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I will now assume that it will not be found possible for the two Leagues to act even in such limited concert, or that for other reasons my first suggestion does not receive approval; in that case there is my alternative proposal to be considered, relating to the Imperial Education Trust. I have already briefly indicated the character of this Trust, and as soon as I return home I will make a précis of the Trust Deed for my colleagues' information.

Such a Trust seems exactly the kind of authority which should be entrusted with the work of popularizing our lectures. It is a duly constituted body, such as the law It has the necessary will recognise, which, I believe, the Victoria League is not. funds, and its income should speedily grow now that the series of Imperial text books has been completed. It is quite independent of the League of the Empire, for, although the present Trustees are members of that League, they cannot go beyond the limitations provided in their deed. Even if the deed does not compel them to impartiality, I have no doubt that they would readily agree to any condition oblig- ing them to concede to both the rival Leagues the same favourable terms as regards our slides and lectures.

In conclusion, I still think that this special work had better be retained in the Colonial Office for some time longer, but if it is to be transferred, either wholly or in part, to any outside authority, then, failing an agreement between the two Leagues, the Imperial Education Trust seems to me exactly suited for the business which has

to be undertaken.

36499/10

MY DEAR LUCAS,

No. 132.

Yours, &c..

PHILIP HUTCHINS.

SIR E. IM THURN to SIR C. LUCAS.

(Received 11 September, 1911.)

Carpbee, 10 September, 1911. AFTER careful consideration of your draft memorandum (visual instruction],* I feel quite satisfied that the best course would be for this Committee to remain as at present attached to the Colonial Office, at any rate until a sufficient number of lectures and slides are quite ready for distribution. In order to hasten the coming of this time I think it would be most desirable for the main Committee to delegate the whole work of editing and preparing the lectures now in hand or contemplated to a small sub-committee of not more than three, or even two, of its members. The business of getting the lectures and slides taken up, as soon as ready, should, I think, be undertaken by the same sub-committee, but working through the Secretary of the main Committee (i.e., Mr. Noall).

The main Committee should occasionally meet, as at present, to hear what the sub-committee has done, and to sanction any proposal by the sub-committee for new departure.

I assume that you will remain a member of the Committee as at present, but that another Colonial Office man will be put on it to keep us in touch with the current Celonial Office work.

36499/10

No. 133.

Yours very truly,

EVERARD IM THURN.

MEMORANDUM BY DR. ROBERTS AS TO COST OF SLIDES.

It seems clear from the experience already obtained that the number of public bodies willing to spend so large à sum as from thirty to fifty guineas for a set of slidės is exceedingly small.

• See Miscellaneous No. 265.

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The real purpose of the Committee, I take it, is to encourage, as widely as possible, the study in England of the different parts of the Empire, and in the Over- seas Dominions the study of the home country, by means of the lectures and slides pre- pared by the Committee. It is not the purpose of the Committee to make money out of the venture. What is wanted now, therefore, is that the material which has been so laboriously brought together should be made widely available. I imagine that no member of the Committee would regard it as an unsatisfactory result if the lectures and slides were used in every school in the country, and yet not one penny of profit came in to the Visual Instruction Committee, that is, if they were sold actu- ally at cost price.

One reason for the high cost is the colouring of the slides. There can be no question that the coloured slides are more effective and attractive than the uncoloured slides. On the other hand, very valuable teaching work may be carried on by means of the uncoloured slides. Again, a teacher may have access to slides illustrating some part of the Empire with which he is dealing, and only wants a few slides to supplement what he already has. It would surely be an advantage to enable such teacher to obtain those slides even if he did not purchase the whole set issued by the Committee.

I have made careful enquiries as to the cost of preparing uncoloured slides from negatives already in hand, and I have every ground for believing that uncoloured slides could easily be prepared at 4d. each. Indeed, apart from the labour, they would cost from 1d. to 2d. each. Two persons working together could make about 150 slides a day. If the materials cost 2d. a slide the labour could certainly be provided for another 14d. or 2d. If uncoloured slides could be offered to the public at 4d. each, provided a certain minimum number were taken, say, a dozen or two dozen, or any other number that it might be convenient to fix, I think the slides would have a very wide sale. Where a public authority was enterprising enough to obtain a complete set of coloured slides the schools might borrow these to supplement their own uncoloured slides. The arrangement already made with Messrs. Newton does not apparently debar the Committee from making some such arrangement as I suggest.

There is one other point of importance. The teachers must be interested in the scheme. It is not enough for a local educational authority to purchase a set of lectures and slides. Unless the individual teachers are interested in the matter they will not use the material, and they can very easily wreck the scheme. I regard it, therefore, as of supreme importance that the teachers should be interested in this work. If the suggestion as to cheaper slides is adopted the whole matter should then be brought under the notice of all the teachers' organisations, such as the Incorporated Associa tions of Headmasters and Headmistresses and Assistant Masters and Mistresses, the National Union of Teachers, and organisations like the Geographical Association, the Historical Association, and others. It is useless bringing the matter before them unless the slides are cheapened, as the present prices are quite prohibitive.

R. D. ROBERTS.

11 September, 1911.

36499

No. 134.

PRÉCIS OF THE TRUST DEED OF THE IMPERIAL EDUCATION TRUST, (RECEIVED FROM SIR PHILIP HUTCHINS, 22 September, 1911.) The Imperial Education Trust was constituted by a Deed dated 24th May, 1909, the first and present Trustees being Sir Philip Hutchins, Sir Charles Lyall, Pro- fessor Bury, Rev. R.,D. Belce, and Mr. S. L. Spitzel.

The Deed vests in the Trustees the copyright of "The British Empire, its Past, Present, and Future," as well as that of two other books completing a series of Imperial text books. The first of these books was published by the League of the Empire. The second and third have been brought out by Mr. John Murray. All proceeds of the sale of these books, or of any other books which the Trustees may issue, together with any subscriptions, donations, or earnings, are to be credited to the Trust Fund.

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