CLASS IV.—EDUCATION, SCIENCE, AND ART. (Hansard, 30 July 1875)

§ MR. BERESFORD HOPE
complained of the insufficient accommodation provided for the Gallery, and offered suggestions to the Government, with a view to improved arrangements.

§ MR. M'LAGAN (for Mr. MALCOLM)
moved the reduction of the Vote by the sum of £1,000. He did not consider that the money spent by the Meteorological Committee of the Royal Society was as profitably administered as it might be, and he contended that the Meteorological Society of Scotland ought to have a share of this grant. The Society of London had acknowledged the value of the work being done by the Society of Scotland, which had applied itself to agricultural and other pursuits.

§ MR. LYON PLAYFAIR
said, a previous Treasury had expressed its opinion that the Meteorological Society of Scotland ought to have a portion of the grant, because of the good work it was doing.

§ MR. M'LAREN
said, the people of Scotland did not ask for any largesse from the people of England or Ireland, because if the £1,000 was given to Scotland, she would only be getting her share of the taxes to which she contributed one tenth part.

§ GENERAL SIR GEORGE BALFOUR
supported the Amendment, on the important condition that the observations by the Meteorological Society of Scotland were more varied than those of the office in London, and were practically of a character very different from that of the Society in London; being also applied to develop an industry of great value to Scotland—that of ascertaining the influence of the weather and the temperature of the sea on the herring fishery. There were other important objects to which the Scotch Society directed their inquiries, and it would be easy to arrange that the investigations of the London and Edinburgh Societies should co-operate for the general good, and thus prevent conflicts or rivalries. The acquisition of the knowledge which might guide the fishermen in following up the shoals of herrings might prove the means of yielding large profits to the nation; moreover, the collections which were at present made by the fee for the brand affixed to the herring barrels yielded nearly £9,000, and this money should, as a matter of course, be employed for the benefit of the trade, instead of being used to swell the Miscellaneous Revenue receipts.

§ MR. W. H. SMITH
said, the money was not given to the Meteorological Society of England, but to a Committee of the Royal Society. The Treasury were well aware of the value of the services of the Meteorological Society of Scotland, and during the autumn they would inquire into the circumstances of the grant, and see whether it was fitting and proper that a portion of the money should go to Scotland.

§ MR. RAMSAY
said, it was quite evident that the money was not being administered as well as it might be.

CAPTAIN MILNE-HOME
said, that at so advanced an hour he had no wish to detain the Committee more than a very few moments, especially after the clear and detailed statement made by hon. Members opposite. He would merely draw attention to the wording of the Vote before the Committee, which was for— The Meteorological Committee, appointed by the Royal Society, at the request of the Government, who conduct Meteorological Observations and Experiments on behalf of the Government. He reminded the Committee that the Meteorological Society of Scotland had been instituted in 1854, it might be said at the instigation of the Government of the day, in order to furnish weather Returns to the Scotch Registrar General. These Returns had been regularly supplied for the last 20 years, at an estimated annual cost of £250, which had to come out from an income of under £400, subscribed entirely from private sources. He therefore thought it was high time, on this ground alone, that Parliament should supplement the funds of the Society. He would not occupy the time of the Committee any longer, except to add, that though sitting on that side of the House, he fully endorsed the views which had been so well expressed by Scotch Members opposite.