NOTES 659 



the museums in order to effect war economies. Quite possibly 

 there may be reasons for this action which are more cogent 

 than the ones which have been given to the public ; and we 

 fully recognise that if this is the case the museums should be 

 closed. But the impression left by the controversies on the 

 subject which have appeared in the press suggest merely 

 that in closing the museums our political rulers are following 

 their usual course of penalising the higher branches of human 

 effort because those who are engaged upon such work are few 

 and politically powerless. On February 10 a deputation from 

 the National Art Collections Fund, the Museums Association, 

 the Royal Asiatic Society, the Hellenic Society, the Art 

 Workers' Guild, and the Imperial Arts League waited on the 

 Prime Minister with a strong protest against the closing of the 

 museums ; but Mr. Asquith gave only two small concessions in 

 reply. He stated that the closing was necessary on grounds of 

 economy and added that the Government would shortly produce 

 a list of the economies which they hoped shortly to effect. Mr. 

 Asquith demurred to the suggestion that when the Government 

 had to look about for economies they selected the museums as 

 the first victims. Nothing was further from the truth. In 

 fact, the Government had not accepted the whole proposal of 

 a Committee appointed to make recommendations upon the 

 subject and had decided to keep open the National Gallery and 

 the Victoria and Albert Museum. Mr. Asquith was also good 

 enough to declare himself in favour of keeping open that part 

 of the Natural History Museum which is popular — the parts 

 in which exhibits of animals and birds were kept, and which 

 were very much resorted to by colonial visitors and wounded 

 and convalescent soldiers and sailors ! What a characteristic 

 decision ! The parts of the museums which are useful for the 

 higher needs of science and art are to be closed, but those 

 parts which amuse the public for an idle half-hour are to be 

 kept open. The fact is that science and art are of no value 

 to our politicians because they do not provide votes. Nothing 

 is to be done for the intellectual side of life, everything for the 

 non-intellectual. We see here merely the unconscious cere- 

 bration of the politician. He knows that if the mind of the 

 mob were to be raised to a higher standard he and his mere- 

 tricious vocation would cease. 



