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Hokitika Guardian, 30 March 1921, Page 2

'l'm-: cable news the other day contained a reference to a meeting of 'the Empire Forestry League at London whereat Lord Loval. the chairman, quoted a West Australian epigram “that Australia’s forestry policy was to make one blade of grass grow where two trees grew before.” This calls to mind the equally apt thought put into words by Air Butler here on one occasion at a public gathering when lie said, speaking

of the opening up of the district, “down with the trees; up with the grass.’’ The honoured guest on that occasion was the then Governor, Lord Islington, and his Excellency seized upon the remarks as a text to address the assemblage on the future of Westland as a pastoral country. And when the Governor returned again to headquarters at Wellington, he was not unmindful

of whnt he had learned and said here

(Hid expatiated on tho great future in store for West-lapd fhprj the bu»h was

removed, the land pastured, and spreading farms were dotted with stock, yielding wealth all the year round. In these days when Westland is .being made something of a vast preserve or storehouse of timber country for the rest of the Dominion, it is as well to recall th c episode of the past and consider how long we are going to drift in a state of uncertainty as to the effect of the forestry policy on the future of Westland. During the late session Mr Massey replying briefly to a timely question from Air Seddon ALP., said it was not intended that the forestry regulations should hamper settlement in the district—but unfortunately they

are. Alany hundreds of thousands ol acres of land are covered now by the embargo of provisional forestry reserves The word “provisonnl” is camouflage, for while they so exist, the “temporary" implication does not held. Although “provisional,” they are de facto reserves and as such the local authorities hitherto dealing with the areas for settlement, mining, timber cutting, or what not. are barred from dealing with the land which is for the time being, locked up. And' tin's thing is going on all over Westland. In the way backs and remote places, the same reservation is being enforced and the district is being held up accordingly. It is a serious matter for this district and remembering how the Midland Railway reservations paralysed development in years gone by. the folk should protest insistently against any repetition of that bad old order of things.

Apropos of the Empire Forestry Bureau, with headquarters in London, it is interesting to recall that th ( > I nitod Kingdom is, of oourse, dependent to a very large extend on the importation of timber for local requirements. During the, nwnr period, stress of circumstances caused many of the English forests to be out down, as well as much preserved forest land. Naturally, therefore, Great Britain will look across the seas for timber, and in war time much went from Canada. The Empire Forestry Bureau must therefore have as one of the tenets of its commercial faith that the forests of the Empire should he for the benefit of nil This does not fit in with the conservative forestry policy of New Zealand, and wo noticed that Sir James Allen who spoke

at the London meeting, while he praised Sir Francis Dillon Bell for stimulating forestry in New Zealand, was careful to refer the. promoters of the Empire scheme to AH' Massey when he would ho in England. All the same, a good deal of scientific investigation regarding forestry could be done from such a bureau, and the information would he of great benefit to all parts of the Empire,