48 THE NEW FOREST 



shame they could not refuse with the autho- 

 rities of Whitehall. What has once been agreed 

 to in the Civil Service constitutes a precedent 

 which, as a rule, passes with but little inquiry 

 in future, and so I quietly introduced into my 

 estimates plans for the improvement and repair 

 of about three different cottages year by year, 

 dealing first with those that harboured the 

 longest families, and so on in succession. It 

 took some years to get through the list, but 

 many years before I left the New Forest I had 

 the satisfaction of knowing that all our employees 

 were housed in cottages that would bear any 

 reasonable test of inspection, and were, year by 

 year, kept in good order ; and I am bound to 

 say that, after the first, expenditure incurred on 

 the above lines was never cavilled at in White- 

 hall, provided that the necessity for it was clearly 

 explained. 



All these estimates were, of course, laid before, 

 and approved of by, my chief, the Commissioner 

 in charge of New Forest, and I was always glad 

 when he found time to come down and see for 

 himself what I proposed to do. Of course, with- 

 out his backing and approval my figures had 

 no chance of passing the Treasury, and by bear- 

 ing in mind that " Chi va piano va sano" and 

 by never putting forward on my own initiative 



