president's address — SECTION E. 371 



part, and if the work done in preparation for it is to be of the 

 nature of genuine historical research the period must be a very 

 limited one. Much will depend upon the importance of the period, 

 but it ought not, I think, to extend over more than five years on 

 an average. The examiner would need to satisfy himself that the 

 work in preparation for the thesis had been faithfully done, by 

 calling upon the student to produce his notes on the original material 

 once every three months. But the chief difficulty in carrying out 

 this scheme would arise from the fact that very few students in 

 the undergraduate stage are likely to possess the maturity of 

 judgment which is indispensable to such work. 



Another and better way would be to establish scholarships 

 for research into the history of the States, or Commonwealth, or 

 adjacent colonies, somewhat on the lines of the research scholar- 

 ships in Science recently established in connection with the 

 Melbourne University. Such scholarships might be awarded to 

 students who have done promising work inside or outside the 

 University, and who have the time and the desire to continue 

 their studies. I am disposed to favour the open scholarship, 

 because there are so many men and women deeply interested in 

 the history of their country who have not been able to go to a 

 University, or have long since passed through it. And if bona- 

 fide students with recommendations from the proper authorities 

 can be found the material for study is now available. 



This statement could not have been made five years ago. 

 There always has been some available material in the public 

 libraries of the different States of the Commonwealth. There were 

 blue books, commissions of inquiry, pamphlets, papers more or 

 less scientific on subjects of local interest, calendars, magazines, 

 daily papers, journals, and the like, all of which have their value 

 as historical documents. But there are documents far more valu- 

 able than any of these, and without which no reliable history of 

 any of the States can be written. They are the despatches that 

 passed between the Governors of the colonies and the Secretaries 

 of State in London. These despatches are to the body of original 

 material for purposes of research what the backbone is to the 

 human frame. You cannot construct a history of permanent 

 value without them. 



I am aware that some of these despatches have been printed 

 from time to time and placed before the public. The Trustees of 

 the Mitchell Library are the fortunate possessors of duplicates in 

 manuscript of the despatches from the Governor of New 

 South Wales throughout the period extending from 1813-1855. 

 This is a valuable collection, but even they only deal with a part 

 of the history of one of the States ; and, so far as I am aware, there 

 is no other public institution in any part of the Commonwealth 

 which possesses anything like so many in manuscript form. 



The despatches in their entirety are preserved in the Record 

 Office, London, but duplicates of them are kept at Government 

 House in each of the States of the Commonwealth, and until within 



