72 TRANSACTIONS OF ROYAL SCOTTISH ARBORICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



inclined to be still despoilers of forests, and that it was only 

 by studying conditions here that they were beginning to realise 

 the imminence of a timber shortage and the need for reafforesta- 

 tion. He was going back a convert to afforestation. The main 

 theme of Mr Ashbolt's speech was Reciprocal Preference between 

 the Colonies and the Mother Country, which he claimed to be a 

 subject worthy of a higher place than a matter of party politics ; 

 commerce and friendship should be bound together into one 

 common tie uniting all the parts of the Empire. In Australasia 

 they gave imports from Great Britain a preference which lost 

 them ten million pounds last year, and Mr Ashbolt had no 

 doubt that without this preference the imports from Great 

 Britain would be much less. He referred to afforestation as 

 a means of providing work for our people who went out as 

 settlers to the Colonies, but asked what would be the use of 

 spending money and energy planting trees in the Colonies if, 

 when they were mature, we were not prepared to buy them, and 

 instead purchased our timber from foreigners who would not pay 

 us any duty. Our timber imports last year were 4,000,000 

 cubic feet for staves (all from foreign countries, chiefly Russia), 

 12,000,000 cubic feet for sleepers, 14,000,000 cubic feet of sawn 

 hardwood, and 200,000,000 cubic feet of sawn soft woods; and 

 he pointed out what a great market this would be for our descend- 

 ants who were the settlers in the Colonies. The preference of 

 one-sixth now allowed to imports from the Colonies was small, and 

 when reduced proportionately operated in favour of the foreigner. 



Against the contention that the Colonies were selfish in 

 suggesting a preference for their goods, the speaker pointed out 

 that the object was really to try to find a way of co-operation 

 between the two parties for the settlement overseas of our 

 surplus population. The Dominions could not support many 

 immigrants unless we took their products. 



In closing Mr Ashbolt urged all those who had not visited the 

 British Empire Exhibition to go there and study the products of the 

 various countries of our Empire, and having done so, to make an 

 effort to set up a commercial relationship throughout the Empire. 



Lord Lovat, replying on behalf of the Forestry Commission, 

 said that the foresters of the Empire had been brought together 

 twice in the last four years at the Imperial Forestry Conferences. 

 At these conferences it had been decided, among other important 

 matters, that, in view of the increasing world shortage of timber. 



