Dear Mr. Bruce,

IMPERIAL ECONOMIC COMMITTEE

There is still no definite news as to what action the Cabinet
intends to take on the First Report. I understand that the
National Economy Committee has presented a report to the Cabinet
about the 1,000,000 grant but I have no idea as to its nature.

[1]

The meetings of the Committee during the past week have been
interesting and it has practically been decided that a small
additional report on the subject of Publicity and the Empire is to
be prepared and issued after Christmas.

On Wednesday there was a general discussion on the lines of the
Fruit Report, at which a number of quite useful proposals were
made and I feel confident that, as a result of the propaganda work
that has been done among Members of the Committee and the Chairman
[2] himself, the Fruit Report is likely to be a really useful
document. One outstanding feature of the educational effect of the
investigation so far conducted by the Members of the Committee
itself has been the growing realisation of the importance of
orderly marketing and the gradual change from a critical to an
appreciative attitude on export control legislation.

An interesting point that arose on Tuesday was a statement by W.

S. Crawford, one of the British Representatives who is an
advertising man, that he proposed, if the Committee were
agreeable, to go over to America immediately for a month at his
own expense to make a close study of American advertising methods
for the assistance of the Committee. He then proposed to prepare
an elaborate memorandum on advertising Empire goods and to submit
himself to cross-examination by Members of the Committee. I must
say that I am looking forward to getting Crawford's views put down
on paper because, up to the present, his only contributions to
discussions have been the vaguest of generalities.

I have prepared for you a memorandum, which I enclose, on the use
of the Imperial Economic Committee. You will find that it covers a
very great deal of ground with which you are already fully
familiar but I thought it well worth while to set the whole story
out so that you would have, in one document, the genesis, history
and certain suggestions in connection with the Imperial Economic
Committee. If you feel inclined to criticise this memorandum and
let me have your comments, I shall be very much obliged.

I have made the form of the memorandum such that it could be used
over here. In fact I am going to send a copy to Sir Maurice Hankey
[3] for his personal information. Casey [4] was good enough to
arrange for a lunch at which I met Hankey and I think he became
quite keenly interested in the possibilities of Empire economic
development. If he will do so, he will prove a most useful person
to incite the British Government to more vigorous action.

I also enclose a small memorandum which I have prepared upon
Publicity and the Empire. As you are aware, I was not enamoured
with the 1,000,000 grant idea but as it has been made, we ought
to try to derive the maximum amount of benefit from it. I regard
wise publicity of the value of the Empire to the people of Great
Britain as the most promising line. If 150,000 out of the
650,000 [5] were annually spent on this educational background, I
think most striking results might be obtained. Not the least of
these would be that after another General Election a real,
concrete and tangible reciprocity policy might be able to be
followed. I am thinking of sending this little memorandum to Amery
[6], in the hope that he will 'father' it on to the Cabinet.

I enclose questions and answers from Hansard and have marked the
two which I drafted myself

MANCHESTER GUARDIAN

In my letter of the 12th November, I forwarded to you a copy of an
article from the 'Manchester Guardian Commercial' and today I am
enclosing a letter in reply which I wrote. [7]

PRODUCERS' CONFERENCE

It has occurred to me that very useful political and economic
progress could be made if it were possible to arrange for a
Producers' Conference in Australia in the near future. Supposing
you could invite the New Zealand and South African Governments and
possibly the Canadian Government to facilitate a conference of
Dominion producers in Melbourne
(1) to interchange experience on orderly marketing methods;

(2) to consider the best way in which effective liaison could be
established between Dominion producers on the United Kingdom
market;

would not this demonstrate in the clearest way your active
interest in the Australian primary producer and also tend to a
more rapid increase of orderly marketing methods in the Empire.

I propose to send you a memorandum on this idea by the next mail.

I enclose a copy of the 'Yorkshire Observer' giving the best
published reports of the speeches at the Dinner given to Sir John
Higgins [8] at Bradford. I may say that I have had one long
interview with Sir J. Higgins. It was nearly a monologue, and I
came away with the feeling that on some of his ideas Sir John was
not in very close touch with reality.

Yours sincerely,
F. L. MCDOUGALL