REPORT  ^

made  by  letter  and  394  were  made  personally  ;  in  1902  the  corresponding
figures  were  1,749  and  609  ;  and  in  1903  they  were  2,460  and  1,139.
To  these  must  be  added  applications  made  semi-officially  by  other
Government  Departments,  which  frequently  involved  a  large  amount  of
additional  work.
Of  the  3,599  applications  for  information  received  in  1903,  798  were
in  connection  with  questions  of  Customs  Tariffs,  Customs  Regulations.
Certificates  of  Origin,  &c.  ;  698  were  applications  for  lists  of  names  of  firms
in  foreign  countries  and  the  Colonies  engaged  in  particular  lines  of  business  ;
539  were  for  statistical  returns;  and.  370  for  information  as  to  tenders,
openings  for  trade,  &c.  ;  the  remainder  being  made  up  of  inquiries  as  to
official  and  other  publications  and  the  work  and  functions  of  the  Branch  ;
the  sources  of  supply,  prices,  &c.  of  various  articles;  with  a  number  of
miscellaneous  applications  relating  to  such  matters  as  legal  questions  affecting
trade  matters  abroad,  commercial  travellers’  licences,  port  and  other  shipping
dues,  company  laws,  trade-marks  regulations,  &e.,  &c.
On  the  transfer  to  the  Board  of  Trade  of  the  management  of  the  Imperial
Institute,  at  the  beginning  of  1903,  the  work  formerly  done  by  the  Imperial
Institute  in  the  matter  of  supplying  commercial  information  was  amalgamated
with  the  work  of  the  Commercial  Intelligence  Branch,  which  also  became
responsible  for  the  City  Branch  opened  by  the  Imperial  Institute  in  Eastcheap.
  During  the  past  year  this  Branch  has  been  conducted  as  a  temporary
inquiry  office  by  the  Commercial  Intelligence  Branch,  whose  headquarters
have  hitherto  remained  at  50,  Parliament  Street.  Suitable  premises,  however,
have  now  been  secured  by  the  Board  of  Trade  at  73,  Basinghall  Street,  to  which,
at  the  date  of  this  Report  (April  1904),  the  headquarters  of  the  Branch  are
about  to  be  moved,  the  temporary  office  in  Eastcheap  being  absorbed  in  the
new  office.  It  is  hoped  that,  with  the  more  active  co-operation  of  the
representatives  of  the  Colonies,  the  transfer  of  the  Branch  to  the  centre  of
the  City  will  still  further  increase  its  usefulness  to  the  commercial  community
by  making  it  more  readily  accessible  to  business  men.
Though  not  falling  strictly  within  the  scope  of  the  work  supervised  by  this
Committee,  they  desire  to  draw  attention  to  the  scientific  and  technical  work
of  the  Imperial  Institute  and  the  collections  of  economic  products  of  India
and  the  Colonies,  which  are  carried  on  at  South  Kensington.  The  Committee
have  learned  with  satisfaction  of  the  steady  progress  that  has  been  made  in
respect  of  those  important  branches  of  work  since  the  transfer  of  the  Imperial
institute  to  the  Board  of  Trade.

"  Grant  in  Aid  ”  to  the  Committee.
On  the  first  establishment  of  the  Intelligence  Branch,  the  Board  of
Trade  directed  the  attention  of  the  Treasury  to  the  suggestions  contained  in
the  Report  of  the  Departmental  Committee  of  1897  respecting  a  grant  to
enable  the  Advisory  Committee  to  conduct  special  commercial  inquiries
abroad.  As  a  consequence  a  grant  of  1,0002.  per  annum,  for  five  years
certain,  was  allotted  in  aid  of  the  expenditure  of  the  Committee  in  these
directions.  The  grant  being  a  “  Grant  in  Aid,”  the  unexpended  balance
of  one  year  becomes  available  for  use  in  the  following  year,  and  so  on,
without  being  surrendered  to  the  Exchequer,  and  it  may  be  stated  that
without  this  convenient  arrangement  the  Committee  would  not  have  been
in  a  position  to  arrange  for  some  of  the  business  which  it  has  been  able
to  transact.
The  Committee  would  here  venture  to  express  the  opinion  that  the  means
at  present  placed  at  their  disposal  are  inadequate  for  the  extended  work  which
they  might  advantageously  perform  in  the  interest  of  British  trade,  and  they
would  respectfully  suggest  that  their  grant  should  be  so  increased  as  to
lender  less  necessary  than  at  present  the  accumulation  of  funds  before  they
are  in  a  position  to  bear  the  expense  of  any  large  or  costly  undertaking.
Some  of  the  objects  for  which  the  Committee  have  utilised  the  funds
placed  at  their  disposal  are  specified  below.
A  4