions. As in the province of any organization or committee already engaged in propagating am particularly anxious not to interfere knowledge of the Empire, I should be very much obliged if you would be so kind as to put me into communication with the "Committee, comprising educational experts and other gentlemen," working under the auspices of your Department, as referred to in your letter of March 26th, so that the efforts of my friends and sup- porters may not clash with work which is already being well carried out, but may, I venture to hope, lend support to that work. I am delighted to hear that the results of the efforts of your Committee have been so encouraging, and I only hope that the movement with which I am connected may prove of service to your Committee.
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SIR,
No. 137.
I am, &c.,
ALLEN H. P. STONEHAM.
COLONIAL OFFICE to MR. A. H. P. STONEHAM.
Downing Street, April 17, 1907.
I AM directed by the Earl of Elgin to acknowledge the receipt of your letter
*
of the 12th instant,† on the subject of Empire education, in which you desire to be put into communication with the "Committee, comprising educational experts and other gentlemen," referred to in the letter from this Office of the 26th ultimo.
2. As a member of the Committee on Visual Instruction, I am instructed to confer with you at your convenience.
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(No. 50.)
No. 138.
I am, &c.,
C. P. LUCAS.
BRITISH HONDURAS.
GOVERNOR SWAYNE to THE EARL OF ELGIN.
(Received April 22, 1907.)
}
MY LORD,
I HAVE the honour to acknowledge the receipt of Your Lordship's "General"
Government House, Belize, April 2, 1907. despatch of the 13th December‡ on the subject of lectures on the United Kingdom to be accompanied with lantern illustrations.
2. I should be glad to have these lectures delivered in the Colony; but the ordinary revenue does not at present show a sufficient margin over expenditure to warrant our incurring the cost involved. The Education Vote for next year, though larger than that of this year, will probably not be sufficient to pay the grants to be made under the rules of the Education Board.
3. The matter, however, will be borne in mind, with a view to its being taken up when our annual income permits.
I have, &c..
No. 135.
† No. 136.
E. J. E. SWAYNE, Colonel,
No. 119.
Governor.
No. 130.
"THE TIMES," TUESDAY, APRIL 23, 1907.
We are informed by the Colonial Office that Her Royal Highness the Princess of Wales, having lately had her attention drawn to the objects and work of the Committee on Visual Instruction appointed by Mr. Chamberlain in 1902 to consider the possibility of providing on a uniform system illustrated lectures for use in the schools of the Empire, has in the last few weeks, with the assistance of Lady Dudley and a committee of ladies, secured by private subscription a fund of not less than £4,000 for the furtherance of the work. The nature of that work and the help which has thus been given to it are explained in the accompanying statement made with the approval of the Secretary of State for the Colonies.
A full list of the ladies' committee and also a list of subscribers will be published at a later date.
In the autumn of 1902 the question of providing lessons or lectures on the component parts of the British Empire illustrated by lantern slides was brought to the notice of the Colonial Office by Professor M. E. Sadler, who was at the time Director of Special Enquiries at the Board of Education, and who had in that capacity edited Special Reports on the Educational Systems of the Colonies, which were laid before Parliament. To consider the matter a committee was appointed by Mr. Chamberlain, which now consists of the following members;-.
The Earl of Meath, K.P. (Chairman).
The Right Honourable Sir Cecil Clementi Smith, G.C.M.G.
Sir Philip Hutchins, K.C.S.I. (India Office).
Dr. H. Frank Heath (Director of Special Enquiries at the Board of Educa-
tion).
Mr. C. P. Lucas, C.B. (Colonial Office).
Mr. H. J. Mackinder (Director of the London School of Economics and
Political Science).
Dr. R. D. Roberts (Registrar of the Board to Promote the Extension of University Teaching, University of London, and Secretary of the Gilchrist Trust). Professor M: E. Sadler.
Mr. J. Struthers, C.B. (Permanent Secretary, Scotch Education Department). This Committee came to the conclusion that the best method of enabling children in one province of the Empire to realise what the other parts of the Empire, their inhabitants and their products are like is by the medium of visual instruction, and that lessons or lectures on this basis can only succeed if both the letterpress and the illustrations are specially designed for the purpose and of the very best quality. They further held it to be of vital importance that the teaching thus to be given should be on uniform lines throughout the Empire.
The Committee had before them the double object of compiling illustrated lessons on the Mother Country for use in the schools of the Colonies and illustrated lessons on the Colonies for use in the schools of the United Kingdom. They deter- mined, first of all, to attempt lessons on the United Kingdom for use in the Colonies. They decided to make a beginning on a small scale, and in the first instance, with the approval of the Secretary of State, the three Eastern Colonies of Ceylon, the Straits Settlements, and Hong Kong were invited to subscribe the expense of a small book of lantern lectures on the United Kingdom, for use in the schools of those Colonies. The book was written and the slides selected with great labour and care by Mr. Mackinder, who, at the request of the other members of the Committee, was invited by the Secretary of State to undertake the work.
The book in question consisted of the following seven lectures (the number of slides accompanying each lecture being given in brackets) :—
(i) The journey from the East to London (50).
(ii) London, the Imperial City (58).
(iii) The Scenery of the United Kingdom (52).
(iv) Historic Centres and their Influence upon National Life (44).
(v) Country Life and the Smaller Towns (61).