§ MR. YOUNG (Cavan, E.)I beg to ask the President of the Board of Trade what progress, if any, has been made in meteorological science in this country, within late years, to justify the Department in the expenditure of £15,000 per annum; and can he say whether in this region of occult experiment the nation is receiving good value for its money.
§ THE FINANCIAL SECRETARY TO THE TREASURY (Mr. MCKENNA, Monmouthshire, N.)The annual Reports of the Meteorological Office which are presented to Parliament contain a record of the work of the office and of the allocation of funds. The hon. Member will find in the last Report a brief history of the work of the office since it received a Parliamentary Grant. Only a comparatively small proportion of the grant is applied to experimental work, the greater part being devoted to the normal work of the office, viz., the meteorology of the ocean, forecasting and storm warning, and land meteorology. The answer to the last part of the Question is in the affirmative.