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Sir DONALD CAMERON : One of the most efficient men I know is Sir Graeme Thomson's man in Nigeria, and he is a specialist officer.
Mr. AMERY; We must not take the view that all research officers are cranks.
Sir DONALD CAMERON : When I suggested that my scheme should embrace the whole service I had in mind not untrained men, but the men who go through the new course with this scientific training. It is a new thing. They have a certain training which makes them almost specialist officers.
You
Captain CLIFFORD: Your idea appealed to me, that is, having attached to your research institution at home a sort of lecturer to whom all the officers on study leave could go. would by that means bring a certain practical knowledge to the scientist, and to the practical people the value of the scientific research. That seems to be the best idea.
Mr. AMERY: I think that is a very valuable point of Cap- tain Clifford's. It would not only be valuable to administrative officers to have a period of glorified study leave at some institu- tion at home or at Trinidad, but it would be of immense value to lecturers and students at those places to have a man there to say,
"That is an interesting experiment, but don't forget that my niggers would probably eat this particular thing instead of putting it into the ground." At any rate, it would give them that touch of practical experience which would be of immense value to research work and enable them to produce very valuable work if they had in addition to their own research the experience of some man who had seen the work in the field.
Captain CLIFFORD: Sometimes conditions differ. had from East Africa a certain serum for pleuro-pneumonia which was very successful in East Africa. but it was quite un- successful in Bechuanaland. Practical difficulties of that kind would be very valuable to the scientist.
We
Appointment of Committee to prepare Scheme.
Sir GRAEME THOMSON: Might I say a few words on the subject under discussion? I think we have now come to the point when it is pretty obvious that the majority here present are in favour of a pooling scheme, and also that the majority of us think that it would not be desirable to include the ad- ministrative side of the technical departments concerned in such a scheme, as it might raise so many difficulties as almost, pos- sibly, to kill the whole scheme. It is better to have half a loaf than no bread, and I personally think that such a scheme ought to be found feasible, and would be of extraordinary benefit to the Colonial Service. It seems to me that we have arrived at the point when it is desirable that some concrete scheme. at any rate in bare outline, should be put before this Conference for consideration. I would suggest. Sir. that it might be desir- able at this stage to set up a small Committee to draw up the outline of such a scheme. A very valuable man to assist the Committee would be Lord Lovat. who has studied these ques- tions both on the forestry and on the agricultural side. I would suggest that the scheme adumbrated might cover the agricul- tural specialist. the medical specialist. forestry. veterinary. survey, and geological specialists. Are there any other services that should be brought in?
Mr. AMERY: Possibly. also. not quite the same thing, the higher inspecting or reporting staff on railway and engineering problems―――
Sir GRAEME THOMSON: Men of the type of General Hammond, who advises on railway problems. I think it would be better to get a scheme in outline at this stage and submit it for the general approval of the Conference. Obviously such a scheme would subsequently have to be referred to all the individual Governments, so as to obtain expert criticism from the technical departments which, of course, is essential.
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cannot expect to work out here a fully satisfactory scheme in all its details without the very highest technical advice from those six different departments, but we might be able now to frame a scheme in outline so as to give the Conference a concrete proposition to discuss.
Mr. AMERY: I think that is probably the most practical scheme. I should like to suggest that you and Sir Donald Cameron should serve on this Committee, and Mr. Ormsby Gore; I certainly think Lord Lovat――
Mr. ORMSBY GORE: As Chairman.
Mr. AMERY: Yes, a very excellent Chairman. We want a small Committes. I do not know if it is necessary for every section of the Conference to be on that Committee. I think perhaps Mr. Oliphant, who happens to be a specialist officer, a forestry officer, might be useful and perhaps Dr. Stanton in the Office here, who has been recently doing research work in Malaya, and therefore is able to speak for the Eastern Colonies. If the Conference thinks that that would be a sufficiently large Committee at any rate to produce something that we could bite on as a concrete scheme we cannot expect more of the Committee than that, the outline of a scheme that we can bite on-then when we have transformed it or rejected it, or accepted it, it will still have to go to the different Govern- ments to enable the specialists out there to express their opinions. I think perhaps an officer of the department ought to act as Secretary of the Committee, perhaps Mr. Bottomley.
Mr. BOTTOMLEY: If I am to act as Secretary I should like to have an assistant.
Mr. AMERY: Perhaps Mr. Bottomley should serve on the Committee, and we will arrange for secretaries from the office.
That launches for further consideration a very important problem which Sir Donald has introduced this afternoon. I think probably it is the most important that may come before the Con- ference.
Sir EDWARD GRIGG : I understand, Sir, that it will not be an instruction to the Committee that the pool is necessarily for the Empire as a whole. I think they might discuss the question of whether there shall be pooling for groups or pooling for the Empire as a whole.
Mr. AMERY: If you are creating a service for the Empire as a whole, naturally the contributions would be into that central pool. The objections to central pooling would be met by the fact that it would be very limited in that the amounts required would be small. If anything more ambitious with a greater range of interchange were expected, or a bigger concentration was pro- vided, you might have a local pooling scheme.
Arrangements for Study Leave.
Perhaps we can now go on to some of the other subjects under Item A. 2. As we are rather on the scientific side it might be worth while taking at once the question of arrangements for study leave, without prejudice to the possibility of something in the nature of study leave on a greatly improved scale being found out of this central research pool. Have you any comments?
Sir EDWARD GRIGG : No, Sir.
Sir DONALD CAMERON: I do not think so, Sir.
Mr. ORMSBY GORE: This paper* does not touch education. I think we had better discuss study leave in regard to education I think there is no officers under the heading of education. branch of the public service where arrangements for study leave are more important to-day than in regard to the education officers. I would not really refer to study leave in that connection here. Sir GRAEME THOMSON: The present position seems to be that fairly satisfactory arrangements are in existence in certain
* C.O. 37.
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No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.