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PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

Reference :-

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TTTTTTC.O. 885

سلسال

23 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO

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official letters from the Colonial Office to the Treasury in connexion with the applica- tion for an annual grant of £500 from Imperial funds towards the expenses of the Bureau, the funds specially contributed by or on behalf of the Tropical African Colonies and Protectorates should, for the present, be kept separate from those of the Bureau. I may state that, in reply to the first letter froin the Colonial Office on this subject, the Treasury enquired whether the new organisation would be in substitution for the existing organisation to which a grant of £1,000 per annum has now been made for five years from Imperial funds. In answering this query the Colonial Office explained that the scope of the work contemplated by the Bureau was quite different from that which the Committee had carried on, and would continue to carry on, and that the Bureau would not be wholly or in part substituted for the Committee. In these circumstances, although for purposes of administra- tion the Entomological Research Committee is now merged in the Bureau, it seemed clear to us that the funds for the work of the Bureau must be kept separate from those allocated for the work of the late Entomological Research Committee.

The Sub-Committee propose, therefore, that the following division of the moneys in the hands of the Managing Committee of the Bureau should be adopted, with effect from the 1st of April, 1913:—

A.

Bureau Fund

B. Tropical African Research Fund C. Carnegie Fund

The details of revenue are as follows:-

A.

Bureau Fund :—

Imperial Treasury

Canada

South Africa

Australian Commonwealth

£2,875

2,050

1,000

£500

500

350

200

300

200%

50

250

Six Australian States

New Zealand

Newfoundland

West Indies

Egypt

50

Sudan

50

Ceylon

100

Federated Malay States

100

Hong Kong .

50

Straits Settlements

50

Mauritius

50

Seychelles

25

Fiji

50

£2,875

B. Tropical African Research Fund :-

Imperial Treasury

£1,000

Southern Nigeria

500

Gold Coast

350

Sierra Leone

100

50

50

£2,050

£1,000

Gambia

Zanzibar

C.

Carnegie Fund :—

Mr. Andrew Carnegie

As regards the allocation of expenditure between these funds, the Sub- Committee recommend :-

(1) That the Crown Agents for the Colonies should be allowed to continue their present practice of regarding the moneys at the disposal of the Committee as one fund, irrespective of the tripartite division agreed upon above:

(2) That the necessary allocation of expenditure to the appropriate fund

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should be made by Mr. Marshall, to whom the Crown Agents' accounts are submitted every quarter:

(3) That the Carnegie fund should be charged with all expenditure

connected with the Carnegie scholarships:

(4) That the Tropical African Research fund should be charged with all expenditure connected with the Bulletin of Entomological Research and with the Travelling Entomologists selected for employment in Tropical Africa :

(5) That the Bureau fund should be charged with all other expenditure incurred by the Committee of whatsoever kind, subject to the transfer from the Tropical African Research fund to the Bureau fund (either quarterly or annually, as may be found most convenient) of a sum to be determined at a later date in the light of further experience, this lump sum being designed to cover a reasonable share of the cost of maintenance and upkeep (including the Director's salary), repayment for copies of the "Review of Applied Entomology" supplied to the Tropical African Colonies and Protectorates, and other miscellaneous expenditure.

Annexure 2 to No. 1.

REPORT OF THE CHAIRMAN OF THE SUB-COMMITTEE APPOINTED AT THE LAST GENERAL MEETING TO CONSIDER THE RELATIONSHIP OF THE BUREAU TO THE INTER- NATIONAL INStitute of AgriCULTURE AT ROME.

At the last General Meeting a Sub-Committee was appointed to consider what action should be taken to bring the Bureau into relation with the International Institute of Agriculture at Rome, with special reference to the forthcoming Inter- national Commission, which it was understood that the Institute intended to establish for acquiring and disseminating information regarding insect and fungoid diseases of plants.

I may remind you that the question was raised first by Dr. Gordon Hewitt at the conference held at the Colonial Office on the 12th of August last to discuss the scheme of Imperial co-operation in preventing the spread, and furthering the investigation, of noxious insect pests, but in order to avoid confusion it appears desirable to state at once that there has been some misconception as to the Inter- national Commission referred to. In a letter recently received by the Colonial Office from the Foreign Office it is stated that, so far as is known, it is not intended to set up an International Commission of this nature. Further, I may observe that the Phytopathological Commission which the institute hoped to see assemble last month has fallen through, owing to the small number of replies received from the countries asked to send delegates. The ouly immediate action, therefore, which the Institute contemplates is the holding of a General Assembly at Rome this month, at which the discussion will probably be confined to the text of the proposed extension to other plants of the Berne Convention of 1881 relating to the control of the phylloxera pest.

The Sub-Committee carefully considered the question of affiliation with the Institute at Rome, but agreed that this must be dropped, seeing that the Institute consists of a federation of Governments which send a representative or representa- tives to act on their behalf, and that it is impossible for a body such as the Bureau to be affiliated with an international body, such as the Institute. Financial con- sideration also pointed to the undesirability of seeking to affiliate the Bureau with the Institute, even if this were practicable.

The Sub-Committee were, however, very clearly of the opinion that every effort should be made to act in friendly co-operation with the Institute and to dispel the idea which exists in certain quarters that the Bureau is in any way antagonistic to the Institute. Unless the Bureau waits to be approached by the Institute, the best course of action appears to be for the Bureau, while proceeding along the lines already laid down and consolidating its own position, to offer to furnish the Institute at fixed intervals, either through the medium of its Review or in any other convenient way, with a summary of the information collected as to insects in the British Empire: this summary could then be translated into French by the Institute and incorporated in the official publication. In this way the Bureau would afford no little assistance to the Institute, and all unnecessary duplication of labour would bé prevented.

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