317 



T- THE ADMINISTRATIVE PROBLEM. 



By Sir A. D. HALL, K.C.B., F.R.S., 



Chief Scientific Adviser to the Ministry of Agriculture and 

 Director-General of the Intelligence Department. 



The problem I have to put before you this morning is that wider one 

 of the relation between research and government departments. There 

 has been much talk recently of the value and need of research and of 

 the necessity for the country to take more interest in research than it 

 has done in the past. In the past there has been little research it is true, 

 but that little has been good and at present in our effort for reconstruc- 

 tion we must beware of the danger of introducing a state king stork 

 instead of a king log. 



We may assume that research will not pay its way and therefore 

 must be supported by state funds, which of necessity means a certain 

 amount of state supervision of the expenditure of the money. The power 

 of the purse unfortunately confers a certain amount of control and can 

 be made to carry with it complete control. 



The Government Department, in this case the Ministry of Agriculture, 

 has a strong technical side, which however ought to be still stronger. 

 This is chiefly concerned with such investigation into disease in animals 

 and plants as is required for the formulating and carrying out of the 

 necessary regulation for such disease. For example the outbreak of 

 disease may be isolated and so checked by the method of quarantine. 

 This is an old idea and in the past has been carried out by the slaughter 

 of the animals or plants^ which method can be carried out without 

 scientific advice. It is a simple process and one dear to administrators. 

 But investigators have suggested more economical and efficient methods 

 than the wholesale slaughter of diseased and contacts. With animal 

 diseases there is compulsory treatment; with plant diseases compulsory 

 spraying. These regulations are imposed on the community and there 

 must be inspection to ensure that they have been carried out in an 

 efficient way. We may instance compulsory spraying as a precautionary 

 measure imposed either by legislation or by agreement as in continental 

 vineyards. Such a measure must be imposed by a central department 

 and it is obviously essential that this central department be adequately 

 advised; it must therefore be in a position to carry out investigations 



