The party rode for some miles across varied country in different types of 6-wheeled vehicles and were very favourably impressed by the performance of these machines. At later

stages of the demonstration the visitors saw various types of tanks, gun tractors, and other machines equipped for crosscountry work, and they finally rode in half-track vehicles of the Crossley-Kegresse and other types across country to the Officers' Club at Aldershot, where lunch was provided.

The Conference desire to express their very grateful appreciation of the opportunity afforded by the military authorities of seeing this most valuable demonstration, and for the hospitality of all concerned at Aldershot.

XVIII. WIRELESS TELEGRAPHY, TELEPHONY AND

BROADCASTING.

The Conference had before them a statement* of the existing wireless telegraph stations in the Colonies and the preliminary conclusions reached by a Sub-Committee of the Imperial Communications Committee which had been examining the position for some months past.

Sir Samuel Wilson, who had acted as Chairman of that SubCommittee, explained the main proposals for development which they recommended, and emphasised the need for the Dependencies to keep the Colonial Office informed of any extensions to, or modifications of, their wireless stations in order that complete and up-to-date information might be on record at home. It was contemplated that this record would be kept by the Wireless Telegraph Board at the Admiralty.

The Conference were informed of the possibilities of shortwave Wireless Telegraphy for communication with and between the Colonies, and the present limitations of this system. They were also informed of the experience gained in the working of the beam system for communication between Great Britain and Canada and Australia, which, although subject to occasional fading," had nevertheless the advantages of great speed and appreciable economy in working.

In regard to the Rugby high-power station mention was made of the very considerable element of success attained in the world-wide broadcasting of messages and news, though there were still certain areas on the world's surface where reception was unreliable at some hours of the day.

The Conference were informed of the steps which were being taken to instal a low-power short-wave station at Devizes specially for communication with ships.

The Conference were assured that it was the policy of the authorities in Great Britain to co-operate in the most cordial way with any Colony which might be in a position to provide a

* See Appendix XIV. in Cmd. 2884.

short-wave station in its own territory to communicate with this country, though it had to be recognised that the question of short-wave services was still in the experimental stage.

A statement was made to the Conference by a representative of the Radio Research Board in regard to the problem presented by atmospherics and the progress made in ascertaining the causes and estimating the relative prevalence of atmospheric disturbance in different areas of the world. In order to make the fullest use of the knowledge so far gained in the matter, it appeared advisable to carry out meteorological surveys of a district before the site of a transmitting station was decided upon.

The Conference realised the importance of this suggestion in its relation to the establishment of local broadcasting stations in the Colonies. A discussion ensued on the subject of broadcasting, and information was given by Members of their experience of the successful institution of broadcasting services in certain of the Colonies, and of the occasional reception of European and American stations.

The Conference were greatly interested in a statement by Mr. Alexander regarding the working of the broadcasting station at Colombo, from which it appeared that satisfactory reception of its transmissions had been recorded as far away as the Himalayas, Burma, and the Malay States.

It was pointed out by representatives of the British Broadcasting Corporation that the existing broadcasting stations in Great Britain were not designed for reception at long distances, but only for listeners in the British Isles. Technical opinion considered that Empire-wide broadcasting from home could be the outcome only of experiments with short waves, and that transmitting stations would be required overseas for relaying the programme amongst each group of Colonies. The regular relaying of such programmes would involve consideration of the still rather unexplored questions of copyright. If it were a matter of news broadcasting other than the Official News transmitted from Rugby, various News Agencies would at once be concerned in view of existing agreements in connection with news distribution rights.

The value and significance of instituting local broadcasting services as a contribution towards the amenities of life in isolated communities were fully appreciated, and it was hoped that the Governments would neglect no opportunity of developing such services in the territories under their control.

The Conference were informed that the Broadcasting Corporation had not so far erected a short-wave broadcasting transmitter, as the service from such a station could not be guaranteed until after experiments, and any considerable expenditure either by the authorities here and overseas in erecting transmitting stations, or by listeners overseas in equipping

themselves with receiving sets, seemed to be undesirable until the special properties of short waves were better understood. The Corporation proposed to undertake experiments in short-wave transmission and to consider the problem involved in the difference of time between the several parts of the Empire. If they were able to submit a suitable scheme for broadcasting to the Colonies, the financial aspect of the scheme would have to be considered in consultation with the Colonial authorities.

The Conference discussed various matters which had come to notice and which might be of importance from the point of view of the Colonies, e.g., the possibility of using field wireless sets for investigating local atmospheric disturbances, and the advantages of small wireless telephony installations for communication between a group of islands or stations in a Dependency where otherwise communications were slow or difficult.

The Conference agreed that the recommendation for adequate meteorological surveys to be undertaken in the Colonies by experts in that work provided with the proper equipment called for very careful consideration and they were of the opinion that Dependencies in the same geographical area might well combine to share the expense of obtaining the services of such experts from home. In this connection it was regarded as important that all available information should be sent home in regard to meteorological conditions recorded in that area for each period of the year, and that the expert surveys should be undertaken locally during those months in which atmospheric disturbances might be expected to be most pronounced.

On Saturday, the 28th May, through the courtesy of the Marconi Telegraph Company, Limited, a party of members of the Conference spent an enjoyable and instructive day visiting the Marconi Wireless telegraph stations at Ongar and Brentwood in Essex, the Central Radio Telegraph Office in London, and the Marconi Works at Chelmsford.

XIX. FORESTRY.

The discussion on forestry opened with a statement by Mr. Robinson, Technical Forestry Commissioner, in which he commented on a paper* prepared by him, for the Conference, in consultation with Major Furse, Professor Troup, Dr. Pearson, and Professor Fraser Story. This was followed by statements made by the various forestry experts present, in the course of which the principal problems of Colonial forestry were passed in review.

Considerable emphasis was laid upon the essential importance of securing reliable data of, first, the nature and quantity of existing resources, and, secondly, the nature and quantity of

* See Appendix XV. in Cmd. 2884.

existing and prospective demands. In many Colonies forestry was still in its infancy and the importance was recognised of ensuring that a forest policy was initiated on sound lines. The preparation of working plans as essential to proper forest management was insisted upon by various speakers and also the need of good large-scale maps as a preliminary to working plans. In this connection various problems of forest survey were considered, and the possibilities of air surveys working in conjunction with ground surveys were discussed at some length. The Conference were in general agreement that the practicability of such methods of survey deserved full investigation.

Certain aspects of forestry research were also discussed. It was pointed out that the serious prospective diminution in the available world supply of soft woods made the problem of finding hard woods which could serve as substitutes for soft woods of great importance. This was of special interest to Colonial Forest Departments as the forests of the Tropics consisted. largely of hard woods, and the nature and extent of the various tropical woods in British Colonial areas needed much fuller investigation.

Numerous other aspects of forest administration and management were touched upon, including finance, under which head. the importance was recognised as a general principle of strict commercial accounting between Colonial Forest Departments and other Government Departments for supplies of forest products; forestry engineering, in connection with which the suggestion was made that full consideration should be given to the possibilities of the use of mechanical traction for the transport of timber; and the relation of forests to water supply and the protection of hill-slopes from erosion.

Discussion also took place on various administrative questions in relation to Forest Departments. The importance was emphasised of placing a trained forest officer in charge of the Forest Department and of avoiding, so far as possible, its subordination to or combination with any other Departmentfor example, the Department of Agriculture. Possible advantages of forming Colonies into groups for the purpose of interColonial transfers of forest officers were suggested and also the grouping of Colonies for the purpose of sharing the expenses of forest research.

Considerable prominence was given in the discussion to questions of recruiting trained officers. It was generally recognised that in the past the supply of recruits to Forest Departments had not been satisfactory, but it was agreed that there was already signs of improvement. It was anticipated that a further improvement might be expected in view of the present policy as regards the training of probationers for Colonial Forest Services.

It was held very desirable that, with a view to securing officers of suitable qualifications, Colonial qualifications, Colonial Governments should endeavour to supply the Colonial Office annually with a minimum estimate of their requirements for five years ahead. Moreover, in view of the difficulties experienced by Colonies with small Forest Departments in making accurate estimates, it was urged that it was extremely desirable that Colonies with larger Forest Departments should be willing to absorb between them a few supernumerary probationers from time to time, if and when the estimates of smaller Forest Departments proved in excess of actual requirements. The Conference expressed

general agreement in these two recommendations.

Finally, particular attention was drawn by Lord Lovat to the importance of the forthcoming Empire Forestry Conference to be held in Australia and New Zealand in 1928, where questions relating to hard woods would be given special prominence, and the Conference agreed that it was very desirable that all Colonies which had any timber resources should be adequately represented at the Conference.

XX. MEDICAL AND PUBLIC HEALTH QUESTIONS.

At the meetings on the 25th May the Conference had under consideration questions of medical research, medical education, and public health.

Speaking on the position of medical research, Dr. Stanton, Chief Medical Adviser to the Secretary of State, said that there were two principal problems; the first problem related to the establishment and maintenance of effective contact between medical research workers overseas and their fellow workers in Great Britain; the second concerned the linking of medical research to the nearly-related sciences of veterinary and agricultural research. On the first of these problems he referred to the establishment of the Tropical Diseases Bureau in 1912 and the great value of the Bureau's publications. A further important step was now contemplated in the establishment of a Joint Committee of the Colonial Office and the Medical Research Council, to be known as the Colonial Medical Research Committee. On the second problem the possibility of establishing a Colonial Research Service was under discussion and, if the proposals were approved by the Conference, a great advance would be made.*

Sir Walter Fletcher, Secretary of the Medical Research Council, emphasised the point that medical research could know no national boundaries. He stated that it was important not to think of tropical diseases as forming a subject by themselves, since medical science whether in the tropical regions or elsewhere is one and the same, and on every ground there is good reason for bringing together the work being done in Great * A Memorandum by Dr. Stanton is printed as Appendix XVI. (a) in Cmd. 2884.