SECTION E.— GEOGRAPHY. 



NATIONAL SURVEYS. 



ADDRESS BY 



BRIGADIER E. M. JACK, C.B., C.M.G., D.S.O., 



PRESIDENT OF THE SECTION. 



o 



In these days Geography, like other sciences, has become highly specialised, 

 and has many branches, each with its particular students. But the 

 dictionary will teU you that the original meaning of the word ' geography ' 

 is ■ earth-description,' and the fundamental conception of the science of 

 geography is this idea of description of the earth's surface, and of the 

 location of its various features. It is with this aspect of the science that 

 I have been concerned for a good part of my life — the science and art 

 of correctly locating and representing the features of the earth's surface 

 — in other words, the business of surveying and mapping. I have, there- 

 fore, chosen this aspect of geography for the subject of my address, and 

 I propose to talk to you about National Surveys. To avoid misunder- 

 standing, I should make it clear that in speaking of survey I refer to 

 land survey only, not marine survey. I shall first discuss the duties 

 and functions for which, arguing from first principles, it appears to me 

 that a National Survey ought to be responsible, and certain characteristics 

 which I think such a survey should have. I shall then briefly describe 

 the work of certain national surveys, both foreign and in the British 

 Empire. Finally I shall endeavour to draw such lessons as are possible 

 from this review of national surveys for our mutual benefit. 



Every ci^-ilised country — I think without exception — has a National 

 Survey ; that is, a Survey Department, or in some cases more than one 

 department, controlled by the Government. But when we come to 

 inquire into their acti%'ities we find considerable differences in organisation 

 and methods and in the actual duties allotted to these departments, and 

 it becomes a matter of interest to inquire what are, or should be, the 

 characteristics and functions of a National Survey. 



On making such an inquiry one must clearly be mindful of the fact 

 that the activities of a Survey Department must depend on the policy 

 of the Government ; in other words, that it is for every country to decide 

 what survey work, like any other work, it requires. If a country decides, 

 for example, after due consideration, that it requires very much less 

 survey work done, and maps produced, than a neighbouring coxmtry, 

 there is no more to be said by any outsider. At the same time, by studying 

 the practice of nations, and by obser\dng the advantages that arise as a 

 result of an active survey policy, and the disadvantages that are the 

 consequence of a lack of it, one may hope to arrive at a standard whereby 

 one may judge of the efficiency of a country in this respect. 



Now let us consider first what survev means — I use the word, of 



