RErORT OF THE SOCIETY 23 



a few hour? by rail from any of the large cities of Canada, one maj' find the 

 pioneering development of farms and mines on a large scale. Forest conditions 

 have changed. The value of the forest has increased enormously in the past 

 100 years, but unfortunately the mental attitude of the pioneer has not mat- 

 erially changed. A large percentage of the destructive forest fires in Eastern 

 Canada are caused by the carelessness of the settler and prospector. If we 

 include those chargeable to the pioneer railways, then we may say that much 

 the greater portion of the forest devastation is attributable to the pioneer 

 spirit. Oar forests suffer grievously from the inertia of a fixed idea. 



During the earl}- eighties a remarkable wave of enthusiasm for fo/est 

 conservation swept over Canada and the United States. It took the form of 

 fire protection legislation, tre« planting on arbor days, and the establishment 

 of forest plantations. Among the leaders of the movement in Quebec were 

 Sir Henri Joly de Lotbiniere and Mr. AVilliam Little, whose names public 

 spirited people still revere. At this period there was much discussion of the 

 approaching exhaustion of the timber supply. One writer lamented the fact 

 that the pine logs in the drives would yield deal boards only two feet wide 

 compared with the logs of previous years that would square from two to three 

 feet. ]\Iark the dimensions, those of ycu who have seen the log drives of recent 

 years! A prominent lumberman predicted that the supply of pine in Quebec 

 would not last more than 25 years. Over 60 million feet were cut in the 

 Province in 1920, which show^s there is still some pine left. Yet the lumberman 

 was right. Using the standard of his time, his prediction came true. Forty 

 years ago only the largest and finest trees Avere taken. It apparently never 

 occurred to thim that it would ever be profitable to use trees less than two 

 feet in diameter. He couldn't have imagined the use of small pine logs for 

 laths and matches. 



During the next period the pendulum of public opinion with regard to the 

 forest resources swung far in the other direction. It was a time of great 

 industrial development and of increasing prosperity. Owing to increasing 

 demand, timber values mounted rapidly. Fortunes wTre made in timberlands, 

 more often, however, by the speculator than l\v the actual operator. Yet 

 great business organizations were built up b}' sagacious and public spirited 

 men. Their achievements stand high in the annals of Canadian industries. 

 Quite naturalh', however, there developed a feeling of over confidence with 

 ^considerable expansion in the thoracic region. Our forests are illimitable 

 and their supplies inexhaustible. Why worry 'i* All talk of the necessity of 

 husbanding the forest resources is the blank-edest nonsense. It was an anpo- 

 pular thing to say ought to the contrary. Indeed, some of the prominent 

 conservationists of the time Avere publicly accused of being unpatriotic and of 

 attempting to check the industrial development of the country. Unfortunately, 

 some of these unfounded conceptions have persisted down to the present time, 

 having been kept alive by the unthinking but loquacious politicians on the 

 hustings and having been perpetuated even in school textbooks. Let me say, 



