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9PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

10938

No. 8.

COLONIAL OFFICE to FOREIGN OFFICE.

SIR,

Downing Street, May 8, 1905. I AM directed by Mr. Secretary Lyttelton to request you to inform the Marquess of Lansdowne that at the Conference which was held at this Office on the 22nd of March, a deputation from the Royal Society represented the extreme gravity of the situation in Central and East Africa and the Upper Nile Valley in regard to the sleeping sickness.

2. It appears from the letter from the Royal Society of the 8th of February last, a copy of which was enclosed in your letter of the 14th of February,* and from the accompanying copy of a memorandum by Captain Greig,t that, the disease is extending into the Upper Nile Valley, and that both the Egyptian Soudan and Egypt itself are threatened by a disaster similar to that which has befallen Uganda.

3. It is therefore necessary to use every effort to accelerate the investigation of the disease and to put the enquiry on a broader basis, and there appears to Mr. Lyttelton to be good ground for asking the Egyptian Government to make a sub- stantial contribution towards the expenses of the work.

4. The nature of the more extended action which is considered necessary is shown in the letter from the Royal Society of the 3rd of April,‡ a copy of which is enclosed. I am to explain that the Lords Commissioners of the Treasury have been asked to approve of the increase in the local medical staff recommended by the Royal Society, and, with regard to paragraph I. (1) of the Society's letter, that the temporary services of a trained entomologist have been secured, the necessary funds being provided partly from Imperial funds and partly from the Tropical Diseases Research Fund administered by this Department.

5. Mr. Lyttelton desires to submit, for Lord Lansdowne's consideration, that the Egyptian Government should be invited to contribute towards the cost of the extended programme of the investigation, and he would suggest that it should be pointed out that practically the whole of the expenses up to the present time, amounting to upwards of £10,000, has been borne by the United Kingdom.

6. I am also to suggest that the Egyptian Government should be invited to co-operate in the manner proposed in paragraph III. of the Royal Society's letter,t and I am to observe that it would seem to be very desirable that one or two members of the Egyptian medical staff should, following the precedent set by the Indian Government in the case of Captain Greig, be attached to the Commission in Uganda, so that, if the disease breaks out in Egypt, there may be some members of the local medical staff thoroughly acquainted with all the most modern developments.

7. With regard to the last paragraph of the Society's letter, I am to ask that arrangements may be made with the Governments mentioned for copies of all official reports published by them in connection with tropical disease to be sent to the Royal Society,

I am, &c.,

10938

(No. 93.) SIR,

No. 9. UGANDA.

R. L. ANTROBUS.

MR. LYTTELTON to COMMISSIONER SADLER.

[Answered by No. 21.]

Downing Street, May 8, 1905.

I HAVE the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your telegram, No. 10, of the 1st of May,§ and to transmit to you, in continuation of my despatch, No. 88, of the 28th of April, the accompanying copies of letters which I have caused to be addressed to the Treasury and the Foreign Office on the subject of the further investigation of sleeping sickness.

To Treasury, 8th May.

To Foreign Office, 8th May.

2. Apart from the question of the proposed increase in the staff of the Com- mission, there are various measures recommended by the Royal Society in their

‡ No. 1. § No.5. No. 4. Nos. 7 and 8.

* 5006: not printed. † Enclosure 2 in No. 1.

9

letter of the 3rd of April* which can be adopted at once by the local authorities, and I have to request that you will take the necessary action in the matter.

10938

SIR,

No. 10.

I have, &c.,

ÁLFRED LYTTELTON.

COLONIAL OFFICE to THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT BOARD. [Answered by No. 12.]

I AM directed by Mr. Secretary Lyttelton to transmit to you, for the informa-

Downing Street, May 8, 1905. tion of the Chief Medical Officer to the Local Government Board, the accompanying

To Treasury, 8th May. To Foreign Office, 8th May. To Commissioner, No. 93, 8th May.

16002

SIR,

copy of correspondencet which has taken place on the subject of the investigation of sleeping sickness in Uganda.

No. 11.

I am, &c.,

R. L. ANTROBUS.

TREASURY to COLONIAL OFFICE.

(Received May 13, 1905.) [Answered by No. 28.]

THE Lords Commissioners of His Majesty's Treasury have carefully con-

Treasury Chambers, May 12, 1905. sidered Mr. Antrobus's letter of the 8th instant (10938/1905),‡ relative to the situation in Central and East Africa and the Upper Nile Valley in regard to the sleeping sickness; and, in reply, they direct me to request you to inform Mr. Secretary Lyttelton that, in view of the gravity of the position disclosed therein, they are prima facie inclined to regard with favour the proposals which he submits for adoption. There are, however, several points to which they desire me to call

attention.

1. Mr. Lyttelton has already secured the services of a trained entomologist in connection with this work. The salary paid to him is not stated: but my Lords note that it will be met from funds already available.

In addition, it is proposed to add six medical officers to the staff of the Uganda Protectorate, so as to set free for sleeping sickness work the same number of the present members who possess local knowledge. Assuming that the new officers are appointed on a temporary non-pensionable basis at the minimum (£400) of the existing scale and are not entitled to increments, the cash cost of this measure will amount to £2,400 per annum, though, in addition, the Protectorate will, of course, suffer by the substitution of new recruits for experienced officers.

Their Lordships presume that expenditure will also become necessary in respect of travelling expenses and housing of the new officers, and also of the accommo- dation and food of patients under special observation. They would be glad to learn whether any approximate estimate can as yet be formed of the total expenditure in contemplation.

2.

Such an estimate (and consequent record of expenditure) is the more neces- sary in view of the proposal (in which my Lords entirely concur) that a proportion of the cost should be recovered from Egypt. In their opinion, this proportion should not be lower than one-third; and they defer their sanction to the measures now suggested pending negociations with the Egyptian Government accordingly.

3. As it is not possible to contemplate the indefinite continuance of the

• No. 1.

20876

↑ Nos. 7, 8 and 9.

No. 7.

B