104 DEBATE ON SIR JOHN LUBBOCK'S MOTION. [June 



Great Britain, though much larger in proportion than that of Ireland, 

 was small compared with other countries. In Prussia there were 

 34,000,000 acres, in France 22,000,000 acres, in Austria 

 23,000,000 acres, and in Hungary 22,000,000 acres of woodland. 

 To the excellent management and cultivation of her forests he 

 believed that the present prosperity of Hungary was in a great 

 measure due. He had no hesitation in saying that the amount of 

 timber in the British Empire was infinitely below what it ought to 

 be for the proper protection of the soil, the proper protection of 

 flocks and herds, and for the general development of industry. At 

 present a large amount of timber was imported into this country ; if 

 through war one single year's supply was stopped, many industries 

 would be ruined for years to come. How much might be done by 

 the State for forestry was, he thought, shown by the conduct of our 

 Indian Government. The Indian Forestry Department had saved 

 the Indian forests from the destruction and devastation to which 

 they were rapidly becoming a prey, and had made their administra- 

 tion financially and in every way a great success. 



Sir H. Maxwell, as representing a Scotch constituency, wished 

 to say a few words in support of the motion. He thought it was 

 Dr. Johnson who, on the occasion of his visit to Scotland, said that 

 during the whole of his travels in that country he never noticed any 

 trees large enough to hang a man upon. (Laughter.) If that was 

 a true picture when Dr. Johnson crossed the Border, the case of 

 Scotland was very much altered now. Without the encouragement 

 of the Government, the Scotch people had done a great deal in this 

 matter for themselves. Private enterprise had been largely 

 instrumental in reafforesting many of the barren hills of Scotland. 

 He might instance the county of Inverness, which now contained 

 over nine hundred thousand acres of woodland, the largest area in 

 any county in tlie United Kingdom, not excepting Yorkshire. He 

 thought that perhaps no stronger argument could p.ossibly be put 

 forward in favour of the appointment of this Committee than that 

 urged by Sir John Lubbock, that this was the only great country in 

 Europe that took no notice at all of the national property in its 

 forests. "We had throughout the country three million acres under 

 wood, and yet towards the proper management of this property the 

 Government did absolutely nothing. On the contrary, the Govern- 

 ment not very long ago offered direct discouragement to it, when the 

 Act Avas passed relating to the rating of woods and forests. He did 

 not maintain that woodlands ought not to be rated. As a large real 

 property it certainly should be rated ; but, nevertheless, it was a 

 great discouragement to owners of wood that this at present least 

 remunerative form of property should be rated so highly. (Hear, 



