society's meeting with interim forest authority. 19 



2. The Society's Meeting with the Interim Forest 

 Authority, on 26th November 1918. 



The Council of the Society, by invitation, met the members of 

 the Interim Forest Authority at 1 Queen Street, Edinburgh, in 

 order to discuss forestry problems, on 26th November 19 18. 

 A large number of representative members of the Council were 

 present, and the following is a report of the proceedings at the 

 Meeting : — 



Duke of Buccleuch. — " I would like to thank Mr Acland for 

 the opportunity he has given us. I think I may say, on behalf 

 of the Council, that I am sure the whole Society welcomes the 

 new Board. We naturally expect great things. On their behalf 

 I may say that we are giving you most hearty support, and will 

 do what we can. We quite realise the great difficulties, and 

 that every one cannot be pleased, but we feel that if a Board 

 is constituted a great many difficulties will pass away ; though 

 the Society is not unanimous a very large majority is in favour 

 of a Central Board, and I believe that it is the only way matters 

 can be satisfactorily carried out." 



Mr Acland. — "Thank you very much indeed for the kindness 

 of your words. We decided as soon as we were appointed — 

 and that was very recently — that we would ask you to be kind 

 enough to meet us. There were dangers, so to speak, in that 

 course, and advantages. Having been appointed so very 

 recently, and having at once come to Scotland and asked you 

 to meet us, we are not in the position of having formulated any 

 thing like a hard-and-fast policy, nor have we the staff and 

 equipment to carry out the policy. Therefore you will find, I 

 am afraid, that we are not able to give definite assurances, 

 definite answers to some of the questions you will naturally put 

 to us. On the other hand, it would have been discourteous on 

 our part if we had waited to see you till a considerably later 

 date, and we might have found, to our mutual regret, that we, 

 lacking that contact with you, had got into definite lines and 

 policy which we should have modified if we had had the 

 advantage of your help, and we should have denied ourselves 

 the real help and encouragement which I know we shall now 

 have from getting into personal relations with you. You will, 

 I know, understand the difficulty of our position. It has seemed 



