Coast Protection and Bureaucracy On Tuesday Mr. Graham, President of
the Board of Trade, moved the second reading of the Coast Protection Bill. The Bill attempts to put into effect the recom- mendations of the Royal Commission on Coast Erosion. As Mr. Graham pointed out, there is a good deal of misunderstanding about erosion. Where the sea bursts against cliffs the land generally fights a losing battle against the sea, and at some points on the East Coast it loses noticeably. On the other hand, there is a tendency for low-lying land to gain upon the sea. During the past thirty-five years England, on the balance, has not lost. She has actually gained about forty-two thousand acres, though these acres (being mostly in estuaries) are not of much value, whereas most of the land lost was good. The Bill transfers the principal powers from the Commissioners of Crown Lands to the Board of Trade.
