210 Royal Colonial Institute. 



Empire Institute or simply tlie British Institute, or the Imperial Institute remains 

 to be settled. Another tiling you have to do is to bring your publications — especially 

 the admirable Journal of the Institute — within the reach of the operative classes of this 

 country and beyond the seas. Why not have members — ordinary members — whom 

 you would admit to the right of receiving your publications at a price which would 

 cover the cost of printing and postage ? I beUeve that if the Council carry out the 

 pohcy indicated to-day, and you introduce members with no other rights but that 

 of receiving your Journal, instead of having a fellowship of 5,500, you would have a 

 membership very soon of half a miUion ! I heard a laugh when I referred to the 

 possibiUty of this Institute ever being called the Imperial Institute. I suppose that 

 meant you did not want to be in any way associated with the Institution at Kensington. 

 Well, they are doing the same work as you are, and when the University of London, 

 in pursuance of the recommendation of the Royal Commission, leaves that building, 

 I hope you will be able to see a more vigorous policy, on exactly the same Unes as 

 your own, from the building erected out of money subscribed by the self-governing 

 Dominions in memory of the late Queen. I again congratulate you on the admirable 

 work the Institute is doing, and on the bold pohcy put before you to-day ; and I feel 

 quite confident, from what I have seen in Canada, that if you can institute a member- 

 ship with a subscription just large enough to cover printing and postage expenses 

 for your pubhcations, you will be able to associate with this historic Institute 

 a membership which will add to the strength of the Empire. 



Attention was called to the procedure connected with ad interim appointments 

 to the Council by the Hon. A. P. Matheson. 



Captain Charles Slack emphasised Mr. Vrooman's remarks on the subject of the 

 Journal. The Institute was thoroughly identified "with the Journal, and every penny 

 that they could afiord would be wisely spent upon it. If we only had the advantages 

 of the Canadian magazine post to other parts of the Empire, the benefit to the Institute 

 would be very great indeed. He would hke to see the Journal enlarged with majts 

 and other illustrations, and he further suggested that, as was done by the Royal 

 Geographical Society, when a lecture was delivered on any particular part of the 

 Empire, each member of the audience should be furnished with a small map of the 

 country in question. 



Hon. Mr. Justice Archer Martin (British Columbia) entirely agreed that the 

 present name of the Institute was a bar and a stumbling-block, and could not appeal 

 to the people of the Empire generally. The title " Colonial " was at the present day 

 absolutely out of place. A valuable precedent was set by the Imperial Conference, 

 which formerly called itself the " Colonial " Conference. 



Dr. G. R. Parkin, C.M.G. : The Royal Colonial Institute has a history of forty- 

 three years. Its name has got wonderfully worked into the affections of great numbers 

 of people. It was used in perfect good faith in the early days. It meant a great deal, 

 and people have grown up with the feeling that the Institute did represent the Colonies 

 better than any other Institution in this country. Now we are going through a great 

 national revolution. The Great Dominions have taken their place in the Imperial 

 system, and people naturally do not feel the word " Colony " applies in the same 

 way as formerly. But those who speak in this way must remember this Institute does 

 represent a large number of communities which are Colonies stUl and can scarcely 

 be ever anything else. We have discussed this matter in the Council, and tried to 

 look at it from every side. I think the prevailing feeling is that we should scarcely 

 take such a step, as that suggested, without consulting old Fellows of the Institute, and 



