84 FORESTS, WOODS, AND TREES 
definite conclusions; first, that the traditions and customs 
which have in the past surrounded arbitrations have resulted 
in excessive awards and excessive costs of arbitration; and 
second, that these excessive awards and costs have paralysed 
the efforts of local authorities in their attempts to administer 
Acts framed in the interests of public health and otherwise 
for the general good. 
The first report of the Committee appointed by the 
Ministry of Reconstruction to deal with the law and 
practice relating to the acquisition and valuation of land 
for public purposes was published as Blue Book, Cd. 8998, in 
January 1918. Its main recommendations are concerned 
with the simplification of the procedure for compulsory 
acquisition of land. The Committee acknowledge that 
“the costs of procedure under the Land Clauses Acts are 
not infrequently so great as to neutralise financially the 
advantage of possessing such powers,” and they instance 
cases of exorbitant prices demanded for land from the 
Admiralty and other Government Departments. “ Under 
the present system, public authorities may well prefer to 
pay any figure up to double the fair value of the land 
rather than face the delays and expenses of compulsory 
acquisition.” The valuation of land for public purposes is 
fully dealt with in the second report by this Committee. 
The history of the afforestation of the various catchment 
areas throughout the country shows in how fitful a manner 
and on how small a scale this important civic and national 
work has been carried out in past years. This furnishes 
a strong argument for compulsion on the lines suggested 
above. Mr. Parry writes to me: “I attach great import- 
ance to the agreement between the Government and the 
Liverpool Corporation, because it ensures the steady working 
out of a planting scheme over a large area under permanent 
conditions of supervision and progress. Any scheme under- 
taken by a Municipal Corporation, unaided and uncontrolled, 
is liable to interruption through the changes constantly 
taking place in the composition of Councils; and there is 
also considerable danger of mismanagement.” 
