13 



to be a member of the Forestry Commission, and I think 

 that although it has been very convenient at the start to have 

 a Hnk between the Commission and the Council, it would be 

 very inadvisable that that link should continue in the official 

 form in which it is now, because although the work of the 

 Council of the Society and the work of the Commission will 

 always be very close — I hope there will be no differences — at 

 the same time it is the duty of the Society to look after the 

 interests of forestry as a whole and to be in the position, if 

 necessary, to give independent criticism of the work of the 

 Commission. Therefore I think it would be a mistake to 

 continue this arrangement, and the re-election of Lord Novar 

 to this post would, I think, strengthen the Society and remove 

 the difficulty." 



Mr Massie. — " I second Sir John's proposal. We shall part 

 with Sir John with the deepest regret for he has indeed been an 

 ideal Honorary Secretary, but his arguments are unanswerable. 

 On the other hand, I am sure we will all welcome Lord Novar 

 again because we know that we are getting a good man." 



The Chairman. — " I am sure we are all very grateful to 

 Sir John Stirling-Maxwell for what he has done. As we know 

 there is no man in Scotland keener on forestry than he is, and 

 although in one sense he leaves us, he still remains a member 

 of the Society, and I am pretty certain that although the link 

 may not nominally have our label on it, it will be an equally 

 strong link in the future," 



Sir John Stirling-Maxwell. — " I move a vote of thanks 

 to the retiring President for his services. I am quite sure a 

 motion of that kind will require very few words from me, 

 because every one here is acquainted with the work which 

 the Duke of Buccleuch has given to the Society during his 

 years of office. He came into office towards the conclusion 

 of a very critical period, and his actual years of office were 

 perhaps the most critical of the whole of that period. He 

 had, fortunately, just the qualities which helped us most at 

 that time, and I do not know whether all of us realise even now 

 how very much his good sense assisted the forestry arrangements 

 made by the Government after the war at the time they were 

 before Parliament. The Duke has many qualities which we 

 recognise, but in this case what has helped us most is that he is 

 not only a most strong partisan, a most destructive critic, but also 



