40 J. A. McClelland on 



been aroused. The Cotton Spinners of Lancashire are moving in 

 a very promising manner, and a committee is in process of for- 

 mation to consider the possibilities of research in connection with 

 that great industry, and they are likely to act on a big scale. 

 Interest is being shown regarding the possibilities of research in 

 the Rubber trade. That trade has been so flourishing that it 

 has been able to go on without very accurate or scientific know- 

 ledge of the physical and chemical properties of the article dealt 

 with. There is a very wide field of work in connection with 

 rubber, and it is quite likely that systematic work may be 

 arranged for in the near future. 



I think I am correct in saying that the Privy Council Com- 

 mittee and the Advisory Council are satisfied that there is in 

 reality a movement starting towards scientific and research 

 methods in Industry that is likely to become of great magnitude, 

 and of the greatest possible im])ortance after the war. 



The Government have been so much impressed with the 

 movement towards research methods, and with the progress made 

 during the past year in the organization of Industrial Research, 

 that they have recently made much greater provision for carrying 

 on the work. Lord Crewe announced to a deputation that 

 waited on him on 1st December, that in future the Privy Council 

 Committee and the Advisory Council would act as a separate 

 Department of Scientific and Industrial Research for Great 

 Britain and Ireland, and that a Royal Charter would be granted 

 to the official members of the Privy Council Committee, enabling 

 them to accept, hold, and dispose of moneys, including sums 

 voted by Parliament, for research purposes. 



Lord Crewe further stated that a large sum would, with the 

 consent of Parliament, be placed at the disposal of the Depart- 

 ment, sufficient to allow of an annual expenditure for the next five 

 years equal to four or five times the sum at present available 

 When we remember that before this extension of the scheme the 

 sum available for the present year was £40,000, we will agree 

 that satisfactory financial arrangements are now ensured for the 

 next five years. 



