PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
C.O
Reference :-
885/
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC-
COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO
9 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
38444
SIR,
100
No. 168.
MALTA.
TREASURY to COLONIAL OFFICE.
(Received November 11, 1904.)
Treasury Chambers, November 10, 1904. I AM directed by the Lords Commissioners of His Majesty's Treasury to acknowledge the receipt of Mr. Cox's letter (36284/1904) of the 1st instant, with its enclosed copy of correspondence respecting an application from Colonel Bruce, Royal Army Medical Corps, asking that the subsistence allowance granted to him while absent from England in connection with the Malta Fever Investigation may be increased to the rate (30s. a night) sanctioned for Dr. Johnstone, the repre- sentative of the Royal Society.
In reply, I am to request you to inform the Secretary of State for the Colonies that their Lordships cannot recognize the claim of an Army Officer to be treated on the same lines as a civilian colleague,--the conditions of service, &c., being quite dissimilar. A comparison of a more direct character can, however, be instituted between Navy and Army Officers; and I am to state that (as will be seen from the accompanying copy of an Admiralty letter of the 21st ultimo, and the Treasury reply of the 29th idem) my Lords have sanctioned the payment of a subsistence allowance at the rate of 10s. a day to Staff-Surgeon E. A. Shaw, R.N., the Naval representative on the enquiry, so long as he is required to live on shore at Valletta.
In these circumstances, my Lords are not prepared to sanction the proposed departure in Colonel Bruce's case from the normal Army rate of subsistence allowance.
I am, &c.,
Enclosure 1 in No. 168.
(No. 7. I.C. 4153/3826.)
SIR,
G. H. MURRAY.
Admiralty, October 21, 1904. I AM commanded by my Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty to state, for the information of the Lords Commissioners of His Majesty's Treasury, that an application has been received from the Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean, to grant Staff-Surgeon E. A. Shaw, R.N., the Naval representative on the Fever Commission at Malta, a subsistence allowance of 10s. a day.
The officer is required to live on shore at Valletta, where the cost of board and lodging is well known to be expensive, and my Lords are satisfied that the proposed allowance will not be more than sufficient to cover the expenses necessarily incurred. I am therefore to request that you will move their Lordships of the Treasury to signify their approval to this proposal.
The Secretary,
His Majesty's Treasury.
(17722/04.)
Enclosure 2 in No. 168.
I am, &c.,
EVAN MACGREGOR.
Treasury Chambers, October 29, 1904.
SIR,
In reply to your letter of the 21st instant (No. 7. I.C. 4153/3826), I am directed by the Lords Commissioners of His Majesty's Treasury to state that they sanction the payment of subsistence allowance at the rate of 10s. a day to Staff- Surgeon E. A. Shaw, R.N., the Naval representative on the Fever Commission at Malta, so long as he is required to live on shore at Valletta
I am, &c.,
The Secretary
to the Admiralty.
G. H. MURRAY.
33935
101
No. 169.
FEDERATED MALAY STATES.
MR. LYTTELTON to HIGH COMMISSIONER SIR JOHN ANDERSON.
(No. 375.) SIR,
[Answered by 2965.]
Downing Street, November 11, 1904.
I HAVE the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your despatch No. 416, of the 18th of August,* with regard to the future work of the Institute of Medical Research at Kwala Lumpor. I referred it to Sir P. Manson, and enclose a copy of a lettert in which he has embodied his views on this subject, with which, in the main, I agree.
2. It is unnecessary for me to enlarge on the numerous advantages which will result if the conditions of life in Tropical Colonies and Protectorates can be improved. It was with a view to attaining this object that my predecessor directed his attention to the questions of the investigation of tropical diseases, the improvement of the medical services of the Colonies and Protectorates, and similar matters.
3. As regards the investigation of tropical diseases a certain amount of original research work is carried on at the two Schools of Tropical Medicine, and two or three special Commissions have been set on foot for the investigation of particular diseases. Recently, as you are aware, a fund has been formed from contributions received from the Imperial Government, the Government of India, and some of the Crown Colonies and Protectorates, including the Straits Settlements and the Federated Malay States, from which it will probably be possible to devote a sum of £1,000 a year for five years to the conduct of original research. But when the magnitude of the subject is considered, it is obvious that what has been done, and is being done, bears only a small proportion to the work which remains to be done, and that if practical results are to be expected within a reasonable time the sphere of action must be widened.
4. It was thought that one step to this end would be to establish central laboratories in special groups of Colonies, e.g., the Eastern, the West African, and the West Indian Colonies, and, possibly, the East African Protectorates. By means of such laboratories, it was hoped that the investigation of the diseases peculiar to each group of Colonies could be systematically and continuously carried on, and that by arranging for periodical exchanges of offices between the Directors of those labora- tories and experts at home, it would eventually be possible to form a body of investi- gators of unequalled experience, who had made themselves acquainted with the diseases peculiar to the different Colonies, and at the same time, during their residence in this country, had been brought into touch with the most recent methods of European research. It was also thought that those laboratories would form centres for the higher training of the officers of the local medical services, who would be stimu- lated to take greater interest in their work, and would thus become better qualified not only for general practice, but for original research.
1
5. That the value of such laboratories is recognised in other quarters is apparent from the enclosed despatcht from the Government of India. I understand that, in addition to the "unusually complete scheme of bacteriological enterprise for the whole of India," to which reference is made, it is proposed to appoint a Commission, at a cost of £5,000 a year, to investigate bubonic plague.
6. The establishment of the Institute at Kwala Lumpor was the first step towards the creation of this system of central laboratories in the Colonies, and, if the Government of the Federated Malay States now withdraws its support, I fear that there is little prospect that Colonies whose finances are in a less prosperous state will be induced to look favourably on the scheme. It is, perhaps, possible that the Institute was founded on too large a scale, and that money was spent on buildings which would have been better expended on staff, but it is not too late to place matters on a proper basis, and to ensure that useful and continuous work is carried on. should greatly regret to see the work of the Institute abandoned so soon after its inception, and I earnestly hope that on further consideration you will see your way to continue the existing arrangements, without material alterations, at any rate for two years from the date of the expiration of Dr. Daniels' present engagement.
I have, &c.,
ALFRED LYTTELTON.
• No. 165.
• No. 157.
† No. 161.
Not printed: attached to 33935.