BRITAIN'S SURPLUS POPU-LATION.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume XLII, Issue XLII, 4 May 1923, Page 2

BRITAIN'S SURPLUS POPULATION.

'X MAGNIFICENT GIFT.

SIR A. YARROW'S £100>000- !

LONDON, Feb, 23> All the w^rld over, no doubt, the Taame of Sir Alfred Yarrow is well '. known, for he is the founder of the far- ' famed shipbuilding firm .^Lich bears his name, -fanould it ever be forgotten, in that ccmnection—which is unlikely—it = will always be remembered for his ' princely gift to the lioyai Society,, for endowment of scientific research, of £100>(XX). Once his yards were at Poplar, but now they are on the Clyde. For many years past the donor has held the view that the prosperity of this country has been greatly hamper- • ed in th«* past for the want of better .promotion to scientific investigation its aTxplication to practical affairs. He is convinced that its future prosperity will be largeLy dependent upon the encouragement of original scientific research. The birth of new industries, and the development of existing ones, are due largely to the growth of science, thus securing employment and the welfare of the whole ccanaminity being advanced. It is_ doubtful (says Sir Alfred) whether even yet it has been realised how completely this country would have been at the mercy of our antagonists in the late war had it not been for the research Avork done by our scientific men before th# war and during its course.

He expresses the wish that the money shall be used to aid' scientific workers by adequate payment, and by the supply of apparatus or other facilities, rather than, to erect costly buildings, because large sums of money are sometimes spent on buildings without adequate endowment, a;ud the investigators are embarrassed by financial anxieties. He records his firm conviction that a patriotic citizen cannot give money, or leave it at his death, to better advantage than towards the development of science, u.pon which the industrial success of the country so largely depends.

As for th« need of such an endowment for research, it is cordially j agreed that there can be no question, j The Times, indeed, says the nation w \ not nearly scientific enough, or, to say it plainly, does not know nearly enough. The donor recalls the dangers to which lack of science, or ignorance, exposed, us in the war, and the advantages which the country reaped then and before from the labours of its scientific investigators. "This testimony to 'pure' science is all the more ■forcible in that it comes from a mind which has been devoted over many years not only to the application of acquired knowledge in shipbuilding and engineering, but also to its theoretic extension in the laboratory. It is on quiet laboratory work that everything in the long run depends. The Royal Society by its rules and traditions consists chiefly of persons engaged in the pursuit of knowledge for its own sake, and they are therefore least likely, to be misled by tho desire for immediate fruits. . . . Sir Alfred recognises that conditions may alter from time to time, and suggests that if rules are framed for the administration of the fund these should be revised, at least every 10 years. The suggestions are as prudent as the gift is generous. The nation will expect the Royal Society to translate into action the 'wise intentions of the donor with corresponding sagacity." * °

Sir A. Yarrow is a pioneer in the design and construction of high-speed vessels, such as torpedo boat destroyer? shallow waters. His success has not and of vessels for the navigation of been achieved without a great deal of research and experiment, and1 his gift to the Roval Sodety is not his first public recognition of the importance of scientific investigation to practice and industry, for the National Physical ■Laboratory owes to him the provision of the funds for the erection of its ship-model experiment tank, which has proved of great assistance to shipowners and shipbuilders in improving the design and efficiency of their vessels A few weeks ago' fie established at Cambridge a studentship in Assyriology, m memory of one of his sons V'? 7 m the war> a"d another instance <» his generosity is afforded by the convalescence home whi~h he endowed at Broadstairs for the children of professional and well-educated people in | poor circumstances.