26th May, 1927
PERSONAL & CONFIDENTIAL
My dear Prime Minister,
The work of the Empire Marketing Board is divided under three main heads:
1. Grants to aid the practical application of Scientific Research to the agricultural, pastoral and other primary industries of the Empire.
2. Economic Research.
3. Publicity.
(a) I have established a practice of sending regular confidential reports to the Commonwealth Council for Scientific & Industrial Research on the research grants work of the Empire Marketing Board. These reports have taken the form of a preliminary report dealing with policy and monthly summaries of decisions taken by the Empire Marketing Board in regard to Grants.
(b) The economic research work of the Board has as yet hardly developed sufficiently to make a report necessary but an outline of the policy and intentions of the Empire Marketing Board on marketing investigations will be prepared and forwarded in the near future.
(c) The publicity work of the Empire Marketing Board is difficult to summarize. It has, however, appeared desirable to institute some effective method of reporting and the attached memorandum is intended to outline the publicity policy of the Board and the present state of the development in the various media i.e.
posters, press advertising, lectures, etc. I propose to make a quarterly report to keep the Commonwealth Government informed as to the progress of the publicity work of the Board.
The attached report is marked ‘confidential’ but this is simply because two sections of it could not be published. I have marked these sections in blue pencil.
It seems to me that a useful object would be served if Ministers occasionally spoke about the work which is being done by the Empire Marketing Board to help Australian products in Great Britain and I hope that this report may suitably augment the information that has already been made available in reference to research work.
A copy of this report is being sent to Mr. Paterson [1] and in case you desire to give copies to any other Ministers, I am enclosing two additional carbon copies to you.
Yours sincerely, F. L. MCDOUGALL
_1 Thomas Paterson, Minister for Markets and Migration in the Bruce-Page Government.
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