38 



ment of one section on the field of another. At the same time, care 

 must be equally taken to limit the activities of the committee to such 

 co-ordination and to avoid any interference with the actual work of 

 the various sections. 



12. The establishment of an extra-Ministerial Cotton Board. 



So long as the scheme for cotton development entails the joint 

 activities of several bodies which are not all in one Ministry, the 

 existence of an extra-Ministerial Board is necessary to provide the 

 necessary co-ordination between these bodies. I have preferred to 

 refer to this as the establishment of such a board rather than as a 

 reconstitution of the existing Cotton Research Board. The distinction 

 I have already drawn between the function of the existing and the 

 proposed boards will, I think, be obvious. The function of the present 

 Board is " to combine and co-ordinate scientific researches," a definition 

 which not inadequately indicates the function of the Ministerial 

 Committee proposed above, while that of the board, as I have conceived 

 it, is primarily to co-ordinate practice with the results of those re- 

 searches. To serve this purpose, the constitution requires to be 

 radically altered, and the board should include in its membership 

 representatives of the bodies concerned and not, as at present, members 

 selected on a personal qualification. Probably it will be found to 

 serve its purpose most effectively if it be established as a purely 

 advisory board reporting direct to the heads of the Ministries or 

 departments concerned. Its members would thus be drawn from 

 those persons most intimately concerned with the developments of 

 research for which an outlet is required. 



The difference between this and the present Cotton Research 

 Board is fundamental. Nevertheless, I do not wish to imply a 

 wholesale and immediate condemnation of the present Board. That 

 Board has, I think, a useful function at the present time. The 

 research staff will be mostly new and lack experience of the country. 

 I would suggest, therefore, that the proposals I have made be con- 

 sidered as an ultimate policy and that, in the meantime, such 

 proposals as arise be considered in the light of such a development 

 so that no steps may be taken which will vitiate their ultimate 

 adoption. 



H. MABTIN LEAKE. 



