SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY BILL. 
eee 
particular subject with which the Director was dealing, when, perhaps, 
he should have eight or nine men gathered from all parts of Australia 
to advise and assist him in regard to it.” 
These modifications of the advisory machinery have been made to 
conform to the initial requirements of the Institute. In an earlier part 
of his speech, the Minister indicated the necessity of commencing in 
a small way. He said— The more study one gives to the subject, the: 
more one becomes convinced of the absolute necessity for Australia 
doing what is possible, at all events, at the present moment, towards 
the establishment of an Institute of Science and Industry. We are 
obliged to cut our coat according to our cloth. If we had unlimited 
funds at our command, no doubt we could launch out and do vast and 
useful work for Australia by spending a very large sum of money in 
this direction, but we cannot do that to-day. We must proceed slowly 
along the road. However, notwithstanding the present financial posi- 
tion and the enormous commitments ahead of us, I do not think we 
ought to refrain from making a start in a direction in which so much 
useful work can be performed.” 
Apart from the alterations referred to, no other important amend- 
ments have been introduced. The powers and functions of the Director 
are identical with those it was previously proposed to confer upon 
the three Directors. Their scope is wide, and the only limitations will 
be those imposed by the amount of money at the disposal of the 
Institute. It has been abundantly demonstrated that, not only are the 
States disposed to co-operate with the Institute, but that they will 
welcome the opportunity, which the new Commonwealth organization 
must present, of uniting the divided and scattered scientific forces 
separately working upon the same problem, and of directing ‘combined 
efforts towards the eradication of pests widespread in their incidence 
and ruinous in their ravages. 
The Hon. W. Massy Greene made it clear that, far from desiring 
to create an Institute whose work would overlap that of State Depart- 
ments, the Federal Government desired concentration and co-ordination 
of scientific work. He quoted from the speeches of the State Premiers 
who attended the 1918 Conference to show how that desire was shared 
as strongly by the State Governments themselves, and he reinforced 
his arguments with a number of*examples of co-operative “research 
being undertaken by the States and the temporary Institute. After 
indicating the extent of the development of similar organizations in 
other countries—Great Britain, United States, France, Italy, Japan, 
Canada, Sweden, and Belgium—the Minister for Trade and Customs 
referred to the very excellent service rendered by the Advisory Council 
of the temporary Institute. “Those gentlemen,” he said “did a great 
deal of preliminary investigation work, and naturally, having laid the 
387 
