FOREST OF DEAN. 263 
and villages, to the extent of 1,000 or even 2,000 
acres, sufficient to meet all the necessities of the district 
for increased accommodation of the population, for 
residences, gardens, and allotments. I also pointed 
out that there could be no reason why a different policy 
should be pursued in respect of the two Forests; that 
both of them in their present condition were valuable 
legacies to the nation; that, if reduced into absolute 
ownership of the Crown, they could not be recovered ; 
while, so long as they were subject to Commoners’ rights, 
they could from time to time be adapted to any 
necessary want, such as that now existing in the Forest 
of Dean for sites for miners’ houses and for allotments, 
without depriving them of their value for public 
enjoyment and recreation. 
The effect of this correspondence was that the 
Government announced that they did not intend to 
proceed further with their measure for inclosing the 
Forest ; and that they were advised by their Law Officers 
that they had, under an existing Act, power to sell 
limited parts of the waste, from time to time, for 
the necessities of the population. It resulted, therefore, 
that practically the same policy was laid down with 
respect both to the New Forest and the Forest of Dean. 
‘hey are both to be preserved henceforth in the interest 
of the public and of the commoners, while the Crown 
is secured in its long established right of making large 
but temporary inclosures for the planting and growth 
of timber. 
