21 



carefully prepared, and the Council thought that for the present 

 at least it would be better that one-fifth only should retire 

 annually rather than one-third as proposed by Mr France. It 

 seemed to them that such an arrangement would provide for a 

 good deal of fresh blood and allow members from different 

 districts to come in. 



Mr M'Hattie in his reply pointed out that the Aberdeen 

 branch had the right to send a special member to the Council 

 in addition to members who might otherwise be elected as 

 representing their district. 



The Chairman then put the amendment to the meeting, when 

 seven members voted for it. He afterwards put the motion to the 

 meeting, when a large majority of those present voted for it. 

 The Chairman accordingly declared that the motion had been 

 carried by the necessary majority and adopted by the meeting. 



Sir John Stirling-Maxwell said : " As a member of the 

 Advisory Committee to which Mr Sutherland referred, I should 

 like to say that I and others, members of this Society, who 

 belong to that Committee, recognise that in remaining as we 

 have done on a Committee which has made so little progress on 

 the objects which were in view when we joined, we feel we have 

 incurred certain responsibilities, and I want to say that we 

 recognise that the slow progress made has been disappointing; 

 but, at the same time, we have remained on that Committee 

 because we have perfect confidence in the work Mr Sutherland 

 is doing, and in the support he is receiving from the Secretary 

 for Scotland. Were it not for that we should not have remained 

 on the Committee. I am very glad Mr Sutherland took the 

 Society so much into his confidence, in regard to those matters 

 which every one considers of the greatest moment. The reason 

 so little progress has been made, I am perfectly certain does not 

 lie in any want of effort on the part of Mr Sutherland or the 

 Secretary for Scotland. The reason progress has not been 

 made is partly due to the entanglement of Departments into 

 which, through the unwisdom of Parliament, this whole subject 

 has been plunged ; partly to the fact that the whole control lies 

 not with those who understand the business but with an outside 

 body, the Development Commission ; and also partly, I think, to 

 the fact that those members of the Development Commission 

 who are particularly dealing with forestry do not seem to be 

 able to hold their own with their colleagues in such a way as to 



