THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN

AND

JOURNAL OF THE COAL AND IRON TRADES.

Vol. CXIII.

THURSDAY, APRIL 5, 1917.

No. 2936.

Government and

A large and influential gathering of land owners and
land agents took place under. the auspices of the
English Forestry Association at the Surveyors’ Insti-
tution on the 12th ult., to consider the whole problem
relating to native timber supplies, in view of the Prime
Minister’s recent statement regarding restriction of
imports. Maj. G. L. Courthope, M.P. (president of
the association), occupied the chair, and the meeting
was honoured by ’ the presence of two Government
representatives, namely, Sir Bampfylde Fuller,
K.C.S.L, C.I.E. (Controller of Timber), arid Mr. J.
Harling Turner (Director of the Agricultural Section
of National Service). The Earl of Selborne had
arranged to speak, but unfortunately was prevented
by illness from being present.

Maj. Courthope, M'.P. (the president), in opening
the proceedings, said that the meeting had been sum-
moned by the English Forestry Association, and invi-
tations had been sent not only to members of the asso-
ciation, but to the officers and others prominently
associated with woods and timber, of the Surveyors’
Institution, the Land Agents’ Society, of course the
Royal English Arboricultural Society, and others. The
reason for the meeting was the sudden added import-
ance which had oeen given to the timber question by
the Prime Minister’s announcement in reference to the
restriction of imports of timber, and the appointment
of Sir Bampfylde Puller as Director of Timber
Supplies. He took it for granted that every one of
them, and everyone connected with woodlands, was
actuated by one desire only—and that was to help Sir
Bampfylde Fuller’s department, and the Government
in general, in the serious timber problem which had
arisen. Directly Sir Bampfylde was appointed, they
offered the services of the English Forestry Associa-
tion, and as a result of long conversations which the
Controller of Timber most kindly had with him, cer-
tain lines of assistance became indicated at once, and
these he would just mention as ways in which- those
who were interested iri woods might be able to help
the Government. Of course, the first’and obvious way
was by the organisation and encouragement of local
enterprise. No Government Department .could expect
to do everything from headquarters, and everything
they were able to do in the way of helping local enter-
prise would, he understood, be of great value. Then
their organisation was in a position to give, very
rapidly, information not only as to supplies of stand-
ing timber available in different districts, but as to the
local experts, foresters, and so on, and they hoped to
provide correct registers, for the national use, of such
persons, and also to organise the estates saw mills, or
try to do so, with the co-operation of land owners. One
of the difficulties which he understood was hampering
the production of home-grown tiihber at present was
the shortage of sawing machinery, and although the
Canadian lumbermen and others were in many
instances short of their mills, yet, on the other hand,
they saw scores and scores of well-equipped estate saw
mills standing either wholly or partly idle for lack of
labour; and if the labour which either the War Office
or the Director of National Service controlled could be
steered towards those saw mills, the output of timber
for national purposes might be very largely increased
at once, without having to wait for fresh plant. The
president went on to welcome the presence of Mr.
Harling Turner, of the National Service Agricultural
Section, which included woods and forests, and said he
hoped, by bringing representatives of timber producers
together with Sir Bampfylde Fuller and Mr. Harling
Turner, really practical results might arise from the
meeting. He would ask Sir Bampfylde to tell them as
far as he could the position and proposals of the
Government with regard to timber to-day, and also
how they, not only as an organised body, but as indi-
viduals, could best assist him. Then, he should ask
Mr. Harling Turner to tell them what help he wanted
from them with regard to the skilled branches in con-
nection with timber, and what he could do for them to
make them useful in the general interest. He was
going to make one appeal. Sir Bampfylde Fuller and
Mr. Harling Turner were only too familiar with the
complaints which most of them—he thought quite pro-
perly—had to make from time to time. He hoped the
discussion would be limited to appeals for information
and practical suggestions rather than complaint.

Sir Bampfylde Fuller said he felt much honoured
and flattered at being asked to attend that represen-
tative meeting to say'a few words, and, what he hoped
was more important, to pick up a few tips. They
would have gathered from the speeches made in the
House of Commons a general idea of what the situa-
tion was. Briefly, it was this: the people who owned
forests, timber proprietors, proprietors of woodlands,
timber merchants, and all concerned in the trade, were
\ ... - / ’ • ■ -	■■ : ■

Timber Supplies.

invited by the Government to come to their assistanca
to do something to block the German menace. There
were the losses of tonnage we had sustained from
German submarines, and it was ritecessary to restrict
imports to what was absolutely essential to the life of
the nation-—food and munitions of war. The largest
item in our imports was timber, which amounted to no
less than 6,000,000 tons a year. If we could effec-
tively cut down that large total we should do perhaps
one of the best things in the world to set ourselves
free; to free ourselves from the dangers, which the
German submarines were now forcing upon us. That
was briefly the position. Of course, it was quite impos-
sible that anyone with a wave of his hand could increase
the production of home-grown timber to 6,000,000 tons
a year. That was impracticable. All they could do
now was to strive as far as they could towards that
total, and he would just briefly indicate under three
heads measures that might be taken. The first great
measure !vas economy. There was no question what-
ever that timber was expended in some directions very
wastefully indeed. We had at the present moment not
more than 4 or 5J months’ of timber stocks if we1 con-
sumed our timber at last year’s rate. As they knew,
the imports from Scandinavia had almost closed down.
Importations from other countries would have to be
severely limited, and the first thing they had to con-
sider was how they could so economise as to make our
existing stocks of timber last a great deal longer than
they would have lasted last year. He was told by the
chairman that those present represented interests all
over .the United Kingdom. He hoped each of them
would go back to his town as a missionary of a crusade
of economy in timber. It was the first great lesson.
Timber must not be employed wastefully in putting up
buildings. If used for buildings, it must be used
simply as a skeleton, and as far as possible in all direc-
tions reinforced concrete must be substituted for it.
There must be nothing like a continuous timber roof.
Again, the waste in packing cases was enormous.
When they could be made thinner they must be so
made. Crates must be substituted, and sacking used
whenever it was possible to manage without wood.
Each of them would be rendering admirable service to
the State if they could preach this doctrine of economy
all through the country. Waste of timber at the pre-
sent moment would be a scandal. The Home-Grown
Timber Committee had been charged with the duty of
felling timber, converting it, and transporting it. It
had been arranged now that that Committee should
come over—its operations and its staff—to the Direc-
torate of Timber Supplies in the War Office, of which
he had the honour to be head, and they had been fortu-
nate to secure the services of Mr. Sutherland, who
would ensure them against any loss of energy during
the transfer, so they would not have to start a new
department, but develop the department already exist-
ing. That development had to be very large. In order
to produce pitwood, they required a division of 12,000
to 14,000 men. To produce the sawn wood we
imported they would require many divisions — he
should say they would want €0,000 or 70,000 men. It
was hoped to get over that by importing white labour
from other countries. That subject was engaging the
attention of the Foreign Office, and we might be able
to get considerable numbers from foreign countries,
and, still further, from Overseas Dominions. He was
in treaty now with the Prime Minister of Newfound-
land, who had most kindly volunteered to help us in
every way. He had no doubt we should get a consider-
able number of lumbermen from there. He believed
that Canada, which had already risen to the occasion
with such conspicuous success, would send us a great
many more, and that, with one thing and another, we
should obtain the numbers required. Frpna^ the
Director of National Service we expected grea-fi\things,
and he (Sir Bampfylde Fuller) had just indicated a
number that he wanted from him. What they, pro-
posed to do was between proprietors and the actual
tree-cutting staff. There would be a staff of agents—
all trained foresters or acquainted with forestry-—to
whom would be committed negotiations with landlords
as to the felling and arrangement of prices, and for
each block of woodlands there would be drawn up by
this forestry officer a working plan, setting forth any
particular wishes of the proprietor in the matter of
starred trees which were reasonable, and other condi-
tions, such as the use. or non-use of particular roads,
agreements in dealing with immature forest produce,
and matters of, that sort; so that. the actual tree-
cutting staff .would have before them a document
setting forth the limits which, they must preserve in
their activities. He thought that would be very sub-
stantial security. The president most kindly offered to
help hiin iri forming such a staff; they had already the

nucleus of it in the Home-Grown Timber Committee.
Thirdly, he thought it would be a very good1 thing if,
in these direct War Office operations in cutting down
trees, they were assisted by an Advisory Committee
representing the land owners’ interests. He did not
think the Secretary of State would be at all opposed to
that proposal; in fact, the contrary, and he thought
that steps would shortly be initiated for calling them
together for the election or nomination of such a small
committee, which would be not only a means of obtain-
ing advice in matters relating to timber, but also an
authorised means of bringing grievances to light. The
small committee he had mentioned would be a channel
by which anybody could bring forward complaints
without feeling that he was in any way, acting “con-
trary to the interests of the State, or exhibiting a spirit
which was not quite nice. Of course, they could not
expect him to go into great detail then, when he had
not even drawn up a scheme. Those were only general
principles he proposed to follow in drawing up a
scheme; and, of course, a scheme which would always
have to be sanctioned by a higher authority. Sir
Bampfylde went on to. speak of the enlistment of
private enterprise in increasing the supplies of timber
on the market. He hoped no one there or in England
would imagine that he wished to take all those things
into his own hand, and elbow aside all offers.of assist-
ance from private sources. He could assure them that
was the exact opposite of what he proposed to do. He
was profoundly convinced, however hard the Govern-
ment department might work, it could never equal in
the measure of success it attained the great means of
private enterprise. It was quite hopeless to expect it,
and he thought, therefore, that the enlistment of
private enterprise must be one of the chief features
of their scheme if they were to have any real success.
He proposed to address official letters to the County
Councils, the English Forestry Association, the Arbori-
cultural Society, and the Land -Agents’ Society, ask-
ing them to do all in their power to push the produc-
tion of timber by private enterprise. He should do
his best, so far as he could, to assist land owners in
re-starting their saw mills. Labour was a difficult
question, and in regard to it he must frankly tell them
he would not be a party to any arrangement which
would deprive the fighting line in France of any man
who was of first-class fighting efficiency. He would
never do it, and in all exemptions which he would have
time to send up he should take the greatest care that
the exemption was really justified and called for. But,
subject to that, he had the permission cf the
authorities to make proposals for exemption, arid he
thought he might mention that the Director of
Recruiting had kindly promised to exempt all men
engaged in forestry operations—in the cutting, trans-
port, and conversion of timber—who wTere 25 years old
and were not in Class A. That would be qriite a con-
siderable number; they would not be called up at all.
He thought he had covered well the ground as far as
he could at the present moment. He had only been a
fortnight in charge, and if his remarks appeared rather
weak and jejune, he asked their pardon.

The Labour Difficulty.

Mr. J. Harling Turner said that his chief, Mr.
Neville Chamberlain, was carrying out the work
entrusted to his charge in the best manner for the
wants of this nation, and, so far as the subject they
were discussing there that day was concerned, he was
desired by Mr. Chamberlain to say that he would do
everything he possibly could to try and find labour for
the cutting and conversion of timber in Britain. He
(Mr. Turner) was told they wished the National
Service Department to try to recruit for 10,000 men ,
who would be made available for the cutting and con-
version of timber. He did not say that they were able
to do it, but if they failed, they would have had a
jolly good try, and have done their best to try to meet
the wants of the country and the Government so far
as that part of the proceeding was concerned. He
would suggest to them for their consideration that the
English Forestry Association and all other kindred
societies should erideavour to allocate each district in
England and Wales, and—might he also say?—should
endeavour to co-operate with the Royal Scottish
Arboricultural Society, to get them to work on similar
lines, and to. find for the National Service Department
expert foresters who would undertake to train the
National Service volunteers who came forward saying
they were prepared to work in the woods—to train
them to be expert men. It was impossible for the
National Service Department to find those expert
foresters, but it was possible for those present at that
meeting to do so. On behalf of Mr. Neville Chamber-
lain, he appealed to them to do so, and the Depart-
ment, would endeavour to find companies of men, and
plrice them in different parts of England, where they
were desired. He willingly admitted that many of the
men who would corrie forward and volunteer for work
in the woods under the National Service scheme would