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PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

Reference :-

C.O. 885

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ALLY W

BE REP

COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO

ED PHOTOGRAPHIC-

PERMISSION OF THE

PUBLIC

D OFFICE, LONDON

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6. Although no subscriptions towards the cost of the objects of the office were ever received, the unofficial members of the committee have given time and trouble to an extent which I fear can never be sufficiently known to be suitably acknowledged. The names of the present members are printed at the heading of the last annual report, which I enclose, and you are aware that I have before now called attention more specifically to the quantity and quality of voluntary work which has been given to the Government. If I do not press the point further now, it is only because, if I did so, this letter would be unduly prolonged.

7. The Parliamentary grant was at first 6507. per annum, out of which the rent and up-keep of premises was to be provided. Printing and postage were and are paid for by the Government. In 1891, the Select Committee of the House of Commons on Colonization recommended "that the Government grant to the Emigrants' Informa- "tion Office should be increased," placing on record "that the design and manage- ment of this Office are admirable, that probably no more valuable and efficient work was ever done at so small a cost to the public, and that this satisfactory result is mainly due to the business-like character of the direction, and to the philanthropic spirit which animates its members."

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The Treasury consented to an increase to the grant, though not to so large an increase as the Committee had asked for, and the vote now stands at 1,000l. per annum in all.

8. The work was at first confined to issuing publications (quarterly circulars and annual handbooks) relating to the three large groups of British Colonies, viz., Canada, the Australasian, and the South African, Colonies. The scope was later somewhat enlarged by including, to a limited and not well-defined extent, tropical Colonies and foreign countries; and the latest step has been to contribute a monthly column to the Labour Gazette." Small offshoots of the office have been established in several provincial towns, mainly in connexion with the public libraries.

9. The conditions which existed 10 years ago, when the Emigrants' Information Office was first established, were, as far as I can judge, somewhat widely different from the conditions of the present day. In 1886 there was unusual distress and want of employment: schemes of emigration were in the air. Much more assistance was given to emigrants by the Colonial Governments than is now granted; very much less was known of the fields of emigration and of the facilities for reaching them than is now the case. The knowledge which has since come has, I venture to think, been in great measure due to the Emigrants' Information Office, but it may be questioned whether, if the office were not now in existence, the Government would consider it worth while to establish such an office. On the other hand, I am most distinctly of opinion that, being in existence, it serves a useful purpose, and that if it were abolished it would be missed. I judge of its usefulness by the fact that, for instance, some of the Agents-General for the Colonies adopt our handbooks, that foreign Governments have several times asked for our publications, and I rather think in some cases taken them as models; that the press refer inquirers to us; that passenger and shipping agents use our circulars; that when an emigration company is set on foot, or a post in a Colony is advertised in England, inquirers refer to us for information and advice; that even for educational purposes our pamphlets are sometimes in demand. In short, the office is, I firmly believe, a public convenience, and, if this is so, credit is due to the editor and the paid staff as well as to the volunteer managers.

10. But, if it be conceded that the Emigrants' Information office is a useful insti- tution, it must, in my opinion, be also conceded that it might be inade more useful and efficient. It was from this point of view that the recent inquiry was instituted. The office has been more especially criticised as having been too negative, as having unduly discouraged emigration. It is possible that this may have been the case, but, in my opinion, good has been done, and much prejudice against emigration both at home and in the Colonies has been removed by printing and circulating statements which none can charge with being over-coloured. On the other hand, it is obvious to anyone who knows our work that much of it is at present incomplete, that more infor. mation, fresher information, information relating to new countries, could be given, if there was more time and money at the disposal of the office.

11. How far the scope of the office should be limited has often been discussed at our Committee meetings, and I think some of my colleagues are, or were, in favour of confining our work to the British Colonies. It was in 1890 that the Committee were instructed by Lord Knutsford at the instance of the Foreign Office, at a time when, if I remember right, distress was caused by emigration to South America, to extend their work to some extent beyond the British Colonies. We have always from that date

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been given every assistance by the Foreign Office and its representatives abroad; and the Consuls in their annual Reports now embody information likely to be specially useful to intending emigrants. My own strong opinion is that, as a matter of fact, it is almost impossible to avoid giving information as to some foreign countries. It would be, for instance, absurd to give to intending emigrants to South Africa full information as to the Cape Colony and Natal, and no information as to the South African Republic. Moreover, it appears to me that, in the case of a country whose citizens emigrate to all parts of the world, it may fairly be said to be the plain duty of the Government so far to safeguard their interests as to tell them in outline what they This can only be done, of may expect in the places to which they propose to go. course, within reasonable limits, such as are indicated in the fourth recommendation. of the printed report, "That foreign countries to which there is any considerable

emigration should be included in the purview of the office."

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12. I now take in order the recommendations which the Committee have made :——— The first is, "That the chairman of the Committee of management should be a clerk My " from the Colonial Office appointed by the Secretary of State for the Colonies." colleagues are very distinct in their view (a) that the office should be governed, as now, by a voluntary committee; (b) that it should be, as now, attached to and under the general supervision of the Colonial Office; (c) that the chairman should be a member of the Colonial Office. They consider that the voluntary committee has proved a suitable mode of management. They hold that the office clearly gains by being, and being advertised to be, under the Colonial Office; and they are of opinion that any danger of friction in this arrangement is removed if the chairman is a member of the Colonial Office staff.

I agree that the voluntary Committee has been most useful in the past, and I have already said how much is owed to its members; and I agree that it should be continued, though the same difficulty rises in the case of this as in that of other committees, viz., that as years go on and the personnel changes, it is not easy to maintain the interest which existed when the Committee first came into being. As is pointed out in the report, the general committee now delegate to a sub-committee the ordinary details of management, but, if the committee system is to be long-lived, no doubt great care must be taken to carefully select men to serve upon it who will take some special interest in and some personal trouble about the work. It may be added that it would be well perhaps to have on the Board in future a representative of the Colonial Institute. The Imperial Institute is already nominally represented.

That the office, managed by a committee, should remain subordinate to the Colonial Office, I have no doubt whatever. It has oecurred to me from time to time that the work might be handed over to the Imperial Institute, the Colonial Institute, or the Labour Department of the Board of Trade, assuming, of course, that one or the other would undertake it; but for one reason or another none of these alternatives are satisfactory. We are all agreed that under present conditions the office would lose very much if it were severed from the Colonial Office.

on the other side.

The arguments in favour of a Colonial Office chairman have weight, no doubt, though It is certain that I do not attach as much importance to them as my colleagues do. there ought always to be one representative, and had better, as a matter of convenience, be two representatives, of the Colonial Office upon the Committee, and it is also certain that, if the Committee is to control the office, the chairman must be a working chair- man, going there almost daily. Probably this end will, in practice, be best secured by having a Colonial Office chairman, though, in my opinion, there is a good deal to be said I would ask that I may myself, as soon as arrangements can conveniently be made, be relieved from being any longer chairman or having further work in connexion with the office. It has been in itself pleasant and congenial work, and my colleagues have made it more pleasant and congenial, but it has taken now for 10 years a good deal of time and attention, and latterly, in conjunction with other work, has been rather more than I can do. Moreover, I am convinced that someone is wanted whose views have not become, as mine have inevitably become, somewhat stereotyped. If, therefore, Mr. Chamberlain would be good enough to relieve me when convenient, I should be very much obliged. I would also ask that whoever may be selected to take my place may be appointed on the distinct understanding that the chairmanship will take, and is expected to take, some of the time for which he is paid by the Government, or that he will receive additional payment for additional work which he is expected thoroughly to perform. The letter from the Treasury of 15th May 1886, which has already been quoted, laid down that "though employed on this particular work, the clerk in

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