Report of the Forty-Fourth Annual General Meeting. 205 



to be taken. In moving the adoption of the Report last year I called to your notice 

 a proposal — originally made by Lord Grey when presiding at the annual dinner ten 

 years ago — that we should associate with us all those who are unable to afiord so 

 high a subscription as £2 a year, in addition to the entrance fee of £3, and by this 

 means draw to our ranks the many thousands of Imperial men who, under present 

 conditions, are unable to join us in our great work. This could be done by opening 

 the new order of Associates to men as well as ladies, and on the same conditions. 



(/) Two years ago your attention was called to the unsuitability of our present 

 title of " Colonial Institute," and it was suggested that " United Empire Institute " 

 would express more clearly the aims and objects of the Institute. The Council have 

 not, so far, been able to take any definite steps in the matter, but the question is of such 

 importance that it ought to be decided with as little delay as possible. As it is, India, 

 one of the most important parts of the Empire, is practically beyond the scope of our 

 work, and where we ought and could have hundreds of Fellows we now only have 

 forty-seven ! Nor does the title appeal to the Dominions, nor to the great majority 

 of the British race scattered throughout the world, such as those in the Argentine 

 Republic — where we already have forty-three Fellows — and other foreign countries. 



It would appear that the Institute has reached a critical period of its history, and 

 it is for you now to decide our future poHcy — whether we are to be content with the 

 success which has lately attended our efiorts, and merely continue to increase our 

 Fellowship — ^possibly at the rate of a few hundreds annually — or whether we should 

 take a bold step forward and carry out the policy I have outlined, and, while still 

 continuing to increase our numbers by every means in our power, we should make 

 an effort to carry out the suggestion of Lord Grey, and draw to our ranks the 

 many thousands of men throughout the Empire, and especially those in the United 

 Kingdom, who are in sympathy with our cause. Should you decide upon this latter 

 course the Institute ought to become a great political power, well fitted to fulfil 

 the mission for which it was estabHshed, 



If this, then, is your wish and desire we must, through the agency of our Local 

 Centres and by every other means we can bring to our assistance, push our propa- 

 ganda into every part of the United Kingdom, until we obtain an influence so great 

 that the question of the preservation of the unity of the Empire will become the 

 leading problem of the day. We know that it is here, in the heart of the Empire, 

 that the subject has not yet been brought home to the people, but notwithstanding 

 the apathy which is so apparent the signs of the times are hopeful. We Imow that 

 the self-governing Dominions are ready to meet any advance of the Mother Country 

 in this direction, and we also know that last year no less than 280 Members of Par- 

 liament, embracing all shades of party politics, showed their sympathy with our 

 cause by iirging the Prime Minister to bring the subject of the closer constitutional 

 union of the Empire before the late Imperial Conference. Surely, then, all this should 

 be an incentive to us to go forward in the realisation of our great ideal — the Unity 

 of the Empire, 



I have to-day received the following letter from Sir Charles Bruce : 



Arnot Tower, Leslie, Fife. 



March 4, 1912. 



Deab Sir Bevan Edwabds, — I much regret to be unable to attend the Annual Meeting 



of the Institute to be held to-morrow. While I have read with great satisfaction the Report 



of the Council I cannot help thinking that the success of the recent scheme of reorganisation 



suggests that the time has come for further development. The return of Earl Grey 



