58 THE MANAGEMENT OF EPPING FOREST.
the action of the Conservators, and a large share of the criticism has been born by
our esteemed vice-president, Mr. Edward North Buxton, one of the Verderers,
who has, in conjunction with his brother Verderers, given you full explanations on
the ground. If the explanations which you have heard are not deemed satis-
factory by all of you—and in such a gathering as this it is impossible to expect
unanimity of opinion—the Verderers are here to give further explanations. The
Chairman of the Epping Forest Committee, Mr. James Salmon, is also with us.
But in offering criticisms upon the operations of which you have witnessed the
results this afternoon, criticisms which I am sure the Verderers will be only too
glad to meet, we must never lose sight of the fact that the final aim of these
gentlemen, as of the Conservators as a whole, is precisely the same aim as that
for which you and we all are contending, viz., the preservation of the Forest in its
natural condition.
The opener of a debate is of course expected to state his own views. I have
done so already elsewhere in brief ("Times" March 31st) with the effect of
diverting some of the fire of the critics on to my own person. Having been
charged with inconsistency and with holding contradictory views, I must in
justice to myself and to those who coincide in my opinions take the present oppor-
tunity of giving a brief explanation to the Essex Field Club as an impartial body.
It is to be regretted that the correspondence was allowed to proceed for a certain
length, and no opportunity given for a complete explanation in the columns of
that leading journal which exerts such a healthful influence upon the public mind,
But the Editor of "The Times" no doubt had stronger claims upon his space, and
we must be grateful for the publicity which was given to the question, and above
all, for the temperate and just summary of the position given in the leading article
interpolated (March 30th) in the midst of the correspondence.
And now, with regard to my own views, I am in a better position to declare
them than I was a month ago. Five times within the month I have traversed this
Forest, and made a critical examination of the districts described as "devastated."
I have known the Forest intimately for a quarter of a century ; as a lover of its
picturesque features—as a disciple of the net and pill-box, as a wanderer through
its glades in all seasons, I give way to nobody in my solicitude for its welfare. I
state as my deliberate conviction that on the whole a marked improvement is to
be seen in the condition of the Forest since the formal dedication by Her Majesty
on May 6th, 1882. I state this as the result of my own observation and in the
full belief that there are many here ready both to confirm and to combat my state-
ment. Whatever this opinion may be worth I am most particularly anxious to
make it known that it is delivered on my individual responsibility, and not in any-
way as an authoritative official utterance on the part of the Club. We have
simply made use of the Club as a scientific organisation for bringing together
those whose views, on one side or the other, we desire to hear. I think it light
to dwell upon this point because a paragraph has been inserted in some of the
papers (e.g., "Morning Leader" April 17th) to the effect that "the founder; of
the Essex Field Club have—in a communication by one of their members to the
Central News—made clear their position in regard to the destruction of Epping
Forest." I say that the founders, whoever that may refer to, have never
expressed any such opinions as are attributed to them, and that the member
in question has made his communication to the Central News without any
authority from the Club whatever.
Within my recollection the Forest as a whole has, I venture to think, bene-
fited by the treatment adopted in the past by the Conservators. I will particu-