30 



NATURE 



[March i i, 1920 



House, was instituted for the conservation of the 

 antiquities of London. The Wallace Collection, 

 bequeathed to the nation in 1897, is contained in 

 Hertford House, which was acquired by the 

 Government for the purpose. Both the last-named 

 museums are under independent bodies of trustees. 

 The Imperial Institute contains large collections 

 of the economic products of the Empire, and a 

 scientific and technical staff has been provided for 

 their conservation and study ; it is managed by the 

 Secretary of' State for the Colonies, assisted by 

 an executive committee. Towards the close of 

 the war the Imperial War Museum was founded 

 for the preservation and custody of objects and 

 records connected with the war. Besides the 

 museums, there are the various picture galleries 

 in London, all under independent bodies of 

 trustees, and outside London there are important 

 national museums at Edinburgh, Cardiff, and 

 Dublin, all under their own authorities. 



Owing to the overlapping of the scope of 

 several of these institutions, there often arises 

 duplication of work and competition for the 

 acquisition of specimens. Thus similar ground is 

 covered by certain sections of the British Museum 

 and the Victoria and Albert Museum as regards 

 art; by the Natural History Museum, the Geo- 

 logical Museum, and the Imperial Institute as 

 regards minerals and rocks; by the Natural His- 

 tory Museum and Kew Gardens as regards the 

 systematic study of plants. There is further over- 

 lapping in the range covered by the associated 

 libraries — to some extent that is both desirable 

 and inevitable — but at the same time no attempt is 

 made to ensure that a copy of every important 

 book or periodical is accessible in London. 



The lack of co-ordination between the various 

 museums was noticed by the Sub-Committee, 

 under the chairmanship of Lord Haldane, which 

 was appointed by the Reconstruction Committee 

 in July, 191 7, to investigate the machinery of 

 Government, and confirmed in its appointment 

 when the Ministry of Reconstruction began its 

 brief existence. In its report published in 1918 

 (Cd. 9230) the following important paragraph 

 occurs : — 



"As regards the other national museums [i.e. 

 other than the Geological Museum, the suggested 

 transference of which to the Department of Scien- 

 tific and Industrial Research was approved] . . . , 

 we think that the responsible authorities might 

 consider with advantage the possibility of entering 

 into regular arrangements, by means of a body 

 representative of each of the museums, and estab- 

 lished for the purpose, whereby the spheres of the 

 NO. 2628, VOL. 105] 



respective museums should be arranged w'ith a 

 view to the avoidance of competition for objects, 

 and to the development of each museum to the 

 full as a centre of education and research. From 

 the latter point of view it would no doubt be 

 desirable to secure that the Board of Education, 

 and the general organisation for research and 

 information, . . . should be associated with any 

 movement in this direction." 



In this connection we may refer also to the 

 third interim report by the Adult Education Com- 

 mittee, which was also appointed by the Ministry 

 of Reconstruction, in its report on libraries and 

 museums (Cd. 9237, 1919), in which it is urged 

 that " the powers and duties of the Local Govern- 

 ment Board regarding [the local] public libraries 

 and museums should be transferred forthwith to 

 the Board of Education." Those interested in 

 such institutions promptly took steps to register 

 their strong disapproval of the course proposed ; 

 with that dissent we are in full accord. It must 

 be remembered that it is the business of the Board 

 of Education to allocate parliamentary grants to 

 schools and other teaching institutions, and to see 

 that the range of the curriculum of the studies at 

 them adheres to the official regulations, and not 

 to take part in the actual practice of education. 

 A department of which the vision is restricted by 

 the blinkers of sub-heads and schedules is not 

 often able to take a broad view on questions of 

 learning and research. 



In our opinion the best solution of the difficulty 

 would be to expand the present Department of 

 Scientific and Industrial Research into a Ministry 

 of Learning and Research, and to bring under it 

 the national museums and picture galleries, as 

 well as the national institutions engaged in 

 research. To ensure proper co-ordination and 

 continuity of policy, the administration of the pro- 

 posed Ministry should be entrusted to a board of 

 trustees, comprising representatives of the stand- 

 ing committees appointed to control each of the 

 constituent establishments. 



We recognise the complexity of the question, 

 and our readers must not assume that we con- 

 sider the solution which we offer to be beyond 

 criticism and discussion. In the House of Lords 

 on March 3 Lord Sudeley suggested that the 

 Government should appoint a committee on 

 museums and galleries "to consider and recom- 

 mend how these institutions can be further adapted 

 to public needs, and especially be made through- 

 out the country of far greater use for public 

 benefit and instruction." His lordship made it clear, 

 in the course of the speech with which he intro- 



