PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
Reference :-
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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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The Board of Trade have no desire to comment on the proposals, the details of which are not in their possession. They understand, however, that an attempt will be made by the authors of these proposals to induce the Commissioners to renew their grant in favour of the authority which would be responsible for the manage- ment of the Imperial Institute under the conditions contemplated.
I am accordingly desired to point out that an interval of several months at the least will certainly occur between the termination of the present grant to the Board of Trade at the end of this year, and its eventual renewal to any new controlling authority.
It appears to be very undesirable that the valuable work performed in the Scientific Department should be allowed to drop or to be curtailed during this interval, but as the Commissioners are aware, the ordinary income of the Institute is not sufficient to enable this work to be carried on, and the Board fear that so long as the new proposals to which reference has been made remain under discussion, it is an inopportune time for them to make a fresh appeal either to the Treasury or to the Colonies for increased support.
The Board feel that in the circumstances the Commissioners may consider that they are warranted, in spite of their previous decision, in sanctioning a provisional continuance of the grant at the present rate for such period as shall elapse before a final decision is arrived at with respect to the proposed change of management.
am, &c.,
The Secretary, Royal Commission for Exhibition of 1851,
16, Victoria, Street, S.W.
SIR,
Enclosure in No. 1.
FRANCIS J. S. HOPWOOD.
Exhibition of 1851-Royal Commissioners,
54, Victoria Street, S.W., February 24, 1906. I AM directed by the Board of Management of the Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851 to state that they have had under consideration your letter of 19th December last, asking for a provisional continuance of the grants heretofore made by them for the support of the Research Laboratory of the Imperial Institute, and to inform you in reply thereto that they feel themselves obliged to adhere to their previous decision, as communicated to the Board of Trade in their letter of 12th February, 1904.
To Sir Francis J. S. Hopwood, K.C.B.,
&c.. &c.,
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SIR,
The Secretary,
I am, &c., ARTHUR ELLIS, Major-General,
&c.,
Board of Trade,
Whitehall Gardens, S.W.
No. 2.
COLONIAL OFFICE to TREASURY.
[Answered by No. 7.]
Secretary.
Downing Street, March 28, 1906.
I AM directed by the Earl of Elgin to request you to inform the Lords Com- missioners of the Treasury that he attaches very great importance to the work of the Scientific and Technical Department of the Imperial Institute, and is anxious that arrangements should be made to enable it to be carried on.
2. He understands that the Commissioners of the Exhibition of 1851 have decided not to continue their grant of £2,000 a year by means of which the greater part of the expenses of the Department have been defrayed hitherto, and that it has been suggested that the Imperial Institute, including the Scientific and Technical Department, should be merged in an Imperial University and Institute
which it is desired to establish as a centre of education and research for the Empire. 3. This suggestion, however, appears to be based upon a misunderstanding as to the nature of the work which (so far as means perinit) is being done by the Department. In a University, under the conditions at present prevailing in England, the work must in great measure be of an educational character. But the work which is being done by the Scientific and Technical Department is not educational. Nor is it what is usually understood by scientific research. It is practical work of a kind which is the business not of a University but of the Govern- ment; and, having regard to the importance of work and to the success with which it is being carried on, Lord Elgin feels strongly that it would not be right to allow the Department to collapse for want of funds or to be merged in an institution of a different character.
4. Much attention has been devoted in recent years to the question of the commercial relations between the United Kingdom and the Colonies possessing responsible Government, but the Crown Colonies and Protectorates have hardly received the attention to which their position in the commercial system of the Empire entitles them.
5. The import and export trade of the Crown Colonies and Protectorates is not far short of £200,000,000 per annum, a large proportion of which is carried on directly with the United Kingdom, and on which it may be estimated that an ocean freight of approximately £20,000,000 is paid-principally to British Ship- ping Companies. The capital engaged in this trade and in the shipping is almost entirely British, as distinct from Colonial, capital, and consequently nearly all the interest and profit accrue in this country while the Colonial workers get little more than a wage for their participation in it. In addition to this, the revenues of these Colonies amount to nearly £20,000,000 per annum, à considerable portion of which is either directly or indirectly spent in this country, probably at least 25 per cent. of it. There is also the Colonial indebtedness for loans amounting to over fifty millions, on 264 millions of which the interest is paid through the Crown Agents for the Colonies.
6. It would thus scem evident that any steps leading to the development of the Crown Colonies and Protectorates would greatly benefit the United Kingdom by increased commerce and additional opportunities for the remunerative employ- ment of capital; and one such step would be the recognition of the fact that, under modern conditions, the business of the Colonial Office must no longer be confined to questions of politics and administration, but there must be, either in the Colonial Office or in connexion with it, a Department to deal with the material development of the Colonies.
7. France, Germany, Holland, and other countries, are spending annually large sums on scientific investigations of the products of their Colonies, with a view to their commercial development. This work is being conducted (1) by laboratory investigations at home; and (2) by visits of specialists both to the countries con- cerned and also to British Colonies and other countries where similar developments are taking place.
8. In France, investigations are conducted under the Ministry for the Colonies by an organisation called the "Office Colonial," which, in conjunction with the "Jardin Colonial" in Paris, conducts similar work to that carried on at the Imperial Institute, including the investigation and exhibition of Colonial products. The annual expenditure amounts to about 130,000 francs, which is contributed partly from the funds of the Republic, partly from Colonial funds, and partly from other sources. Additional funds are provided for the purpose of the expedi tions undertaken by specialists.
9. In Germany, the Imperial Government subsidizes directly, and also indirectly through the permission to hold lotteries, both the German Colonial Society and the German Colonial Economic Committee, which carry or work on the same lines as the Imperial Institute. The annual income of the Colonial Committee is about 500,000 marks, and the Imperial Government has recently made a special grant of £10,000 to aid the systematic study and development of cotton growing in German Colonies.
10. Enquiries have been made of these Governments, through their Embassies in this country and through the British Embassies abroad, in order to ascertain to what extent the work is assisted financially by Government. For various reasons. however, precise figures have not been forthcoming, but may safely be concluded that the French and German Governments are each spending over £10,000 per
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