156 TRANSACTIONS OF THE ROYAL CANADIAN INSTITUTE.  [VOL. XI 
It may be said that much of the research work to which I have re- 
ferred can be accomplished in the laboratories of our Universities. 
That some of it can I will readily admit, but I venture to think that if 
a serious attempt be made to meet the needs of our country in an adequate 
manner, it will be found that University organisations possess limita- 
tions, in the way of space requirements, continuity of effort and 
administrative machinery which effectually preclude them from 
assuming the direction of anything more than a minor part of the 
industrial research work of the country. 
What is wanted is in my opinion first of all a consolidation and corre- 
lation of the research work now being carried out at Ottawa in different 
departments and under different Ministers. 
In my opinion the magnificent work which is now being done 
in the Department of Mines at Ottawa, could very well be ex- 
tended. Increased laboratory accommodation should be provided 
and additions made to the staff of highly trained technical experts. 
The sections in which problems of a physical and chemical nature 
can be treated should also be expanded. Problems of this type 
are now being dealt with by a number of the Governmental Depart- 
ments at Ottawa, but in my opinion all these activities should be 
co-ordinated with the work referred to above, and the whole placed 
under the direction of one Board, embracing the highest technical 
and scientific opinion available in the country. If such consolidation 
were accomplished it could be done on a basis and in a manner to pro- 
vide for the most powerful and the most efficient scientific direction. 
In the second place I think the facilities afforded by the Universities 
should be supplemented by the establishment of a few physical and 
chemical Research Bureaus or Laboratories in the centre of those 
localities in Canada where industrial activity is greatest. For 
example, under the conditions at present existing it would seem that 
one of such Bureaus could with advantage be established in the Province 
of Quebec, either at Montreal or Quebec—preferably at Montreal. 
Another should be established at Toronto, probably a third at Winnipeg, 
and later on a fourth in British Columbia, and maybe a fifth at some 
centre in the Eastern Provinces. These Bureaus supplementing the 
facilities offered by the Universities could be made somewhat elastic 
in their organisation and they could become most efficient institutions 
for assisting the departments of Provincial Governments in their scien- 
tific work, and for co-operating with manufacturers by providing them 
with scientific information and advice and by investigating for them 
numerous scientific problems which are pressing for solution. 
