TWENTY-EIGHTH ANNUAL MEETING 



75 



8. Game wardens may be given the duties 

 of fire wardens, but such a system cannot 

 be substituted for a system of town and dis- 

 trict fire wardens properly appointed and 

 looked after. It should be regarded merely 

 as an adjunct. 



9. Fire wardens should have the power to 

 summon any able-bodied resident to assist 

 in fighting fires, and to requisition the use 

 of teams and equipment. Failure to respond 

 should incur a penalty. 



10. P"ire wardens should have the power 

 of arresting without a warrant any one 

 caught in the act of violating any laws for 

 the protection of the forest. 



11. Prevention of fire is cheaper than sup- 

 pression. Fires should not be allowed to 

 start, or, if started, should be extinguished 

 before they gain any headway. 



FIRE PATROL 



1. Town fire wardens, whose duties are 

 confined to extinguishing fires, cannot take 

 the proper measures to prevent them. 



2. In sections where the danger is great, 

 a paid fire patrol of men, whose entire time 

 when employed is devoted to patrolling defi- 

 nite areas for the prevention and detection 

 of fire, is the only system which will pre- 

 vent the starting of fires and insure their 

 prompt discovery and suppression. 



3. Fire patrol should supplement the sys- 

 tem of town fire wardens, but on account 

 of expense, must be introduced gradually 

 and in localities where it is most needed 

 and will be most effective. 



4. Fire patrol can be confined to dan- 

 gerous months, thus limiting the expense. 



5. The expense of maintaining fire pa- 

 trols should be divided among the state, the 

 railroads, the town, and land-owners. 



6. The state should patrol state lands and 

 bear the full expense of such patrol. 



7. Railroads should be required to patrol 

 those portions of their right of way subject 

 to fire danger, and should bear the expense 

 of such patrol. 



8. Owners of land should be encouraged 

 by the state to employ fire patrols to protect 

 their own property. This may be done : 



By encouraging the formation of associa- 

 tions of land-owners for the purpose of 

 employing fire patrols, thus reducing the 



expense and increasing the efficiency of fire 

 protection ; 



By appointing such employes of land- 

 owners or associations, as state and local 

 fire wardens, with the usual powers ; 



By financial aid, as state supervision of the 

 work of such fire patrols, or in paying part 

 of their salary. Such state cooperation is 

 justified by the public benefits secured by 

 fire protection. 



9. Fire wardens should be required to 

 enter adjoining towns or counties when nec- 

 essary in fighting fire, and such towns or 

 counties should be required to pay the bills 

 for such outside assistance. 



DISTRIBUTION 



1. The payment of firefighters should be 

 at a rate equal to that received by ordi- 

 nary labor. Fire wardens should receive 

 liberal compensation, since they should be 

 men of greater earning power than ordinary 

 labor. 



2. Payment should be by the hour, since 

 the most efficient work can often be done 

 at night. A minimum of five hours' pay 

 should be allowed to those who are officially 

 summoned and leave their occupations to 

 attend a fire. 



3. The possibility that compensation will 

 encourage incendiary fires cannot long con- 

 tinue: 



Where the local fire warden employs only 

 reliable help from those persons interested 

 in the suppression of fires; 



Where the penalties for setting fires are 

 rigidly enforced ; 



Where public sentiment is against fires. 



4. The expense of local fire protection 

 should be shared by the state and the town- 

 ship or county. If the town bears the entire 

 expense, the poorest towns, where fire pro- 

 tection is most needed, bear an undue bur- 

 den. If the state should bear the whole 

 expense, towns would be indififerent to the 

 size of fire bills, and it would be hard to 

 avoid dishonesty. 



5. Payment of fire bills should be prompt, 

 and long delays in the auditing and pay- 

 ment of bills are especially to be avoided. 



6. Wherever practicable the state should 

 pay fire claims directly and collect from 

 counties or towns. 



Professor Chapman stated, at the 

 close of his address, that it was the 

 purpose of the Association, in appoint- 

 ing the committee of which he was a 

 member, to have its conclusions drawn 

 up as a sort of platform to be adopted 

 by the Association, if it saw fit ; and 

 after considerable discussion, partici- 

 pated in by the chairman, by F. W. 



B'esley, of Maryland, Alfred Gaskill, 

 of New Jersey, Doctor Rothrock, Prof. 

 F. W. Rane, state forester of Massa- 

 chusetts, J- H. Finney, and others, the 

 motion was made and seconded that the 

 platform contained in Professor Chap- 

 man's address be adopted, the motion 

 being carried unanimously, after which 

 the session adjourned until 8 p. m- 



