— 19 — COUNCIL — MAES 1920 



When f was considered Dr. Redeke pointed out that the eel was one of the 

 most important fish and that therefore work should be continued on as large a 

 scale as possible. Holland was interested in anything concerning the eel. He there- 

 fore proposed that Resolution 10 of the Procès-Verbaux of 1912, Volume 15, be 

 confirmed in respect of the present year, and that the programme be carried out 

 in the countries concerned as far as present circumstances permit. He continued 

 in French : — 



Parmi les poissons les plus importants, étudiés par le Conseil International 

 se trouve l'Anguille. Tout ce qui concerne ce poisson est intéressant, mais de plus 

 sa pêche dans les différents pays est si importante que nous devons continuer nos 

 recherches et nos études dans le sens où nous les avons entreprises depuis quelques 

 années. Dans cette résolution, vous trouverez nos conclusions. 



Point 2 of the Agenda (Settlement of the Estimates for the finan- 

 cial years 1919 — 20 and 1920 — 21). These Estimates were laid before the 

 Council for approval. 



In connection with the second of these Budgets, i. e. 1920 — ^21, Prof. Knudsen 

 made the following statement : — 



I suppose that this estimate is to be considered as a prolongation of the 

 war estimates, and I am not going to propose alterations in individual items. I 

 only wish to state plainly before the Council that the expenses can not be kept 

 as low in the future as here proposed. To take an instance from the Hydrographical 

 Department of the Bureau, which I know best, 1 may inention that the salary of 

 Dr. Gehrke, who has served for 17 years in the Department, was 4,000 Kr. before 

 the war, and in the present estimate it is proposed that he shall receive 6,000 Kr. 

 only. As the cost of living, according to official statements, has increased by more 

 than 140 per cent, in Denmark, giving Kr. 9,600 as an adequate salary for 

 Dr. Gehrke, he cannot be expected in future to devote the whole of his working 

 power to the service of the Bureau. Other instances might be mentioned, but I 

 will confine my remarks to Dr. Gehrke. For various reasons 1 do not think it 

 likely that Germany and Russia will be able to take their former share in the ex- 

 penses of the Bureau in the near future. Therefore it seems to me that the only 

 way of escape from the present unsatisfactory conditions is to ask the participating 

 countries to increase their contributions. I therefore beg leave to put the following 

 proposal before the Council : — 



"Considering the increased cost of printing and the necessity of giving adequate 

 "remuneration to scientific assistants, the Council asks the Bureau to enter into negotia- 

 "tions with the participating countries in order to obtain properly increased contributions 

 "to the Council." 



This proposal is couched in somewhat vague terms because it might be 

 thought better to leave the matter of obtaining increased subventions from the 



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