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Lancashire and Yorkshire—should the time ever arrive when the goods which are produced by their labour and their skill are to be had cheaper elsewhere—to those who remember the cotton famine, and reflect how much worse a customer famine would be, the situation appears very grave. I thought —I still think—that it was the intention of the Prince of Wales and his advisers, recognizing the existence of these dangers ahead, to make a serious effort to meet them, and it was in that belief that I supported the proposed Institute. If lam wrong, all I can say is that lam very sorry to have misled myself and other people. 1 have, &c, The Editor of the Times. ____________________________^^ T- H- Huxley.

No. 40. The Colonial Treasurer to the Various Local Bodies in New Zealand. •Sir,— Treasury, Wellington, 24th March, 1887. I have the honour to inform you that, at a large meeting, presided over by His Eoyal Highness the Prince of Wales, of representative men from all parts of the United Kingdom and from various parts of the Empire, the following, amongst other resolutions, was carried unanimously : " That an appeal be made to the subjects of the Queen throughout Her Majesty's dominions to give a generous support to the establishment and maintenance of such Imperial Institute." Following this resolution, an inquiry has been made by the Prince of Wales of the Agent-General, asking him whether " the time has not arrived when you could, with prospect of advantage to the interests of the Imperial Institute, communicate with the Government of New Zealand suggesting that steps should at once be taken for setting on foot an organization in that colony for the purpose of collecting contributions from the inhabitants towards the national memorial of the Queen's Jubilee." A further suggestion was thrown out that the organized assistance of local bodies should be sought. Under these circumstances it has been decided by the Government that the Treasury should make an appeal to all the local bodies in the colony to aid in procuring subscriptions. In placing the matter before you it becomes the duty of the Government to refer to it from the twofold point ■of view of its relation to the commeration of Her Majesty's Jubilee and of the value and importance of the Imperial Institute itself. As regards the first point, it is to be observed that this is the only commerative memorial of the Queen's Jubilee which Her Majesty has been pleased to accept ; and not only has she accepted it, but she has allowed it to be understood through its author, the first subject of the realm, the Prince of Wales, that such memorial will give her great pleasure. Supposing it were intimated on behalf of the Queen that the memorial most pleasing to her would be a purely local institution in some part of the United Kingdom, it appears to me that, though regret might be felt at a choice which so specialized a small part of the Empire, yet there would bo millions of Her Majesty's subjects throughout her wide dominions who would consider that the first object to be thought of was to give pleasure to the Sovereign in whose honour the memorial was to be raised. If lam right in this conjecture, the feelings of those who wish to show 7 their appreciation of Her Majesty's virtuous and happy reign will be to defer to the Sovereign's own wishes as to the shape the celebration shall take, and it must be a source of unmixed gratification to them that the Queen has approved of a monument so comprehensive as to include in its purposes every portion of her dominions. There is no other project proposed, that I am aware of, much less one accepted by Her Majesty, which includes a participation of the whole Empire in giving it effect and in subsequently enjoying its use. As regards the value of the institution, I would first call your attention to a letter of Professor Huxley written after he had made a speech in favour of the Institute. The learned gentleman appeared to be under the impression that he had not sufficiently defined in his speech the objects of the Institute, and to set himself right wrote the letter in question. The Organizing Committee accepted the letter and published it in a pamphlet, with the statement that Professor Huxley " clearly defined the functions of the Imperial Institute as recognized by the propounders of the scheme, in the following words :" — " That with which I did intend to express my strong sympathy was the intention which I thought I discerned to establish something which, should play the same part in regard to the advancement of industrial knowledge which has been played in regard to science and learning in general, in these realms, by the Eoyal Society and the Universities. " I pictured the Imperial Institute to myself as a house of call for all those who are concerned in the advancement of industry ; as a place in which the home-keeping industrial could find out all he wants to know about colonial industry, and the colonist about home industry; as a sort of neutral ground in which the capitalist and the artisan would be equally welcome; as a centre of intercommunication in which they might enter into friendly discussion of the problems at issue between them, and, perchance, arrive at a friendly solution of them. I imagined it a place in which the fullest stores of industrial knowledge would be made accessible to the public ; in which the higher questions of commerce and industry would be systematically studied and elucidated ; and where, as in an industrial University, the whole technical education of the country might find its centre and crown. If I earnestly desire to see such an institution created it is not because I think that or anything else will put an end to pauperism and want —as somebody has absurdly suggested —but because I believe it will supply a foundation for that scientific organization of our industries which the changed conditions of the times render indispensable to their prosperity. " I do not think I am far wrong in assuming that we are entering-—indeed, have already entered —upon the most serious struggle for existence to which this country has ever been committed. The latter years of the century promise to see us embarked in an industrial war of far more serious import than the military wars of its opening years. -On the east, the most systematically-instructed and best-informed people in Europe are our competitors ; on the west, an energetic offshoot of our own stock, grown bigger than its parent, enters upon the struggle possessed of natural resources to 5—A. 9.