Draft letter from the Royal Society Council, to [Arthur James Balfour] The Council is concerned about Balfour's reply to Colonel [Clement] Royds in the House of Commons on Tuesday. The Society has always provided all the information is has regarding the Antarctic Expedition to the Government. Possibly the Government has received statements which it presumed had been authorised by the Royal Society, though the Joint Committee had confirmed that no correspondence should be regarded as official in this matter unless signed by the Presidents of both the Royal Society and Royal Geographical Society. The Royal Society is pained to learn that Government confidence in them has been 'widely shaken'. Requests an urgent private interview to clear up this misunderstanding. [May 1903]