The Daily Telegraph. WEDNESDAY, MARCH 2, 1887.

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 4854, 2 March 1887, Page 2

The Daily Telegraph. WEDNESDAY, MARCH 2, 1887.

B. the mail to hand yesterday we received the report of tho organising committee of the -Imperial Institute. The idea of establishing an Imperial Institute as a national memorial commemorative of the Queen's Jubilee was suggested by the Prince of Wales. This suggestion became the germ of the proposal to establish a truly Imperial Institute, designed not only to illustrate the industrial and commercial resources of the Colonies and India, aud t) diffuse a knowledge of their present'condition and continued progress throughout the United Kingdom, but also to afford to all classes of Her Majesty's subjects opportunities of becoming acquainted with the development, during tho Queen's reign, with the present condition, aiid with the further progress, of the resources, natural, industrial and commercial, of the United Kingdom itself, and, by actively promoting technical and higher commercial education, to advance the industrial and commercial prosperity of the country, With these objects in vievr, it is contemplated to erect a building worthy of the occasion which it is to commemorate, and to house in this building carefully selected and arranged collections of the natural and manufactured products of the Colonies and of India, side by side with collections of the natural products of the United Kingdom, including such from other countries as enter importantly into our industries, and supplementing these by collections illustrating the development during tho Queen's reign of the prominent industries, trades, and handicrafts of the country; their condition as they advance from time to time being properly exemplified. These collections will bo arranged and described so as to afford full scientific, practical and commercial information relating to the sources, nature, facilities of supply and applications of well-known natural produces and of those whose industrial or commercial value still needs development, and every effort will be made continuously to maintain the illustrations of the natural resources and the industries of the Empire up to the day. The Institute will, through the agency of these collections, of Libraries, Offices of Reference, Reading Rooms, and facilities for Conferences, be a central source of information upon all matters relating to the natural and industrial resources, the trades and handicrafts, and the commerce of eveiy part of the Empire; it will afford facilities to all classes for acquiring practical knowledge regarding known and new materials, and and information relating to invontionsmade and industrial achievements accomplished at Home, in the Colonies, and in foreign countries. The manufacturer, the merchant, and the tradesman will bo able to obtain through ita agency samples of our Colonial or Indian products, with particulars regarding their commercial ,and natural history, and the Institute will, by means of Loan Collections and Libraries,, by the orgauisa-. lion of Lectures and Conferences for provincial centres, and by co-operating with local . commercial and trade-museums, maintain an intimate, union., between itself mid the chief seats of • commerce and industry throughout the United Kingdom. The Institute will jTOvide accommodation and arrangements for occasional special exhibitions of Coloiiial and Indian arts and other produce, and of prominent industries special to different parts of the United Kingdom; a'so for_ competitive exhibitions of the actual handicrafts of artizans. It will afford, besides, special aid and facilities to existing establishments and organisations for technical education and f.r the instruction and practical examination of artizans, and will strive to obtain special. resources for uffording assistance, by moans of. scholarships, io eligible students from the working classes in different parts of the country, to enable them'to receive efficient technical training. Ono of the pr'.inniont functions of the Institute will be to afford facilities to intending emigrants for obtaining the fulles! informatiori in regard to the Colonies, and to the requirements, essential qualifications and prospeefs of those who select any particular colony for their future home. With this. object,' a system of. correspondence ' between the Institute -.. arid freely aoceesiUo of fefprjjwtioa &

thb provincial towns will be arranged and facilities may also be afforded to intending em-gran* s for obtaining simple instruction in matters <>f special importance to different classes. The foregoing is au outline of the work by which tho Imperial Institute may become the exponent of tho industrial and commercial resources of the Queen's dominions, and may knit more closely together in unity of Sentiment and interests, the various classes and races who combine to establish tho memorial of the year in which Her Majesty celebrates the jubileo of her most memorable reign.