536 PROCEEDINGS OF SECTION G, 



parts, is there any assurance that in later years the more useless 

 debris will not also appear on the scene as in other lands ? Might 

 it not be a pertinent inquiry in this connection to what extent the 

 late terrible floods in Queensland were due to unwise clearing of 

 forest lands, or whether they were entirely the result of phenomenal 

 rainfall ? 



Here, then, is a statement of the disease. The remedy will be 

 found when every individual member of an intelligent democracy 

 shall, after careful study of the deplorable tale which the hihtory 

 of forest devastation has to tell, take warning by the ruinous 

 experience of other nations, and recognise the fact that the forests 

 of a country are not the property of the first man who chances to 

 grab them, be he sawmiller or farmer, blocker or squatter ; that 

 they are national property, productive of national benefits, and 

 should, therefore, be legislated for on such a broad national basis 

 as to ensure the wise preservation for posterity of an equal share 

 of similar advantages to those we have ourselves derived from 

 them. 



2.— THE PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF THE CON- 

 STITUENTS OF THE SOIL. 



By J. G. TEPPER, F.L.S. 



3.— AGRICULTURAL WEALTH. 

 Bi/ W. SMITHERS GADB. 



-o-»Ti-c 



4.— TAXATION: CURRENT FALLACIES. 



Btj R. M. JOHNSTON, F.L.S. , Government Statist of Tasmania. 



-o-cT<-o- 



5.— THE PROPER METHOD OF LEVYING A LAND TAX 



Bij C. W. ABAMS. 



