54 FOREST MANAGEMENT IN CANADA. [Nov. 



an anmial discriminating tax of one-half a cent per acre per year 

 on timber lands owned by individuals. 



In a short article such as this, there is no space to enter into 

 details, but enough can be adduced to show that Canadian Crown 

 forests are managed for the benefit of the leaseholders more than 

 for those of tlie Dominion or Empire ; and that the system pursued 

 is one which no ordinary business man would for a moment tolerate 

 in the course of his private affairs, and one also which is 

 destroying far more rapidly than it should that wealth which 

 centuries cannot replace. 



The usual way in which tlie Government timber limits in 

 Canada are disposed of is as follows : — 



Application having been made to the proper authorities, a certain 

 tract of land is surveyed in a hasty manner, and a rude guess made 

 as to the quantity of wood standing upon it, this usually being 

 estimated far lower than what it really is. On the returns being 

 made to the office, with these meagre and misleading data for 

 guides, tlie commissioner places an upset price per square mile on 

 the blocks. 



They are then offered for sale at public auction, and if no one 

 offers more than the upset price, the aj^plicant becomes the lessee. 

 For this lease he pays, in the province of Quebec, an annual rental 

 of but 2 dollars per year per square mile ; it is renewed to him, from 

 year to year, on condition of his paying the yearly rent as well as 

 the dues for all timber cut on it by him, or by parties under him. 

 These dues so payable on such timber are far below the real value, 

 being for white pine (Pinus sfrobus) in the province of Quebec as 

 follows: — On pine logs 13^ feet long, measuring 17 inches or 

 more in least diameter, including culls, each 22 cents (equivalent 

 in value to about elevenpence sterling), and on logs 13-^ feet long, 

 and less than 17 inches at the small end, 11 cents each. 



In Ontario, where tlie timber lands are also leased at auction, 

 the Crown dues on pine logs are very much the same in amount as 

 they are in Quebec. The result of these regulations is such, that 

 the leases given under them have been and are being made the 

 subject of speculation by slu-ewd men, possessed of more knowledge 

 tlian the Government olKcers, and who frequently re-sell them at an 

 enormous profit, owing to tlie ridiculously low dues charged under 

 them on timber of the highest class. Hundreds of thousands 

 certainlji, probably several millions of dollars, wliich should have 

 found their way into the treasuries of the provinces, have gone to 

 swell the easily-earned riches of those who have dealt in them. 

 Here I may notice one of the many evil consequences arising from 

 trading in these leases in the manner referred to. While the 



