Sir Frederick Pollock at the Colonial Institute on Tuesday sketched
a scheme for an Advisory Council for the Empire. The easiest way of establishing such a body would be in the shape of a Committee of the Privy Council, its province being questions involving matters of Imperial interest not confined to one Colony or dependency, and not capable of being disposed of by the action of the Colonial Office or any other single Department of the State. The nucleus of this Imperial Committee existed in the Conference of Premiers ; the Colonial Secretary would be a necessary member, and the Secretary of India would attend when occasion required. Secondly, the scheme provided for an Imperial Secretariat and Intelligence Department under a permanent Under-Secretary directly attached to the Prime Minister, but free from the usual departmental routine; and thirdly, for a number of Imperial Commissioners, experts representing all branches of knowledge and research, who would have access to the Secretariat and might serve on Coin- mittees dealing with special subjects,—e.g., the constitution of a Final Court of Appeal, Copyright Law, Inter-State Commerce, and similar matters.
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