318 Royal Colonial Institute. 



Dr. Lystee Jameson thereupon proposed as an amendment : " That the title 

 of the Institute be not changed without the consent of the majority of the Fellows 

 resident and non-resident and that any proposal which the Council of the Institute 

 may desire with a view to such a change, be submitted to the Fellows by means of a 

 postal referendum." He said this was quite a different kind of referendum to that 

 taken through the magazine. It was impossible a meeting like that could be really 

 representative of the whole Institute, and he held that the only really democratic 

 Avay of proceeding was by referendum, asking not for suggestions, but whether the 

 change should be made. 



The Hon. .J. G. Jenkins, J. P., seconded the amendment, which he said was a 

 democratic proposal that would give an opportunity of obtaining the views of every 

 Fellow in the countries overseas as well as here. He entirely disagreed with 

 Dr. Vrooman's definition of the word Colonial. For himself he was proud to be called 

 a Colonial. He had spent nearly as many years in Canada as his friend Dr. Vrooman 

 and was nearly thirty years in the Southern Hemisphere where the Colonies w^ere 

 known as Colonies. What was a Colony ? It was not a mere territorial division of 

 dull dead soil, but an aggregation of human individuals. The Colonies which existed 

 in Canada 50 years ago existed to-day. He yielded to no one in Imperialistic ideas, 

 but was not ashamed to call himself a Colonial. When in Australia they became 

 States, they did not ask to become Statists, certainly not. He had every respect 

 for the opinion and wisdom of the Council, and for the last nine years had been a pretty 

 regular frequenter of the meetings of the Institute, but for all that he held that a change 

 of name known in every part of the Empire would be a vital mistake, a name' under 

 which they had grown to be strong and powerful. He would like to know how many 

 of the 150 corresponding secretaries throughout the Empire had asked for the adoption 

 of the word Britannic. He questioned whether there were half a dozen. Women 

 change their names of course with Very good reason, but men very often changed 

 theirs out of snobbishness after the acquisition of wealth. Companies and Societies 

 also changed their names when they were on a waning scale and wanted to get new 

 capital out of an unsuspecting public. But the Institute had arrived at no such 

 condition. They were strong and progressive. They had grown up and they were 

 known throughout the world as the Royal Colonial Institute. 



Dr. Parkin : It is time I think that some member of the Council should say a 

 few words. There had been rather a suggestion from time to time that the Council 

 were responsible for bringing this matter forward. They were, of course, but only 

 as representatives of those who had approached them. Everybody knows that at 

 different meetings members have spoken in the strongest way about the necessity for 

 the change ; we took the best steps we could, and I assure the members that when the 

 Council passed the motion and resolved to bring the matter before the meeting, they 

 did so perfectly understanding that there were two sides to the question. It was a 

 question they said which ought to be decided by the feelings of the members, and we 

 merely brought it forward as the result of the best inquiries w^e could make, and in 

 order that we might ascertain the feelings of members. No gathering in London 

 can decide a question like that. I am one of those who, while bringing this question 

 forward — I do not shirk my responsibility as a member of the Council — feel intensely 

 the great advantage of holding on to an old name. I was for many years connected 

 with the Upper Canada College. Upper Canada does not exist to-day, but you can 



