Negotiations leading to the Milner-Chamberlain Agreement ... ... ... ... To what extent are the intentions of the Founders and the Royal Charter ... ... ... ... The Imperial Mineral Resources Bureau and its relations with the Institute ... ... Intelligence and Technical Investigation ... ... PAGE 5 5 6 8 8 9 11 ... Scheme for a Reformed Imperial Institute equipped with Laboratories, etc. Summary of Principal Conclusions and Recommendations ... Minority Report by the High Commissioner for the Union of South Africa 66 Reservation as regards the Exhibition Galleries ... 49 REPORT ΤΟ HIS GRACE THE DUKE OF DEVONSHIRE, K.G., P.C., G.C.M.G., G.C.V.O., Secretary of State for the Colonies. YOUR GRACE, We were appointed a Committee in February of this year. Our Terms of Reference were as follows: In view of the withdrawal of oversea contributions, and the consequent financial difficulties of the Imperial Institute, to consider and report (i) What functions at present carried on by the Institute are considered essential, and (ii) Whether these should be continued by the Institute or attached elsewhere, and in this connection to take into account the functions of other research organisations and to report what consequential legislative or other measures will be necessary to carry their recommendations into effect. Further, to report on the functions of the Imperial Institute and to what extent the intentions of the Founders and the Royal Charter are being carried out; and to suggest any improvements which they consider financially possible, if they recommend that the Institute shall be carried on on its existing basis. 2. We have held seventeen meetings, and have in the course of our enquiry examined thirty-five witnesses and heard a great deal of evidence, not only from representatives of the Imperial Institute itself, but also from representatives of various Departments of State, and from other public research institutions and organisations which have associations with the Imperial Institute and are known to perform, or to have performed, functions in part identical with, or similar to, those of the Imperial Institute. 3. We have examined Professor Wyndham R. Dunstan, C.M.G., F.R.S., the Director of the Institute, and representatives of the various Advisory and Technical Committees associated with the work of the Institute, including the Raw Materials Committee, the members of which are nominated by the Association of British Chambers of Commerce, the Mineral Resources Committee, the Silk Production Committee, the Timbers Committee, and the Ceylon Rubber Research Committee. We have also perused the Report of a Special Committee appointed by the Executive Council of the Institute to prepare information and submit a report in connection with our enquiry. 4. Evidence has also been taken from Sir Richard Redmayne, K.C.B., the Chairman, and the Right Hon. Lord Morris, K.C.M.G., (3/592) A 2 K.C., Vice-Chairman, of the Imperial Mineral Resources Bureau ; from the Right Hon. Earl Buxton, G.C.M.G., Chairman of the Managing Committees of the Imperial Bureau of Entomology and the Imperial Bureau of Mycology, and from the Directors of each of these institutions; from Sir H. Frank Heath, K.C.B., Permanent Secretary, Department of Scientific and Industrial Research; from Mr. Herbert Wright, Chairman of the Executive Committee, and from several members of the teaching staff, of the Imperial College of Science and Technology; and from Mr. H. J. Waring, C.B.E., M.B., M.S., F.R.C.S., Vice-Chancellor of the University of London. 5. Witnesses have also appeared before us on behalf of the Board of Trade, the Department of Overseas Trade, and the India Office. From the representative of the last-named Department we were informed of the relations of the Government of India with the Imperial Institute, and, in view of the difference of opinion on the value of the services which the Institute has rendered to India, we thought it well also to take evidence from the Committee for India of the Imperial Institute. We have not, however, considered it necessary to examine witnesses from the other advisory committees nominated by the Dominions, in view of the fact that the High Commissioners for the Dominions are members of Your Grace's Committee of Enquiry. 6. The Federation of British Industries were invited to send representatives to give evidence. After careful enquiry, however, they found that the use made of the Imperial Institute by different trades varied very greatly; of the trades interested in raw materials within the scope of the Institute, some had made considerable use of its facilities, some a little use, and some none at all. In these circumstances the Federation expressed regret that, as representing the whole of industry, they could not give any evidence which, in their opinion, would be useful to us in our enquiry. 7. Before proceeding to a discussion of the main subject of our enquiry, we think it essential to review briefly at the outset the past history of the Imperial Institute, its financial position during recent years, and the crisis in its affairs which has supervened as a result of the withdrawal of the annual contributions towards its maintenance by certain of the Oversea Governments. History. 8. The Imperial Institute was erected as an Imperial Memorial of the Jubilee of Queen Victoria in 1887. A Royal Charter was granted on the 12th May, 1888, which declared the main objects of the Institute to be as follows: (1) The formation and exhibition of collections representing the important raw materials and manufactured products of our Empire and of other countries, so maintained as to illustrate the development of agricultural, commercial and industrial progress in our Empire, and the comparative advances made in other countries. (2) The establishment or promotion of commercial museums, sample rooms and intelligence offices in London and other parts of the Empire. (3) The collection and dissemination of such information relating to trades and industries to emigration, and to the other purposes of this our Charter as may be of use to the subjects of our Empire. (4) The advancement of trades and handicrafts by exhibitions of special branches of industry and commerce and of the work of artizans and of apprentices. (5) The promotion of technical and commercial education and of the industrial arts and sciences. (6) The furtherance of systematic colonization. (7) The promotion of conferences and lectures in connection with the general work of the Institute, and the facilitating of commercial and friendly intercourse among the inhabitants of the different parts of the British Empire. (8) The doing anything incidental or conducive to carrying into effect all or any of the foregoing purposes. 9. The site of the Institute in South Kensington was handed over at a nominal rent by the Commissioners of the International Exhibition of 1851, and contributions were received from nearly all parts of the Empire, both from Governments and from private sources. amounting to £429,000 was by this means collected. A sum 10. For a number of years the Institute was governed by a Governing Body and an Executive Council, on which were representatives of all parts of the Empire. It became apparent, however, that the management of the Institute required reorganisation. In 1899, therefore, the Government took over the buildings, and the western portion and galleries were leased to the Governing Body of the Imperial Institute, the greater part of the eastern portion being assigned, subject to certain rights of usage, for the occupation of the University of London. 11. In 1902, by an Act of Parliament (2 Edw. VII, c. 139) the control of the Institute was transferred to the Board of Trade, who were authorised to apply the property and monies received "so far as practicable for carrying out the purposes of the Imperial Institute and for such other similar purposes as the Board of Trade may determine, having regard to the commercial, industrial and educational interests of the Empire." An Advisory Committee was appointed representative of various Government Departments, India, the Dominions and the Colonies. 12. On the 1st October, 1907, by arrangement between the Secretary of State for the Colonies and the President of the Board of Trade, and with the approval of the Secretary of State for India, the management of the Institute was transferred to the Secretary of State for the Colonies subject to the responsibility of the Board of Trade under the Act of (3/592) A 3 1902. This arrangement was given statutory effect by a fresh Act of Parliament, viz., the Imperial Institute (Management) Act of 1916, as a result of which the management of the Institute was vested in the Secretary of State for the Colonies, and an Executive Council of twentyfive members appointed, composed of representatives of the Dominions, the Colonies, and India, with other members, fourteen of which are nominated by the Secretary of State for the Colonies. This is the constitution of the present Executive Council. Professor Dunstan, who has been Director of the Institute since 1903, is a member of the Executive Council. Finance. (a) Capital Funds. 13. As stated above, the funds collected for the establishment of the Institute amounted to £429,000. From this amount, £140,000 was set aside as an Endowment Fund, in accordance with the provisions attaching to the grant of the site at South Kensington. Of this sum, however, £26,000 was withdrawn as a contribution to the cost of the North Gallery, and only £114,000 was invested in Government securities. The remainder of the original total sum subscribed, i.e., £289,000, and a further sum amounting approximately to £55,000, which was raised in part by a mortgage, were spent on the building and in other expenses. In 1899, as we have said, the building was, as a result of financial difficulties arising out of the repayment of the sum of £55,000, taken over by His Majesty's Government on the following considerations :— (1) the liquidation of the Institute's liability for the debt of £55,000; (2) a lease of part of the building to the Institute for 987 years without rent; and (3) acceptance of liability for rates, etc., and for external repairs. 14. The North Gallery was subsequently taken over by the Office of Works in return for an annuity of £864, which expires in 1941. Against this annuity a Sinking Fund has been created, standing on the 31st March, 1922, at £10,524 7s. 8d. In addition there is also a Pension Reserve Fund, standing at £10,825 11s. 5d. on the 31st March. 1922. (b) Income and Expenditure. 15. The annual income of the Imperial Institute is derived from the interest on the Endowment Fund, the North Gallery "Annuity," certain fees for work done, and by annual contributions of fixed sums from the various Governments concerned. The following table shows the proportion of income derived from the various sources in the year 1918-1919: |