77
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
། ། ། ། ། །
Reference :-
C.O.885
21 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO
12015/08
No. 126.
MINUTES OF MEETING OF VISUAL INSTRUCTION COMMITTEE, HELD AT THE COLONIAL OFFICE, 27 JULY, 1911.
PRESENT:
The Earl of Meath.
Sir John Struthers.
Sir Philip Hutchins.
Sir Everard im Thurn.
Dr. Heath.
Dr. Roberts.
Mr. Mercer.
Sir Charles Lucas.
The minutes of the last meeting were confirmed.
The Committee considered Messrs. Nelson's claim for compensation, and it was decided that a letter should be written to them, expressing regret that any misunder- standing should have arisen, but pointing out that the Committee never had any intention whatever of permitting the use of the pictures in question for publication in books; that no mention of books is made in the correspondence; and that no claim for compensation can be recognised.
Dr. Heath stated that Messrs. Newton had not yet supplied the Board of Educa- tion with the slides for the Indian lectures which had been ordered by the Board, and the Committee were unanimous in thinking that delays of this kind are inimical to the success of the scheme. Sir C. Lucas undertook to communicate with Messrs. Newton on the subject.
Sir C. Lucas's memorandum on the future of the scheme, together with the financial statement prepared by the Secretary, was considered. The question as to what recommendation on the subject should be made to the Secretary of State was very fully discussed, and it was finally decided that a full report should be drawn up by Sir C. Lucas with the help of Mr. Mercer, that it should be circulated in proof to the members of the Committee, and that a meeting of the Committee should be held to consider it at the end of September or beginning of October.
7658
GENTLEMEN,
No. 127.
SIR C. P. LUCAS to MESSRS. THOS. NELSON & SONS.
Downing Street, 28 July, 1911. REFERRING to the interview between your representatives (Mr. Wilson and Mr. Scheurmier) and myself on the 1st of July, I have to inform you that your letter of the 29th of Junet was laid before, and carefully considered by, the Visual Instruc- tion Committee at a meeting held yesterday.
The Committee much regret that any misunderstanding should have taken place with regard to the proposed reproduction of their pictures of Indian and Colonial life and scenery, but they wish me to point out that they had only invited such repro- duction for use as wall pictures in schools; they never contemplated in this connection any other use, and no reference is made throughout the correspondence to publication in books.
The Committee, therefore, while noting that the offer which was made in your letter of 6th May last, but which has never been finally accepted by the Committee, is now withdrawn, regret that they cannot recognise any claim for compensation on account of the coloured block already produced.
• No. 118.
† No. 121.
I am, &c.,
C. P. LUCAS.
‡ No. 110.
15200
No. 128.
VISUAL INSTRUCTION COMMITTEE to MESSRS. NEWTON
GENTLEMEN,
AND COMPANY.
[Answered by No. 129.]
Downing Street, 28 July, 1911.
Ar a meeting of the Visual Instruction Committee held yesterday it was pointed out that the slides of the Indian lectures, ordered by the Board of Education in May last, have not yet been supplied.
The Committee expressed a strong opinion that such delay in supplying slides when ordered, of which, you will remember, there was a similar complaint from Edinburgh, is very prejudicial to the success of their scheme, and I was asked to lose no time in bringing the matter to your notice.
15200
DEAR SIR,
No. 129.
Faithfully yours,
C. P. LUCAS
MESSRS. NEWTON AND COMPANY to SIR C. P. LUCAS.
(Received 1 August, 1911.)
[Answered by No.
.]
>
3, Fleet Street, Temple Bar, London, 1st August, 1911. Re the delay in sending the slides of the " India lectures into the Board of Education.
We keep a complete set of the plain (uncoloured) slides in stock, ready to send away immediately, but as there is a very small sale for the coloured set, we have not, up to the present, kept them in stock, as the colouring costs £24. Some 50 or 60 of these are painted by our artists, a few come from the Diagram Company, and a few from Sanger Shepherd and Company, the latter being in the three colour process, and it is usually these latter which delay the delivery.
made
When we received your letter* we had just got them all in, and they were being
into the complete sets. up
We have just received an order for the complete (£50) set for India from a con- stant customer of ours who is one of the Directors of Education out there. They will be sent round to a circuit of schools of which he has charge. They already possess several of our lanterns, and are ordering ten more now for ten additional schools, so that this set is likely to be largely used.
23
May we suggest once more what Mr. Newton mentioned when he had the pleasure of an interview with you, a short time ago, that these sets would be likely to sell much better if there were more of them. The series is so small, only "The United Kingdom " and "India." To add "Canada and Australasia would greatly help them, as now any educational authority interested wishes to teach not only. India but the other great British Possessions, and they consider the series is so incomplete, a mere beginning of things, so to speak, so that from what they tell us, we think the scheme would have a far greater chance of success if it were done on a larger scale, by adding at least, the two new sets that have been proposed; and if we thought we could see our way to selling rather more, we would place a set in stock including the coloured slides, so that we might always be able to send off a set immediately it was ordered. The difficulty of doing this, up to the present, is the smallness of the demand, which, however, we think would be increased by the new
sets.
This was not the cause of the delay at Edinburgh. Unfortunately the order from Edinburgh reached us before the list of slides was finally settled, and so before we could begin the work, not knowing which subjects might be omitted and which included in the final selection. After the order was received, we did all that was
No. 128.