My dear Prime Minister,

When I returned from Geneva, I was delighted to receive your most
interesting letter of the 14th April. [1] There was one section in
it of a personal character [2], to which I am replying in a
separate note. [3]

I have written two letters to you from Geneva which I hope will
adequately cover my impressions of the work of the Consultative
Economic Committee. [4] The only thing that I can add are these
two fundamental impressions: firstly that one comes away from an
International Conference of this description with a feeling that,
if the British Empire did not exist, it would immediately be
necessary that it should be created and, secondly, that under
proper supervision the Economic Section of the League of Nations
can be of very considerable use and value to the World, to the
British Empire and to Australia.

I was most interested to read your comments on Major Glyn's [5]
letter in reference to Cinematograph Films. I have, I think, told
you that I am now a member of the Film Committee of the Empire
Marketing Board. When the policy of the Board is sufficiently
defined to make it worth while, I will send you an account of the
sort of policy which the Board is hoping to follow.

I was pleased to read your comments on the position in regard to
the wine bounty. [6] I have also received two longish letters from
Mr. Paterson [7] on the subject.

In regard to your reference to Sir Charles Nathan [8], I shall, of
course, be delighted to do anything I can to assist him. I
understand that he arrived yesterday and I presume that he will
look me up before long. I will certainly see that he makes
contacts with the right people at an early date. I presume that
you have told him of the great experience that Sir James Cooper'
obtained on the financial side of Exhibitions through his work for
the British Government at Wembley. Anyhow I shall, of course, see
that Sir Charles Nathan meets Cooper.

It was with the utmost pleasure that I read your warm comments on
my friend Dr. Orr. [10] I also had a long letter from Rivett [1]
in which he re-echoed your sentiments. I have been greatly
impressed with Orr's practicability and have been extremely keen
to get him out to Australia. He combines, to a quite unusual
extent, the scientific and the economic points of view and I am
sure that he is a man of the greatest value to the Empire.

I hope that you will have found it possible to have had a private
talk before he returns but after he has been in Australia long
enough to get some clear impression.

In connection with the Rivett dinner at which you met Orr, I can
quite understand that you felt considerable satisfaction when you
looked round the table and saw the type of men who had been got
together to further the application of science to Australian
agriculture and industry. If nothing else had been done during the
period in which you have been Prime Minister, this alone would
have been a great achievement.

Your letter then just touched on the subject of the research into
the Tariff and I have noted that you are going to send me, for my
strictly private information, a copy of the short preliminary
report that your Private Committee has submitted. I shall look
forward to receiving this with very great pleasure.

In regard to the idea of establishing an Economic Research Branch
of the Council for Scientific & Industrial Research, this seems a
very good way of tackling what is, as you say, an extremely
difficult economic and political problem. Your difficulty, I
should imagine, would be to get a man of sufficient ability and
courage to undertake the task. My first reaction on reading your
letter was that, after you have selected a man in your mind to
take charge of such a branch, he might be sent to London for a
couple of months before he actually commences duty. I am quite
sure that if the work of economic research into Australian
problems, and especially into the Australian fiscal policy, is to
be properly carried out, it would be necessary for the man in
charge to visit England at an early date and I think there might
be considerable advantages if he got the British atmosphere before
he actually started on his official work. If the idea is maturing,
perhaps you would give this suggestion your consideration.

I was interested to note that in your speech at the Sydney
Agricultural Show, you took as your subject matter the
Agricultural Section of the Report of the World Conference at
Geneva. [12] The fact that you did this makes me hope that you
will have approved of the line which I took at Geneva in
associating myself, to a considerable degree, with the
agricultural side of the Consultative Committee's activities.

Yours sincerely,
F. L. MCDOUGALL