REPORT OF THE GENERAL MEETING. 7 



and hopes it will be soon passed into law.' Of course it is very 

 easy to criticise any Bill. Apart from creating the Authority 

 you will notice that the decision as to what land should be taken 

 rests with the Development Commissioners. That is, so far as 

 I understand, the Forestry Commission would recommend certain 

 land, and the decision would come before the Development 

 Commissioners. Also the schedule of the Bill deals largely with 

 the taking of land. I do not wish to go into that, because it 

 probably does not affect us as a Society, but I think there may 

 be certain criticisms of the procedure and proposals, although 

 possibly from the agricultural point of view, but I hope that 

 in the passage through Parliament certain dangers which are 

 somewhat obvious will be explained away, or will be safeguarded 

 against, because I think there is one thing we do not wish to 

 run counter to, and that is agricultural operations. I am allud- 

 ing specially to sheep farms, of which, apparently, under the Bill 

 a portion can be taken and the rest, perhaps, rendered useless. 

 However, I may be wrong in that respect. There is a letter 

 from Mr Acland, the Chairman of the Interim Forestry Com- 

 mittee, in answer to some questions put by our secretary. I 

 think it would be desirable that the meeting should hear this 

 letter." 



The Secretary. — "There was some anxiety expressed by one or 

 two members to me about the position of the local bodies under 

 this Bill. They thought, perhaps, that their powers were not 

 sufficiently emphasised under the Bill, and I had an opportunity 

 of speaking to Mr Robinson, one of the members of the Interim 

 Forest Authority, on this subject, and suggested that he might 

 make that point quite clear so that I could re-assure anyone who 

 was in doubt about it. Mr Robinson subsequently talked the 

 matter over with the Chairman of the Interim Forest Authority, 

 from whom I received a letter in which he stated : — 'The policy 

 of the Government and of the Forest Authority is to arrange 

 that all the executive and administrative work shall be done, 

 so far as Scotland is concerned, under the control of Scottish 

 officers with headquarters in Edinburgh.'" 



Mr James Whitton, Glasgow. — "I have pleasure in seconding 

 the motion. I am very glad that letter has been read, because 

 a great deal of misapprehension has arisen on account of the 

 letters that appeared in the papers, which I think have emanated 

 mainly from our agricultural friends under a misconception of 



