suggested is -- what is going to be the future of the Institute? It
is very evident unless the finances are placed in a more satisfactory
condition the Institute must collapse.

With Lord Herschel (who is Chairman of the Institute) I had
some conversation on the subject just before I left England, and
he appeared to think that if the present difficulties could be tided
over for a few years the Institute would come into an annual sum
from the Commission of the Exhibition of 1851, which would put
it on a solid basis. Meantime, however, its condition is far from
being satisfactory.

It is interesting to learn now that he at one time dis-
cussed the practicability of buying the Imperial Institute
outright and reorganising it on a new basis. He was not
deterred by the expense as by a doubt whether the expendi-
ture would be justified by its usefulness.

On March 10th Sir Donald departed on the Teutonic on
another brief visit to Canada to consult with Dominion
Ministers, and especially with the Hon. Clifford Sifton, the
new Minister of the Interior, on the all-important subject of
the immigration policy of the Administration.

The sensational gold discoveries in the Klondyke were
rapidly proving the long desired magnet for immigrants.
On every hand one heard of the "rush to the Klondyke,"
and the stirring incidents of the great California mining
boom of 1849 were about to be re-enacted.

Sir Donald wrote in March, 1897:

The world has taken a long time to find out the mineral wealth
of the Yukon district. I recall many old Hudson's Bay pioneers
telling of the gold there nearly half a century ago, and it was reported
to the Company far longer ago than that, but it was not then con-
sidered to be in their line.

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