July II, 1872] 



NATURE 



215 



I lirector of Kew is not better, but worse than when it was first 

 brought under your notice ; for within that period his views wilh 

 ii.;;ard to the scientific and other appointments in the establish- 

 ment have been absolutely set at naught. 



" These circumstances are well known to the Director's sub- 

 ordinates. They know that he has been virtually deprived of 

 authority and responsibility, and that his official appeals have 

 been unanswered, and his complaints ignored. The basis of all 

 order and discipline in the establishment is thus sapped, and 

 the position of the Director rendered so anomalous, that his 

 desire and determination to uphold the interests of .Science at 

 Kew, strengthened as they are by the moral and material 

 support guaranteed to him, hardly suflice to render that po- 

 sition endurable. 



" Your own practical wisdom will enable you to judge whether 

 such a state of things is to be remedied by the curt and vague 

 announcement (and such you must allow me to call it) which you 

 have been good enough to make me through Lord Ripon. 

 " I have the honour to be, &c. 



" (Signed) J. D. Hooker" 



Your verbal announcement through the Marquis of Ripon was 

 subsequently defined by Mr. West as a private and friendly com- 

 munication : and your secretary proposed that, as an official 

 answer would be sent to Dr. Hooker's official application, the 

 letter from which the foregoing extract is made should be con- 

 sidered as uoit ai\nm. Dr. Hooker, however, had shown his 

 letter to friends whose counsel he had sought in this matter, and 

 he therefore pleaded that you ought to see that which had been 

 seen by others. With regard to the character of the verbal com- 

 munication, Dr. Hooker had been given distinctly to understand 

 that it was officia/ and final. He, however, cheerfully accepted 

 the assurance of your secretary, and awaited the official reply. 

 It came, and we hereby respectfully submit it to your calm in- 

 terpretation. 



" Treasury Chambers, April 25, 1872 



" Sir, — I am directed by the Lords Commissioners of Her 

 Majesty's Treasury to acquaint you that their Lordships have 

 been in communication with tlie First Commissioner of Works 

 as to the matters contained in the letter which you have ad- 

 dressed to the First Lord of the Treasury. 



"Their Lordships find that there is no difference of opinion 

 n]ion the quei:tion of your position, which may be briefly defined 

 as that of liead of the local establishment at Kew, of course in 

 subordination to the First Commissioner, and they anticipate no 

 (lifhculty in tlic future regulation of the relations of that impor- 

 tant establishment to the office of the Board of Works, in which 

 the duties and powers of management are vested by statute. 



" The present form of estimate for Kew Gaidens laid by their 

 Lordships before the House of Commons cannot now be altered, 

 but it will be acted upon, and will in future be framed in accord- 

 ance with this letter. 



" I am, S'ir, 

 " Your obedient Servant, 

 "(Signed) Cii.\rli-:s W. Stronge, Primipul Clerk 



" Director of Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew." 



The concluding paragraph of this document, which is evidently 

 the really important one, has been submitted to various persons 

 accustomed to the language of official life, and we do not believe 

 that a single one of them is sure of its meaning. Dr. Hooker, 

 while willing to put the best construction upon it, thought it ne- 

 cessary to make a final inquiry, which was preceded by these 

 remarks : 



"I am most desirous of giving their Lordships no further 

 trouble, and am, of course, prepared either cheerfully to submit 

 to their decision, whenever it is clearly given, or to resign the 

 cflice which I hold ; but I am unable to find in your letter any 

 judgment whatever upon the points contained in the accompany- 

 ing Memorandum, which have all been submitted to the First 

 Lord of the Treasury in my letters of August 19 and 31, or to 

 the Committee of the Cabinet which I had the honour of attend- 

 ing on March 13 at Lord Ripon's residence. 



"I trust that their Lordships will observe, that in seeking 

 ll'.eir decision on these several questions, I am raising no super- 

 fluous d'.fhcultief, but that it is iui] ossible for n'e to understand 

 my position until it receives their Lordships' authoritative defini- 

 tion in respect of the above matters. 



"I am, Sir, 

 " Your obedient Servant, 

 "(Signed) Jos. D. Hookik, DincUr 



" Charles W. Stronge, Esq." 



"Memorandum 

 " I. Up to the date of the appointment of a Director of 

 Works (under the Board of Works) in 1870, I was entrusted, 

 by a special warrant of tire Board, with the duty of preparing 

 the estimates for the construction and repairs of the plant-houses, 

 museums, and warming apparatus in this establishment. This 

 wan-ant has been cancelled, without fault found, inquiry made, 

 or intimation given, and the duty transferred to the Director of 

 \Vorks. 



"Will you be good enough to inform me if it is their Lord- 

 ships' decision that the powers conferred upon me by that warrant 

 be restored to me ? 



" Previous to the accession of the present First Commissioner 

 to office, I was consulted whenever changes were made in the 

 estimates which it is my duty to submit to the Board, prior to 

 their transmission to the Treasury. 



"Am I to understand that hereafter the estimates will not be 

 altered by the Board without giving me an opportunity of stating 

 my views ? 



"3. I was entrusted with the custody and distribution to 

 scientific bodies, &c. of the copies of the first volume of the 

 'Flora of Tropical Africa,' a work the publication of which I 

 am officially instructed to superintend at Kew. On the publi- 

 cation of the second volume, the undistributed copies of the first 

 were withdrawn, without inquiry, from my custody, and sent, 

 together with those of the second volume, to the stationery office 

 for sale. 



" \\oidd you be so good as to state whether I am in future to 

 be entrusted with the custody and distribution of scientific works 

 of which I (the unpaid editor) am entrusted with the publication 

 by the Board ? 



"4. Previous to the accession of the present First Commis- 

 sioner to office, I wa", consulted in all cases of prospective 

 changes in the position and duties of my subordirrates, and in all 

 cases of proposed works that might affi:ct my duties and respon- 

 sibilities. 



"I shall be glad to know whether I am in future to be con- 

 sulted in regard to such matters. 



"5. The Department of Works having been brought under 

 the rults of the Civil Servi<e Commissioners, all candidates for 

 employment at Kew are liable to be chosen by open competi- 

 tion, except in cases where the qualifications required 'are 

 wholly or in part professional, or not ordinarily to be acquired 

 in the Civil .Service,' as stt forth in Clause YH. of the Com- 

 missioners' Rules. The present Fir'st Commissioner of Works 

 refuses to allow me to take advantage of Clause VH. in cases 

 both of purely botanical and horticultural appointments. 



" Am I hereafter to be allowed to avail myself of this clairse, 

 when it is of importance to the public service that I should 

 do so? 



" 6. The Director of Works having been given power to in- 

 terfere in matters for which I am still in part responsible, I am 

 anxious to know — 



"Whether I am to consider myself subordinate to the Director 

 of Works in such matters, and to submit to his control in respect 

 of them. " Jos. D. Hooker 



"Kew, May 1, 1872 " 

 To this letterno answer has been received. 

 It but lartly falls in either with our duties or our desires to 

 meddle in public questions ; and not until we found Dr. Hooker 

 maimed as regards his scientific usefelness — not until we saw the 

 noble establishment of which he has hitherto betn the living head 

 in ptril of losing services which it would be absolutely impos- 

 sible to replace ; not, indeed, until we had observed a hesitation 

 upon jtur piart which we believe could only arise from lack of 

 inforrraticn — did the thought of interference in this controversy 

 occur to us. Knowing how difficult it must be for one engrossed in 

 the duties of jour high position to learn the real merits of a 

 cotiflict like that originated liy the First Commissioner of Works, 

 we venture to hope that jou will not look with disfavour on an 

 attempt to place a clear and succinct statement of the case before 

 you. 



That statement invites you respectfully to decide whether Kew 

 Gardens are or are not to lose the supervision of a man of whose 

 scientific labours any nation might be proud ; in whom natural 

 capacity fia- the post he occupies has been developed by a culture 

 unexampled in variety and extent ; a man honoured for his in- 

 tegrity, beloved for his courtesy and kindliness of heart ; and 

 who has spent in the public ser-vice not only a stainless but an 

 illustrious life. The resignation of Dr, Hooker under the cir- 



