A.—6.

Imperial Wool Research Conference. The committee gave consideration to the resolutions passed by the Imperial Wool Research Conference, and expressed their general agreement with the spirit of the resolutions, and, in particular, heartily endorsed the reference made therein to the importance of scientific investigation into the problems of wool-production. Imperial Collaboration in Co-ordinated Programmes of Research. Finally, as a means for effecting a greater degree of Imperial collaboration in research, the committee recommended that arrangements should be made for the interchange of the schemes of work of the national research organizations of the British ('ommonwealth and for the principal workers engaged on the various researches to establish personal contact with their " opposite numbers " in research institutions in the countries of the Commonwealth. The Imperial Conference agreed to take note of the report and resolutions of the Committee on Research, and to refer them to the consideration of the several Governments of the British Commonwealth. XX. OTHER ECOMONIC QUESTIONS. A number of other economic questions of a miscellaneous character were referred to a General Economic Committee under the chairmanship of Sir Sydney Chapman, K.C.8., C.8.E., Chief Economic Adviser to His Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom. The principal matters dealt with by this committee, and the conclusions of the Conference thereon, are indicated below. (a) Imperial Institute. Attention was drawn to the position of the Imperial Institute. It was recognized that as a clearing-house for information and for the conduct of technical investigations in general the Imperial Institute performs functions which constitute an essential service to the various parts of the Commonwealth not obtainable elsewhere. Contributions towards the maintenance of the Institute are made by the various Governments of the British Commonwealth. The Conference was informed in this connection that to enable the Institute to carry on its work on the existing basis new revenue of £9,000 a year was required, and that consequently, even if the contributory Governments undertook to maintain the existing level of their contributions, the present work could not be carried out without eventual depletion of capital funds and possible insolvency. The Conference agreed that if any part of the [nstitute's work was to come to an end it ought not to be the work of intelligence and investigation, and that therefore the Exhibition Galleries presented the one field where economy might be least regrettable. The General Economic Committee recommended that, even if the new revenue of £9,000 a year were not forthcoming, the contributory Governments should, at any rate, maintain their subscriptions for a period of not less than five years. The Conference agreed to accept the report and to refer to the consideration of the various Governments of the Empire the recommendations on finance contained therein. (b) Work of Imperial Organizations in the Field of Minerals. Under the above heading, the committee examined the proposal made by the Second Empire .Mining and Metallurgical Congress, held in Canada in 1927, and recommended by the Empire Congress held in Johannesburg in April, 1930, that the Governments of the Commonwealth should undertake a mineral survey of their respective countries on lines suggested by the Empire Council of Mining and Metallurgical Institutions. The Research Committee of the Imperial Conference, who were asked to advise on the subject, expressed themselves as entirely in accord with the proposal that such a survey should be made.

6—A. 6.

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