Abstract
THE appointment of the Development Commissioners marks a remarkable change in the attitude of the British Government towards research. Not only is the old laissez-faire policy thrown over, for the commissioners are charged with the duty of fostering decaying rural industries and trying to promote new, but they are also specifically instructed to promote scientific research and experiment so far as it bears upon agriculture. The funds placed at their disposal are considerable—a capital sum of two and a half million pounds, with an annual grant of 400,000l. for the live years for which provision is made in the Act—and though the big grants will be chiefly wanted for such purposes as the improvement of harbours and inland navigation, the reclamation of land, rural transport, and similar works, there should yet be a very considerable margin available for investigation and education in its widest sense.
Article PDF
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
The Promotion of Scientific Research by the Development Commissioners . Nature 87, 118–122 (1911). https://doi.org/10.1038/087118a0
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/087118a0