scientific research available to all.

The work of afforestation would provide a healthy and suitable
employment for discharged soldiers who preferred a country life to
resuming their occupations in towns. The number taking up forest work,
however, would probably be very small. There are also some branches of
forest work which would be suitable for partially disabled soldiers. A
very interesting scheme has been framed for establishing forest
nurseries on reclaimed lands. One specially suitable site has been
suggested on the shore of the River Kent at the head of Morecambe Bay,
near Grange-over-Sands, where land was reclaimed after the making of the
Furness Railway. The reclaimed land would be suitable for a forest
nursery for raising young trees. The soil is light, so the work would be
healthy and would not be too strenuous. The scheme has been worked out
in detail, and an attractive description of it is given by Mr. Mawson.
There are other places where reclaimed land or other land with light and
suitable soil might be used for such nurseries. Partially disabled men
might also be trained for the lighter kinds of forest work, such, for
example, as the "marking of thinnings." It is of a technical character,
but does not involve any serious physical strain.

CHAPTER XXII

LAW REFORM

_I should not be an advocate for the repeal of any law
because it happened to be in opposition to temporary
prejudices, but I object to certain laws because they are
inconsistent with the deliberate and permanent opinion of
the public._--SIR JAMES MACKINTOSH.

Compared with some of the other great questions involved in
Reconstruction, mere reforms in the law may often seem almost trivial,
but they have the advantage of being easier to handle than social and
economic reforms. It is not so difficult to state exactly what is
wanted, to embody the proposals in definite shape in a Bill, and to pass
it if the Parliamentary machine is properly used. The incapacity of
Parliament to deal with remedial legislation embodied in a Bill clearly
drawn is often exaggerated. A reform merely in Parliamentary procedure
would go far to remedy the existing congestion. A case could be quoted
from very short Parliamentary experience where a private member,
surprised at getting first place in the ballot, adopted a friend's
suggestion to attempt a long-needed practical reform. The subject has
too much technical difficulty to be e