SOME PROBLEMS OF RESEARCH 1 9 



fluctuate with economic conditions. Since the planning of research 

 depends above all else on the guarantee of continued support for 

 a sequence of years, it has been urged that all research of the long- 

 range type should be financed from special funds raised by loan. 

 The disadvantages peculiar to land survey work are discussed in 

 some detail in Chapter II, but the same arguments apply to many 

 other branches of study. In medicine for example, a research fund, 

 raised by the group of East African territories and allocated by the 

 Director of Research mentioned above, would enable work to be 

 carried out without the haste which reduces the value of much 

 research, and without the worry entailed to the workers from the 

 possibility that they will not be given an opportunity of attaining 

 their objects. In this particular case there would be no need to 

 expend money on the erection of special buildings, because the 

 existing institutes should provide ample accommodation and 

 facilities, so that the whole fund could be used to provide salaries 

 and equipment for workers. By such means, which are similar to 

 those adopted in India in connection with the Indian Medical 

 Research Fund, the most economical use could be made of any 

 money available for fundamental studies, while routine work and 

 small pieces of research which arise locally would be carried on by 

 the local staff of the various laboratories. 



In surveying the agencies which exist for research, as outlined in 

 the following chapters, there are striking and instructive differences 

 in the systems adopted by the British, French, and Belgian adminis- 

 tration. The British territories have permanent research officers as 

 members of the departments of agriculture, medicine, etc. The 

 number of such officers is designed to be more than sufficient for 

 the routine work, so that some, at least, have time for research. In 

 the Belgian, and to a less extent the French systems, fewer perma- 

 nent scientific officers are employed in Africa, but an extensive 

 organization exists whereby special surveys or scientific studies are 

 undertaken in Africa by missions sent out from Europe, often 

 arranged with the collaboration of universities. Both the British 

 and Belgian systems have their own advantages: the former leads 

 to the establishment of a regular cadre of workers who look upon 

 Africa as the home of their work, while the latter retains closer 

 touch with the centres of science in Europe. 



