COLONIAL INSTITUTE'S WORK.

Press, Volume LVII, Issue 17121, 16 April 1921, Page 12

COLONIAL INSTITUTE'S WORK.

-* « •• . ' . EXPLAINED MAJOR BOOSE., ,"Jb>is the personal touch that is going to-make the Empire better than it : is, 1 ' said Major It.. Boose, C.M.G., to j : ail Auckland '-Star" reporter on Tiie'SI day.' Major Boose, who is accompanied'' by Mrs Boose, arrived by the Maheno, : after a most successful tour of Austra- ' lia, his mission being the increasing of : the sphere of influence of the Royal ; Colonial of which he is the : Travelling Commissioner. "Wo a.ro talking great trouble about the social side of imperial unity," continued the Major. ''Wheli people go Homo to the. Old Country from'the colonies, knowing few or no-people in London, they •do not enjoy their visit as it might bo 1 enjoyed, nor do they get to know their i fellow British Subjects in the way that' 'helps to strengthen the ties of Empire. I If those colonial travellers Iflok lis up I at the Institute wo tako them in hand, I introduce i them to people, and their : stay is much more pleasant and profit- : able. Canadians, New Zealanders, Aus- '■ tralian-s, South, Africans, Joeqplo from : India, Ceylon-*-in fact, from every/Dominion, Crown colony, and protectorate —meet at the Institute. Oncof-our , greatest delights is to answer questions ,on any matters 'whftterer. affeerihg tho 'Empire, and 'it. is. Astonishing tho amount of information that, one can pick up within the four walls of. the ' Institute. I suppose there iiiuSfc be 500 people coming into tho Institute's building in Northumberland avenue, and no .matter what subject pay crop up in connexion with the Empire there is always someone there who knows something about i,t. When our. re-building scheme is carried to a successful con-clusion-we irill have a building worthy of the Empire, right in the centre of London; . where colonials will jfind a rallying 'place, v with all -club privileges, and' we aro hoping that thoi usefulness of the Institute will be immensely extended." "When speaking of the High Coimnis-. sioner's office, whore so many Now Zoalanders' go for. information, Maj or Boose said it could never fulfil the 1 samo function as the Colonial Institute. In. hia opinion, the staff of the Commissioner's . office should be composed. of New Zealanders. Some of the men. in it-had never been out of London, so what could they, kuow of ..tho Dominion? A good scheme would be to have an interchange of offices. A man could serve for a certain time in London, return Ho his Dominion, and then ! be replaced by a new man from New Zealand,- so that both Would gain experience, and the value of the Commissioner's offico would be much increased. It was the same with Australia House. It is the second' on which •.Major Boose has visited New Zealand, tlio last occasion being just before the war. He intends on this trip to form branches of the Institute as wai done in Australia, wherever possible, and" so extend v the icopc of the Institute. He \vas most successful it Australia, where : his mission was enthusiastically taken [ up. New Zealand already boasts the ! premier branch of the Institute—one ! formed in Christchurch in 1913, which ; was a year before the first branch was formed in •Great Britain. SUGGESTED FUSION NOT • ATTAINED. (moil OUK OWN CORRESPONDENT.) • ' LONDON, February,24. After some twenty months' work and a large number of meetings, the Joint Committee appointed to consider whether a workings arrangement for amalgamation between the Royal Colonial . Institute and the Ovorseas Club and Patriotic League could be devised have with great regret been forced tp the conclusion" that amalgamation is not practicable. Difficulties which, in the the aggregate, are now- found to be insuperable, have arisen in,the course of tho negotiations. It is satisfactory to. be able to state that the negotia- : tions have been harmonious throughout, and. that the final decision was unanifnously arrived at v The councils of both Societies feel assured that though amalgamation Ms not been at* tained, the Royal Colonial Institute and the Overseas Club and Patriotic League will continue to work independently .in a spirit: of friendly co-opera-tion for the ideal of united/Empire, which they both have at heart. ).

Neither will the decision affect thi work of the Joint, Committee of the two organisations, together with the Victoria League, _ which exists for the _ purpose of co-ordinating activities. In fact, it is proposed that this committee should meet more, frequently in' f'nturo. Among the difficulties hare I been met with in connexion' with the proposed amalgamation is that no unik form subscription co\ild bo .arranged, owing to the disparity in the rates of 1 subscription of the two organisations. ; Recently;the Royal Colonial Institute : found it necessary to increase their . rates of subscription, which, were al- : ready largely in excess of those of the , Overseas Club. Another difficulty was . that a-joint magazine to meet the re- , quirements > of both organisations could not be'devised. Owing to the different character of the two Societies it was found to be absolutely essential to re- , tain "United_Empire'' and ''Overseas'' in their existing form as separate pub- • lications. ,