210 



THE AGKICULTURAL NEWS. 



parts of the Empire, importance being attached to the 

 •holding of exhibitions, inter-imperial, and also of foreign 

 goods competing with British goods in the various 

 markets of the world, and to uniformity being secured 

 in trade legislation. The establishment of uniform 

 ■coinage based on the decimal system and uniform metric 

 weights and measures are recommended. 



It is considered vital that the Empire should be 

 ■placed in a position to resist any pressure which foreign 

 powers could exercise in time of peace or war in regard 

 to the control of raw materials and commodities essen- 

 tial to its existence. As a step towards ascertaining 

 •how such independence can be secured it is urged that 

 .an immediate survey be made by the proposed Imperial 

 Development Board into the relation between imperial 

 production and imperial requirements, and that the re- 

 :sult of the survey should divide the necessary materials 

 ■of war and commerce into three main categories: — 



(a) Materials of which the world's requirements are 

 •mainly or wholly produced within the Empire: such 

 are nickel and asbestos produced in Canada, jute in 

 India, and palm kernels in Africa. 



(b) Materials of which imperial requirements are 

 approximately equalled by imperial production: such 

 are wool, cheese, butter, meat and wheat. 



(c) Materials of which the world's requirements 

 anil with ihem those of the Empire, are mainly pro- 

 duced and controlled outside the Empire: these include 

 cotton, petroleum, nitrates arnl potash. 



Investigation in this survey should, it is pointed 

 out, take two directions, namely, to discover the possi- 

 bility of finding new sources of supply within the 

 Empire and the p-^ssibility of finding substitutes within 

 the Empire, and also to devise means for preventing 

 ■waste in existing sources of supply of minerals, while 

 the need for increasing the supplies of cotton is declared 

 ■ urgent. 



Pending the result of the investigations of the 

 Development Board the lines of action suggested in 

 order to stimulate production are— the grant of bounties 

 on output; Government purchase at a minimum price: 

 restriction of foreign control; and restriction of Govern- 

 ment purchases to articles produced from Empire 

 materials. 



With regard to the constitution of the Imperial 

 Development Board, which is to be purely advisory in 

 its initial stage, the Commissioners recommended the 

 appointment of seven representatives for the United 

 Kingdom, India, the Crown Colonies and the Protec- 

 torates, and of one each for the self-governing 



JuiY 14, 1917. 



Kingdom, through 

 for Scientific and 



Dominions, and they further sug^ sst that the Board 

 should carry out the research wor: required for the 

 survey in the following manner: — 



(a) In respect of the Unite< 

 the recently formed Department 

 Industrial Research, the National ''hysical Laboratory 



(b) In respect of the self-gci'erning Dominions, 

 through the now existing scientific lepartments and the 

 Committees for research which arelbeing set up in the 

 Dominions. 



(c) In respect of India, the Crown Colonies and 

 the Protectorates, through the lolal scientific depart- 

 ments and the Imperial Institute.| 



The Commissioners conclude ^y saying: 'We make 

 bold to assert after five years' e^^erience throughout 

 the Empire that the spirit of co-oberation, so splendid- 

 ly demonstrated in war, will be suffieeded, after peace is 

 declared, by absolute concord n the great* task of 

 reconstruction and development.' | 



In support of the recommeidations of the Com- 

 mission the decision of the Itrcerial Conference in 

 favour of Imperial Preference i^ of great importance 

 and the Conference also records ts opinion that the 

 safety of the Empire and the necessary development 

 of iis component parts require oncerted action with 

 regard to the following matters:-^ 



(1) The production of an adequate food supply and 

 arrangements for its transportaiio i under any conditions 

 that may reasonably be anticipatid. 



(2)" The control of natura resources within the 



Empire, especially those that are c fan essential character 



for necessary national purposes. Whether in peace or in 



war. 



(:i) The economic utilizamon of such natural 



resources through processes of nianufacture carried on 



within the Empire. 



DEPARTMENT NE"WS. 



The Imperial Coinmissiotibr of Agriculture' left 

 Barbados on .July 11 for Ancialia with the object of 

 paying an otticial visit to that Pfesidency. Sir Francis 

 Watts is expected to return to /Barbados in about two 

 weeks time. 



Mr. W. Novvell, D.I.C., Mycologist on the staff of 

 the Imperial Department of Agriculture, has returned 

 to the Head Office after spending some days in Dominica 

 investigating certain probleris relating to plant; 

 diseases. 



Dr. J. C. Hutson, B.A., Ph.l)., Entomologist on the 

 staff of the Imperial Departmeni of Agriculture, has left 

 Barbados with the object of paying a short visit to 

 St. Lucia in connexion with iiisect pest investigations. 



