690 NARRATIVE AND ITINERARY 
received by the London Office in connection with the Australian Meeting 
is estimated to have exceeded 24,000, and in this connection it is neces- 
sary to remember that the London Office was only one of a number of 
centres where official business connected with the Meeting was regu- 
larly carried on. Some account of the work in these other (Australian) 
centres may now be given. 
AUSTRALIAN ORGANISATION, 1914. 
On the return of the Organising Secretary from England in February 
1914 an office was established in the Prime Minister’s Department, 
Melbourne, which served to keep the work done in each capital city in 
touch with that of the London office. Periodical visits were made to 
the other States by the Organising Secretary. 
Copies of the memorandum prepared in London by the Assistant 
Secretary and the Australian Organising Secretary were circulated to 
the responsible officers in each centre. Specific local conditions some- 
times necessitated trifling alterations in the suggested scheme of 
organisation, but for the most part the general plan was closely adhered 
to, it being recognised fully by all executive officers that the advantage 
of uniformity was very great, and would be particularly appreciated by 
Overseas Members when moving rapidly from one capital to another. 
Executive Committees, together with sub-committees dealing with 
hospitality, excursions, and scientific business, met frequently after the 
beginning of April. The main work of the Hospitality Committees, after 
securing hosts, lay in the allocation of guests to hosts. As the time 
of the Meeting approached it was, of course, inevitable that many 
changes would occur in the list of visiting Members: the consequent 
continuous readjustments in hospitality arrangements were sometimes 
considerable. As will be seen later, this was particularly the case in 
Brisbane, where the abandonment at the last moment of the Meeting 
in New Zealand necessitated a rapid alteration of most of the 
Committee’s arrangements. 
The Excursions Committees, after settling the localities to be visited, 
were required to determine the numbers of overseas and local Members 
respectively, for whom provision could be made. The general prin- 
ciple was accepted throughout that the excursions were primarily, and 
in many cases solely, for the visitors. Thanks to the keenness of the 
Members of the Overseas Party there were scarcely any cases of 
arrangements failing through lack of visitors. Very great assistance 
was rendered by Government officials throughout the work of all 
Excursions Committees. 
In each centre reports on the work of executive and sub-committees 
were presented periodically to the large General Committees. 
Local Membership.—It was fully recognised in Australia that the 
possibility of the Association continuing during 1914-1915 its work of 
financially aiding original scientific investigations depended largely upon 
securing a long roll of local Members. This fact was made widely 
known in the Press, and the determination was expressed that the 
visit to Australia should not result in any lessening of the Association’s 
activities. Even better results would have attended efforts to gain local 
