THE CENTRAL FOREST AUTHORITY. I45 



12. The Special Meeting of the Society: 

 The Central Forest Authority. 



In accordance with the desire expressed at the Annual 

 Meeting, a Special Meeting of the Society was convened on 

 15th March, in order to bring before the members a resolution 

 in regard to the establishment of a Central Forest Authority. 



At this meeting Sir Hugh Shaw-Stewart said: — "Before 

 asking your President to place this resolution in your hands, I 

 think it would be well if I dealt for a moment or two with the 

 objections to the idea of a Central Authority for forestry that 

 we hear occasionally. 



" The only real objections that I have heard are these — 

 that by establishing what those who agree with me want, viz., 

 a Central Authority for forestry pure and simple with full 

 powers, we should be creating a new body additional to all 

 the many bodies that are ruling the country more or less just 

 now. There is the further objection, that this new authority 

 would either over-ride the local Boards of Agriculture which 

 already have some schemes on hand, or, if the Central Authority 

 is associated with those Boards of Agriculture for the three 

 countries, then you would have all the drawbacks of dual 

 control. In regard to the last objection, do not let anyone 

 suppose we have not got all the evils of dual control now. I 

 turn to the report in the Appendix (page 91) of the Blue Book, 

 and I find that they say: 'Early in 1914 the Board of Agri- 

 culture submitted a proposal for the purchase of an estate in 

 Aberdeenshire on the initiative of the Board of Agriculture. 

 The Commissioners carefully considered the proposal, but 

 could not regard the locality as suitable,' and so on. Very well, 

 that of course put an end to that. Later in the year the 

 Commissioners framed an alternative scheme, which we may 

 call the Dunkeld scheme, for acquiring about 4000 acres, and 

 they go on to specify that. Then the end of the paragraph 

 says: 'The Commissioners were willing to set aside a total sum 

 of ;^i5o,ooo to finance the scheme if it were adopted by the 

 Board. The scheme was not, however, accepted by the Board, 

 and the whole question is therefore at present in abeyance.' 

 Now there in that single paragraph you have very vividly pre- 

 sented all the evils of the dual control that exists at this moment 



