§ MR. PIRIEI beg to ask the First Lord of the Treasury, with reference to the proposal to discontinue the high level observatory on Ben Nevis for want of funds, if he is aware that of the £15,000 granted to the Meteorological Council by Government for scientific investigation, nearly £1,000 is taken as payment for the Council for managing the grant, whilst the secretary also receives £800; that a sum is being annually set aside by the Council in order to provide for a superannuation fund, which now amounts to £2,000, and that upwards of £3,000 has been sunk in the high level observatory at Ben Nevis, the benefits accruing to science from the expenditure of such money being probably lost if the cycle of observations is not completed; whether conditions were imposed by the Government on granting this sum for scientific research that the money should be devoted exclusively to that object, and, if not, whether such conditions could now be imposed; and if he will cause steps to be taken so that the annual grant of money may be made direct to the Scottish Society in place of going through the intermediary of the Council, thus avoiding recourse to private charity for the upkeep of the only observatory 1304 possessed by this country at the high level of 4,400 feet.
§ MR. A. J. BALFOURThe Government have no information as to the details of the expenditure of the Meteorological Council except such as may be derived from their report, and in that report no mention is made of any expenditure for superannuation. Their expenditure is, of course, annually audited. The council, I am informed, are overhauling their expenditure, and I trust that the result of that operation will be that more of the funds given by the State will be available for carrying on observatory work in the United Kingdom. As regards the second paragraph of the question, it is a condition that the grants should be applied exclusively to meteorological work, and no doubt the Controller and Auditor-General would call attention to any misapplication.
§ MR. PIRIEI beg to ask the First Lord of the Treasury whether, seeing that the Meteorological Council have disregarded the recommendation given last year by the Government to afford the Scottish Meteorological Society the necessary support to maintain the Ben Nevis Observatory, he will, failing other action, bring further pressure to bear on the Meteorological Council, or increase the grant to that body by the few hundred pounds necessary to keep up the observatory as a national one.
§ MR. A. J. BALFOURThe hon. Gentleman is under a misapprehension as regards the facts of this case. He seems to imply that pressure has been put by the Treasury on the council on former occasions with regard to the devotion of their funds to this or that purpose. The Treasury have carefully abstained from any action of that sort. The responsibility for spending their £15,000 rests, and must rest, with the Meteorologial Council.
§ MR. BUCHANANSeeing that a private donor has come forward with funds to enable the observatory to be carried on for another year, will the right hon. Gentleman make inquiries during the recess to ascertain whether he would be justified in proposing next year a small grant of a few hundred pounds in aid of the observatory?
§ MR. A. J. BALFOURIt is not for me to say the Meteorological Council do or do not carry out the functions entrusted to them to the best advantage, but I confess I think a Government Department is even less qualified to deal with a strictly scientific matter.