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the heading "General Observations or under the heading (vide infra) "Annual Progress of Trade, Agriculture and Industry,' or under both these headings. Special attention should also be drawn to those industries or forms of agriculture which are of real importance to the progress or development of the territory which is being reported upon. For example, special attention should be drawn to the sponge industry in the case of the Bahamas, and in the case of the Falkland Islands to the whaling industry, and it should be emphasised that the crews of the floating factories and whale catchers and the staff of the land stations are almost entirely foreign, and that the greater part of the capital employed in the industry is also foreign.
13. Some difficulty will no doubt be experienced as the years go on in avoiding reiteration in dealing annually with the same subject, but if the various subjects dealt with are reviewed intelligently and are constantly approached from different standpoints it should not be difficult to infuse new life and interest into each succeeding Report.
14. In making the above recommendations regarding future prospects of trade and openings for capital and development generally, we are fully alive to the fact that, as these Reports are and will continue to be of a strictly official character, it is essential to avoid the inclusion in them of any matter which may lend itself to misunderstanding or misrepresentation in connection either with private enterprise or with the formation and operations of public companies. It is not necessary to write in a manner calculated to discourage enterprise nor to withhold established facts calculated to promote enterprise, but it is essential to avoid publication under Government authority of expressions of opinion of a kind which might mislead the sanguine or give opportunity to the unscrupulous.
15. The General Observations should be followed by a section dealing with Government finance. This section should give totals of revenue and expenditure for each of the last five Any years, and should, of course, also draw attention to any features of special interest. important changes in taxation and currency should be referred to. A statement of the Public Debt and the totals of the Assets and Liabilities at the end of the year under review, with the amount of the balance of that account, should be given.
16. Except in special circumstances and for special reasons it does not appear to us necessary to deal with the finances of local municipalities, &c., in the Annual General Reports. 17. The Reports should then deal with trade, agriculture and industry and their future Under prospects in a section beaded "Annual progress of Trade, Agriculture and Industry." this heading a brief review should be given of the import and export trade, and mention should be made of any noteworthy changes as regards the import or export of special articles or in the direction of trade to or from other countries.
18. No attempt should, however, be made in these Reports to give a detailed analysis of trade returns or to deal as fully with the trade of the colony as would be desirable if the Reports were being prepared primarily for the information of manufacturers or merchants. This will be done in the Annual Reports of the Trade Commissioners in the case of those colonies to which these officers are appointed: and we suggest that in the case of other colonies the official Trade Correspondents should be asked to furnish Annual Reports on the trade of their colonies which could be published in this country in a separate series.
19. This section of the Report should also deal with land, including information as to important grants of land, land tenure and the general value of land.
20. Progress in the investigation and development of natural resources, including forests, mines, fisheries and water-power, and of manufactures, should be referred to, but it is obvious that these will be of very varying importance in the different territories covered by the Reports,
21. Brief particulars in regard to banks, including Savings Banks, and banking facilities, should be given in the Report.
22. Legislation.In the outline of the model Report drawn up in 1899 a special heading was reserved for legislation, and instructions were issued that "only the principal measures passed during the year should be mentioned, and a brief summary of their object and scope should be given."
In spite of this, long lists of legislation, often extending to several pages, have been included in certain Blue Book Reports, much of the legislation thus enumerated being only of local interest, while the particulars given have not infrequently been insufficient to indicate its true purpose. We are clearly of opinion that in future such particulars in regard to legislation as it may be deemed advisable to furnish should contain only a summary of the principal measures which are likely to be of interest outside the territory to which they apply, together with a brief explanation of their object.
23. The Reports should continue to deal, and should deal adequately, with educational progress during the year, prominence being given to secondary, industrial and technical education and the results achieved thereby.
24. Detailed particulars regarding hospitals, asylums, reformatories, and criminal statistics, &c., should in future be omitted from the Annual General Reports. The number of persons admitted to hospital, the number of criminal prosecutions, &c., will be ascertainable from the Blue Books and Administrative Reports, and should only be referred to in the Annual General Reports if it is desired to call attention to some matter of general interest to persons outside the territory dealt with in the Report, 8.g., a serious epidemio, a marked increase or decrease of crime or of some particular form of crime.
25. A review of vital statistics should still be given, but this, as well as any reference to the important questions of public health and sanitation, and also to immigration and emigration might be included in the General Observations at the beginning of the Report.
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26. separate statement dealing with climate, &c., is required. This statement should pay special attention to seasonal, and, where necessary, regional variations.
27. There should be a general heading dealing with communications, including particulars respecting the working and development of railways. shipping, roads, canals, and postal. telegraph, telephone and aerial services.
28. Any reference to public works undertaken during the year under review should be restricted to such works as are likely to be of interest to persons outside the territory in which they have been carried out.
29. It is not desirable to include in the Annual General Reports information respecting the strength and armament of the military and police forces or details of the expenditure incurred on such forces.
30. In submitting these observations as to the contents of the Annual General Reports we desire again to point out that our recommendations should be regarded in the light of suggestions for the guidance of Colonial Officers rather than as binding instructions which must be adhered ta for each territory and in each Annual Report.
31. Blue Book Reports are frequently prefaced by formal covering despatches to the Secretary of State. We consider that such despatches should not in future be printed with the Reports.
32. We have considered the question how far it would be possible to make colonial administrative reports and statistical publications more accessible to persons in this country than they are at present. This question was considered by a Departmental Committee at the Colonial Office in the year 1910, who pointed out that Messrs. Wyman & Sons had since 1904 undertaken the sale of Colonial official publications as well as Imperial Blue Books and other Government publications, but that the arrangement did not appear to have worked satisfac- torily, that the demand for Colonial publications was (as it still is) small, and that it was doubtful to what extent it could be increased. We suggest, however, that the Annual General Reports should contain, preferably at the end of each Report, a list of any official publications relating to the Colony which are likely to be of general interest. Such publications would pre- sumably include annual reports on agriculture, mines, trade statistics, &c., and special reports, such, eg, as those on bauxite-bearing land, the sponge industry in the Bahamas, the rubber industry in any particular territory, &c. The list should indicate where the reports referred to may be obtained, and at what price, and where they may be consulted in this country. are in some doubt whether reference should be specifically made to the Colonial Office Library, which is not a public library. It appears to us possible that some of the institutions in this country which concern themselves with the Colonies generally, as, e.g.. the Imperial Institute and the Royal Colonial Institute, or which concern themselves with certain groups of Colonies, as, e.g., the West India Committee, would be willing to undertake the sale of the publications in question.
We
33. In this connection we suggest that if Colonial Governments introduced a system of numbering their official publications reference to them would be facilitated.
34.
We are greatly indebted to Mr. J. Rushmer for his service as our secretary.
J. RUSHMER,
Secretary,
31st December, 1917.
T. C. MACNAGHTEN (Chairman).
ALGERNON E. ASPINALL.
W. C. BOTTOMLEY.
W. J. GLENNY.
ALFRED J. HARDING.
}