3^6 Royal <3olonicA Institute. 



dent republic of <3rmateinala. Befoi-e the war there weva eigiity-two British male 

 subjects of the -age of inauhood. Thanks to the energy and enthusiasm of our €orre- 

 spondimg Secretary, Captain Jenkins, eighty out of those eighty -two are Fellows of the 

 Institute to-day, and no fewer than fifty-six have left their homes and crossed the 

 Atlantic through the organisation of the Ouatenifila branch, at an average cost to them- 

 se'lves of over fifty pouaads, in orden- that they may, if necessary, shed their blood for 

 the cause of civilisation. It is quite obvious to all \\h.o have given the subject a 

 moment's reflection that the unity and maintenance of the Empire depend on the 

 existence in all its pa^rts of a rea^l living sense of Imperial consciousness. Our Institute 

 exists to promote this sense of Imperial consciousness, and that beiilg its object the 

 Institute should be supported by everyone who has the well-feeing of the Empire at 

 heart. I am going to call upon the Chairman of the Council, Sir J. Bevan Edwards, 

 to move the adoption of the Report. The eloquent diagram on the wall supplies con- 

 vincing pi-oof of the great advance the Institute has made as an Imperial factoi-. It has 

 doubled its membership during the last five years — increased its memhers from 5,G0G 

 to over 10,000 — and before the war broke out arrangements were in contemplation, 

 both at home and overseas, for a vigorous organised campaign which, we believe, had 

 the times permitted, would have uitimateiy brought our membership nearer 100,'OGO 

 than 10,000. The fear of German aggTession was one of the causes which prompted the 

 Institute to consider what organised eiiort could be made to incT'ea«e the membership 

 among British communities overseas. The ofogect was, by increasing the mem^rs, to 

 sti'engthen the Empire in its p-reparations against the day of possi'Me conflict, and ttie 

 illustrations from Rhodesia andOuatemaJla will convince the most sceptical •t^hat we should 

 have been well advised in taking this action. The outibreak of war more than justified 

 the e:fforts of this Institute, which mth its sister organisations, the Victoria League 

 and the Overseas Club — ^the founder of which, I am glad to say, as a member of the 

 Council, is attending this meeting — are doing I-mperiail wo5?k oi real value. I cannot 

 refrain from referring with the greatest satisfaction to the example set by the ancient 

 <aty of Bristol, where, through the generosit)'- and Imperial enthusiasm of Mr. T. J. 

 Lennard, a wel-equipped institute has been established, v^-fhidh hopes, on the day o^ 

 opening, May 18, to show la (roll of members di over 1,000 strong. I hope the example 

 oif Buistol may be followed hj other cities off the United Kingdom, and I would like to 

 add that every man and woMian who becomes a PeMow or an Associate of the In^itute 

 is helping to suppoi't not only the most influential non-ofiieial Imperiail organisation 

 which exists, but an Imperial organisation whose power and influence must to a very 

 large degree depend upon the number of its adherents. This fact alone should 'be a 

 claim to the support of every patriotic Briton. T^he increase in the number o$ our 

 members will enable the Institute to do two things, both essential to the increase of its 

 influence and efficiency — flrst, to enlarge our Institute buildings, and, second, improve 

 our " United Empire " Journal, which serves the double pui-pose of advertising the 

 Institute and inoculating the whole British race with the virus of Imperial enthusiasm. 

 As regards oiir buildings, they aire quite inadeq-uate to the requirements of the mem'bers, 

 ai^d I am glad to be able to tell yoir that the Gounoil have concluded, on what I think are 

 satisfactory terms, negotiations for the purchase of buildings adjoining the Institute, 

 whidh will, however, only be converted into clut) premises when the increase in our 

 membership provides iis with sufficient revenue to justify us in incurring the expendi- 

 tuflre. As regards the JFournal, I think I am ex-pressing, not only my own personal View, 

 but the sense of the whole Institute, when 1 speak of the loss we have sustained by the 

 death of its editor, Mr. Golquihousn. »His zealous and disinterested service made him a 



