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these. The various Governments should refer the Convention 
that has been drafted to their advisers and to their experts 
in tropical agriculture, I hope, as well as to their experts 
in European agriculture. The British Colonial Office certainly 
will have representations to make with regard to the bearing 
of the Convention on the restriction of disease in tropical 
countries. Every European country having a delegate 
at Rome is interested in furnishing the Institute there with 
information bearing upon its colonies or dependencies. 
Having got an international organ established, an organ which 
is really modifying in an important way public opinion in the 
less forward countries of the world in the direction of establish- 
ing institutions for the collection and distribution of intelligence 
with regard to plant diseases, let us do our best to make that 
organ efficient for its purposes, by instructing our repre- 
sentatives there as to what the demands of our tropical agri- 
culture require, just as we instruct them as to what our 
domestic agriculture requires. That does seem to me the line 
upon which we can act most effectively. I think any com- 
mittee set up by us might be useful as an advisory body, but 
it does seem to me a pity, when an institution has been 
definitely founded and endowed, as the International Agri- 
cultural Institute at Rome has been, for certain purposes, to 
be continually setting up small committees and institutions of 
no particular international status to deal with problems for 
which the International Agricultural Institute has endeavoured 
to find a continuous solution. Whatever we do in this matter, 
my personal view is that we should endeavour to get our ideas 
brought into play by making representations through our 
various Governments to the International Agricultural Institute 
at Rome, which is dealing with this matter and will continue 
to deal with it. That is only my personal view, having taken, 
as I have done, a great interest in the work of the International 
Agricultural Institute. We are just as fully alive to the 
necessity of proper regulations as to plant diseases, both in 
their tropical aspects and otherwise, as any member of this 
Congress, and we are particularly desirous of giving effect to 
the opinion of this Congress in regard to this matter. 
The Prestpent: While I entirely agree with Sir Sydney 
Olivier in regard to the useful work which the International 
Agricultural Institute at Rome has done in reference to this 
question, I must remind him that this Congress is held under 
the auspices of the International Association for Tropical 
Agriculture, an Association which was founded long before the 
International Agricultural Institute at Rome. I mention that 
because he seemed to think the appointment of a Committee by 
us would be equivalent to encroaching on the ground of the 
