§ MR. WHITEHEAD (Essex, S.E.)To ask the President of the Board of Education whether a Committee has been appointed in connection with the South Kensington Museum; and, if so, whether he will state what are the functions of that Committee.
(Answered by Mr. Runciman.) As stated in the Answer which my right 35 hon. friend gave to the hon. Baronet the Member for Oxford University, on 12th February, the Board considered it expedient to defer the appointment of the new Advisory Council for the Art Museum until arrangements had been made for dealing with the administrative work of the Museum after the completion of the approaching transfer of the Board's offices to Whitehall. These arrangements are not yet complete, and, therefore, it has not yet been possible to appoint the permanent Advisory Council referred to in that Answer. The Board, however, being desirous of avoiding the occurrence of any delay in the transference. of the Art Museum to the new buildings when they are completed, appointed a small temporary committee to prepare a scheme of arrangement of the whole of the objects comprised in the Art Museum collections, which should provide the greatest facilities for study, both to those interested in the manufacture of objects of a kind represented in the collections, i.e., craftsmen, designers, manufacturers, and students; and also, secondarily, to those interested in art without regard to its relation to industrial production. i.e., artists, students of art, and students of the history of manners and customs. The composition of the Committee is as follows: The Right Hon. Sir Charles Dilke, Baronet, M. P., chairman, J. C. Wedgwood, Esq., M.P., W. A. S. Benson, Esq., Lewis F. Day, Esq., Harry Powell, Esq., Cecil Smith, Esq. They are authorised to call in specialists to advise them in any sections of the work for which they need specially expert opinion.