210 ASHIiY, R.A.O.U. Congress ^istS" 



Private Collections and Permits 



By EDW'IX ASHin', M.B.O.U., C.F.A.O.U., F.L.S., 

 W'ittunga, Blackwood, S.A. 



In opening a discussion on the se\cn resolutions recommended 

 by the sub-committee and i)ublished in the Bniu, vol. xxi., 

 pp. 214-215, a little preliminary explanation seems necessary. 



For reasons known to many members of the Union, I was 

 not only unable to attend the session in Sydney, where these 

 proposals were first brought forward, but have similarly been 

 prevented from attending most of the annual conferences of the 

 Union. Although one of the oldest workers in Australian orni- 

 tholog}% I have not come into personal touch with many of the 

 younger members of the Union, and have therefore been unable 

 to take part in the discussions or to impress on my fellow-mem- 

 bers some points of view that I feel are of the gravest import- 

 ance to the future of Australian ornithology. 



At a meeting of the Council held in Melbourne in November 

 last the neat and final copy of the said resolutions was read, 

 and I voiced a strong protest against either their adoption or 

 their being put into practice until the whole of the issues involved 

 had received more general consideration and been mucli more 

 fully discussed. The chairman at the meeting, on behalf of the 

 Council, asked me whether I would be willing to open a dis- 

 cussion on the whole question of "Private Collections and Per- 

 mits," at the next .session of the R.A.O.U. This I agreed to do, 

 and this paper is in fulfilment of the ])romise then made. 



THE SEVEN RESOLUTIONS. 



The difficulty of attempting to handle the issues involved by 

 these resolutions within the compass of one paper is seemingly 

 insurmountable. To take clause by clause and fully discuss 

 same re(|uires a separate paper under each clause, or nearly so; 

 but before going further it will be well to glance at their main 

 provisions. 



The resolutions appear to me as revolutionary in character. 

 No. 1 states that "recognised ornithologists" to whom permits 

 are to be granted must be tho.se "pursuing some definite course 

 of research." Not general workers, but specialised workers, con- 

 fining their work within more or less narrow limits. No. II., in 

 referring to students, states, "Permits to special research stu- 

 dents" only, are to be granted, and their work confined within 

 apparently still narrower limits and to known species. Under 

 No. III., "promiscuous collecting, or the formation of any new 

 collection (\s to) be discountenanced," and existing collectors, 

 except the f.noured few that come under Clause 1, are to be 

 advised to donate their collections to public institutions. 



