PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
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Reference :-
C.O.885
21 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO
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Mr. Mackinder's revision and advice. The arrangement with Mr. Sargent is that he receives a fee of £100 for authorship of the three sets of lectures, and two-thirds of the royalties on the sale of the book for five years from 18th November, 1910, up to a maximum of £200.
It should be explained that while the lecturers' edition of the lectures on India was printed by Messrs. Waterlow, a popular illustrated edition was published by Messrs. Philip, the arrangement with the latter, embodied in an agreement with the Crown Agents of 28th October, 1910, being that Messrs. Philip should bear all the expense of publication and pay to the Committee a royalty of 10 per cent. on all copies sold. Half of this royalty up to a total
of £100, and half the royalties on the sale of the slides of all four sets of lectures, is to be paid to Mr. Mackinder for a term of five years.
When the arrangement with Mr. Sargent was made, it was decided that the publication of the coming lectures should be offered to Messrs. Philip on the same terms as the edition of the lectures on India, and thus for future sets of lectures the lecturers' edition will coincide with the popular edition. The
present position is that the three sets of lectures are being prepared and revised in MS.
It has been noted above that efforts are being made to sell the lectures, not only in connexion with the lantern slides but also in the form of cheap illustrated books, through publishers, Messrs. Philip, who have special experience in educational literature, and in this connexion, as in regard to the scheme as a whole, it is right to put on record that the Committee have derived great advantage from Mr. Mackinder's high reputation as a lecturer and a writer, especially on geographical subjects.
Another attempt was made to utilise the material at the disposal of the Committee for educational purposes and to adel to the receipts in the form of wall pictures for schools. The Committee invited various publishers to tender for the reproduction of some of Mr. Fisher's paintings for this purpose and it had been hoped that Messrs. Nelson, who made an offer, would carry it into execution firm appear to have misunderstood the intention of the ; but the Committee, with the result that the matter is at present in abeyance.
IV. PRESENT POSITION AND RECOMMENDATION FOR THE FUTURE.
The present position may be summed up by saying that a great amount of valuable and suitable material has been collected which can be and will be in one form or another made available. Further, the experience gained by the Committee, if in some ways discouraging, is at least such as is not to the same extent and of the same kind available elsewhere. On the other hand, less has been actually completed up to the present time than had been anticipated, and much remains yet to be done. It must be admitted that the sales of the Indian slides have so far been disappointing, having been almost entirely confined to a few purchases through official channels, and Messrs. Newton are insistent on the stimulus which will be given to sales and on the good effect which will be produced on the scheme as a whole, by bringing out as soon as possible the further sets of lectures which are now in hand, for they argue that "any educational authority wishes to teach not only India, but the other possessions."
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The statement which is to be found in Appendix C. shows that it may be possible with the residue of the fund to publish the three sets, but it will at best be barely possib e, and it is not permissible to have recourse to the £500 granted by the Rhodes Trustees, because that sum, as has been seen, has been earmarked for South Africa.
The experience already gained seems to show that what is needed now is some arrangement by which the slides can be issued at a lower price and the scheme brought under the notice of teachers and governing bodies of schools in a more effective way.
Accordingly I am concerned to set out for the con- sideration of my colleagues and, so far as they agree with me, for submission to the Secretary of State, suggestions with a view to carrying on the work with success.
How far has the scheme gained or lost by being con- nected with the Colonial Office? It has thereby been given prestige which would otherwise never have attached to it. The connexion, it may fairly be said, has attracted a stronger and more influential committee thau might otherwise have been induced to give time and attention to the subject. Through the Secretary of State and through despatches and letters from the Colonial Office, Govern- ments in all parts of the Empire have been made more or less acquainted with, and interested in, what has been and is being attempted. The Committee's minutes and corres- pondence are printed by the Colonial Office Printing Department, the letters are sent out from this office, the Secretary is a member of the office with a small extra fee, the Crown Agents keep the accounts. There is therefore no little practical help accruing from the Colonial Office connexion, in addition to the standing which it gives to the Committee. The connexion, too, has time behind it, having lasted for pretty nearly nine years.
On the other hand there are disadvantages attaching to the connexion with the Colonial Office. Under existing circumstances it is not so easy to push the scheme com- mercially, as it might be if it was in the hands of an outside non-official organisation. The long delay in bringing out the lectures on India was in a due to the extreme care which was felt to be necessary, large measure und to the minute revision which took place in the India Office and out of it, because the lectures came out to some extent under the ægis of the Government. At the same time the scheme is in a backwater at the Colonial Office, not being part of the regular work, and, as matters are, depends in no small degree on the personal interest of the member of the office who is on the Committee. If handed over to a private organisation it might well be not a by- product, but its principal work, with one or more agents and lecturers entirely devoted to it; and, on taking it over, the organisation might be in a better position than the Committee is at present to raise the additional funds which are wanted to carry the enterprise through and which may perhaps be estimated at £2,000 in addition to the money now in hand.
Any disadvantages which attach to the connexion of the Visual Instruction Committee with the Colonial Office would attach also to its connexion with any other Gov. ernment office (e.g., the Board of Education), even if any other office were willing to take it over.
The alternatives, therefore, seem to be between cou- tinuance of the present arrangements and transfer to some unofficial body.