April 25, 19 18] 



NAT USE 



157 



General in Council on the recommendation of the 

 directors. 



It is intende'd that so far as possible the Advisory 

 Council shall act in co-operation with the Advisory 

 Council of the Imperial Privy Council and with similar 

 bodies in other parts of the Empire. 



It is understood that for the carrying out of the 

 original scheme the Prime Minister stated that the 

 Commonwealth Government was prepared to spend 

 500,000/. 



Canada. 

 On the recommendation of the Minister of Trade and 

 Commerce, the Governor-General in Council approved, 

 on June 6, 1916, of the appointment of a Committee 

 of the Privy Council, consisting of the Minister of 

 Trade and Commerce, the Minister of the Interior, 

 the Minister of Mines, the Minister of Inland Revenue, 

 and the Minister of Agriculture, which should be 

 . charged with, and responsible for, the expenditure of 

 any moneys provided by Parliament for scientific and 

 industrial research; and also of an Honorary Advisory 

 Council, responsible to the Committee of Council, to 

 be composed of nine men representative of the scien- 

 tific and industrial interests of Canada, who should be 

 charged with the following duties : — (a) To consult 

 with all responsible bodies and persons carrying on 

 scientific and industrial research work in Canada with 

 the view of bringing about united effort and mutual 

 co-operation in solving the various problems of scien- 

 tific and industrial research which from time to time 

 present themselves ; (b) to co-ordinate so far as possible 

 the work so carried on so as to avoid overlapping of 

 effort and to direct the various problems requiring 

 solution into the hands of those whose equipment and 

 ability are best adapted thereto ; (c) to sel'^ct the most 

 practical and pressing problems indicated by industrial , 

 necessities and present them when approved by the 

 Committee to the research bodies for earliest possible 

 solution ; (d) to report from time to time the progress 

 and results of their work to the Minister of Trade and 

 Commerce as chairman of the Committee of Council. 

 On November 29, 19 16, the nine members of the 

 Honorary Advisory Council were appointed, six of 

 them being presidents or professors of Canadian uni- 

 versities. On December 13, 1916, the number of .the 

 members of the Honorary Advisory Council was raised 

 to eleven, and Dr. A. B Macallum was appointed per- 

 manent chairman of the said Council, with head- 

 quarters at Ottavva, with a salary of 2000L per annum. 



United States of America. 



In the United States before the war scientific re- 

 search was probably better organised than in any other 

 country except Germany. The chief agencies were 

 several important Government scientific bureaux; cer- 

 tain institutions privately, and in a few cases munifi- 

 cently, endowed for research ; some universities and 

 schools of technology carrying on researches, and scien- 

 tific societies and industrial corporations giving a cer- 

 tain amount of opportunity for, and support of, re- 

 search. What was chiefly wanting was organisation 

 and co-ordination, to avoid overlapping and to secure 

 the proper distribution of effort over the whole field 

 in which scientific research in connection with national 

 defence and industrial efficiency was likely to be profit- 

 able. 



In April, 1916, the National Academy of Sciences 

 offered its services to the President of the United 

 States in the interest of national preparedness. Presi- 

 dent Wilson accepted the offer, and, after preliminary 

 work by an organising committee and the appointment 

 of representatives of the Army, Navy, Smithsonian 

 Institution, and various scientific bureaux of the 

 Government and of universities, scientific associa- 

 tions, and of engineering institutes and societies, 

 NO. 2530, VOL. 1 01] 



the National Research Council was formed, and held 

 its first meeting in September, 1916. The council con- 

 sisted of thirty-seven members. Dr. George E. Hale; 

 director of the Mount Wilson Solar Observatory, being 

 chairman. The main work, however ^ is done by the 

 Executive Committee, consisting of ten members (now 

 more), of which Mr. J. J. Carty, chief engineer of the 

 American Telephone and Telegraph Co., is chairman. 

 Committees were also set up to prepare a national 

 census of research and of the equipment and personnel 

 available, and for other purposes of organisation. 



The research committees are of two kinds : (a) cen- 

 tral committees, dealing with various departments of 

 science, composed of leading authorities in each field; 

 (b) local committees in universities, colleges, and other 

 co-operating institutions engaged in scientific research ; 

 and other special committees. 



It is not intended to supersede or to interfere with 

 existing institutions carrying on research, but where 

 necessary to increase their usefulness by placing addi- 

 tional funds at their disposal and in other ways. For 

 instance, each State is to have an additional grant of 

 3000/. a year for research conducted by institutions 

 situated in it. The Throop College of Technology, a 

 research institute in California, received a grant of 

 2o,oooL, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology 

 a gift of loo.oooi., to be used for the most part for 

 research. 



The relation between the central committees and the 

 local and other special committees may be illustrated 

 by reference to chemical .research. There is a central 

 committee of chemistry, which deals in the first in- 

 stance with all industrial problems connected wholly 

 or mainly with chemistry. This committee defines the 

 specific problems to be investigated, and assigns them 

 to the local committees at certain institutions, or to 

 other special committees consisting of experts in the 

 branch in question. 



South Africa. 

 As a consequence of the memorandum from the 

 Committee of the Privy Council the South African 

 Government towards the end of the year 1915 appointed 

 a Committee under the title of the Government Muni- 

 tions and Industries Committee, the members being 

 representative of the chambers of commerce and 

 manufacturers' associations. The work of this Com- 

 mittee was in the main confined to practical engineer- 

 ing matters, and by no means covered the whole field 

 of industrial research. 



In October, 1916, the Government appointed an In- 

 dustries Advisory Board, which was intended to have 

 a wider scope ; its members, who were to hold office 

 for three years, were almost exclusively business men 

 representative of commerce, manufactures, and labour. 

 In February, 19 17, the Advisory Board recommended 

 " the appointment of a Scientific and Technical Advi- 

 sory Committee to deal with all scientific and technical 

 questions, and questions of research which may be 

 referred to them by the Industrial Advisory Board.'* 

 The Government accordingly constituted a Committee 

 of ten members — men of science and engineers — the 

 functions of which were to be to provide for scientific 

 research ; to co-ordinate industrial investigation and 

 research in South Africa ; to co-operate with other 

 Government Departments in South Africa and with 

 similar Departments in the United Kingdom and the 

 Dominions; to carry out an economic survey of the 

 resources of South Africa ; and to deal with certain 

 other economic, industrial, statistical, and educational 

 matters. Both the Board and the Committee are under 

 the control of the Minister of Mines and Industries. 

 The Committee has begun its work by instituting a 

 general survey of the position in the Union under forty- 

 eight special headings, covering a wide range of natural 

 and manufactured products of South Africa, each por- 



