Science in Public Affairs 



^10,000 could be profitably expended in Northern 

 Nigeria in prospecting and discovering; but "these 

 were lean years, and it would be useless to apply 

 to the Treasury for more money." 



It may be contended that all requisite informa- 

 tion is provided in the explanations attached to the 

 estimates, and the reports on the blue-books of the 

 several colonies and protectorates. But, apart from 

 the fact that these reports are published several 

 months after the money has been voted, there is 

 no general survey of the position such as is pro- 

 vided in Germany by the annual memorandum 

 " on the development of the German protectorates 

 in Africa and the South Sea." 



On the question of the best means of ensuring, 

 on the one hand, that Parliamentary grants in aid 

 of administration shall be kept at the lowest pos- 

 sible figure, and, on the other, that the crown 

 colonies and protectorates shall be developed on 

 scientific lines, it is difficult for one who has no 

 personal knowledge of the working of the House 

 of Commons 1 to make any useful suggestion, but 

 he may call attention to a recent article 2 by Mr. 

 R. M'Kenna, M.P. It is true that Mr. M'Kenna 

 is thinking mainly of the increased expenditure 

 upon the army and the navy, but the arguments 

 apply equally to the Colonial Civil Service esti- 

 mates. He points out that in France a Finance 

 Committee is appointed for each department, with 



1 Mr. H. de R. Walker has now been elected to the House 

 of Commons for the first time. ED. 



2 Independent Review, Nov. 1905. 



164 



