The Sun.
London, England, 1870-02-26 00:00:00

ROYAL WOODS AND FORESTS.

Mr. GOLDNEY then rose to call the attention of thi
House' to the present position of the royal forests au4
woods belonging to the Crown. It appeared that there
were now only two royal forests, viz., the New Forest anti
the Forest of Dean, over which the Crown .and
the
right to the coil as well as all the old forest laws, and the
e::tent of those two forests extended to over at least
150,000 acres, which at the present time were almost un
productive. The right that certain per-eons contended
t'ecy had to potions of these forests was the source of
Dastinual litigation, and thus a large expenditure 01
money was annually going on without the slightest advau
Cage arising to any party. At once it was moet ha
portant that these forests should be kept up, in order to
afford a reapply of timber for the construction of the
ships of the Royal Navy; but the application of
iron to ship building, said that that necessity to a great
extent did not exist. There was a long string o! sal ariad
officers, such as rangers, verderers, &c., who were all
necessary as, long as those forests were kept
up as forests, but in fact they were quite
llieless to the public, and therefore he thought
it would, be a proceeding resulting in the best possible
good if a great portion of these lands were sold and dealt
with for the benefit of the public. If but one-half of the
acreage of these forests were sold it would produce at laast
£200,000. The putting of these lands into a state of productive-
ness it would give employment to thousands of persons who
were now greatly in want. He, therefore, begged to ask
the Government to consider whether certain portions of
these forests might not be beneficially dealt with for the
advantage both of the Crown and the public.
Mr. C. REED said it appeared to him to be most inex-
plicable that while it became necessary, in order to mast
the wants of the population of this country, to import
food so largely. all these lauds should be allowed to remain.
waste and unproductive.. Speaking of the New Forest, he
was certain that if a great portion of the land were drained
and cultivated, it would produce roots, grass, and other
crops. There was a farm in the vicinity of the New
Forest, the property of Mr. Dickson, which skewed what
might be done in the way of turning this land to-a more
profitable account, and he did hope that in a short thne a
more profitable crop than that of the Scotch farm might
be raised at least on a portion of this now almost waste
and non-productive land.

Mr. STANSFELD said the subject, no doubt, was one
of great interest, and he could assure the hon, member
that it haul not escaped the observation of her Majesty's
Government. The remarks that had taken place on the sub-
ject had referred mostly to the New Forest, but with respect
to the Forest of Dean that it was well known was rich in
mineral treasures beneath the soil, and it was agreed ou
all hands that it would not be for the advantage of the
public to sell the rights of the Crown, either as to the-mine-
rals or any other matters connected With the land. Then
with respect to the young plantations it would be most
unwise to sell them- as, he night call them, green crops,
because in a few years they would come to maturity, and
then they would bring a much larger -sum. With
respect to the farm of Mr. Dickson, it was- what
night be called a show • and prize farm, • upon
wnich he had laid out a large amount of money, and there-
fore it was not fair to draw conclusions as to the produc-
tiveness of the land of the New Forest Ly such a
comparison. He was not prepared to say that
113 change could be rnatle for the better.
The Treasury had directed certain inquiries to be made
respecting the new forest, and in a short time a report on
the subject would be received when the whole matter
would at euce be taken into consideration by the Govern-
ment. As to the question of the expediency of keeping
those properties n ithout relation to the consideration of
pounds, shillings, and pence, the Commissioners of Woods
were not only Commissioners of Weeds, but the House
and Parliament were bound to preserve the inhoritanco
and capital of those estates for the use and enjoyment of
the successors to the Throne. Regarding Epping Forest.
he had no doubt that, without infringing the rights of the
Crown, available means would be found to accomplish
the object so generally desired.
After a few words from Lord ENFIELD, Sir JOHN
TRELAWNEY, and Mr. BONHAM-CARTER, the
subject dropped.