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complaint. I am aware that some of the lumber companies paid 

 cash down to the men who protected their property at this time, but 

 as these men were called from other work for this purpose they did 

 not have to light brush heaps in order to get a job. Even if it should 

 appear conclusively that some man had kindled the woods in order 

 to get work, it would be absurd to abandon the employment of men 

 for fighting forest fires on that account; for men will not perform 

 the hard labor necessary for the protection of forest property with- 

 out pay. If, as claimed by some, the rate of wages is unneces- 

 sarily high in this service, the auditing board of each town has the 

 remedy in its own hands. I have discussed this matter before in 

 previous reports, and regret that it seems necessary to allude to it 

 again. 



Another serious condition which confronts our forest manage- 

 ment in the Adirondacks is the ever increasing number of residents. 

 I do not refer to our summer hotels and their patrons. The trouble 

 is caused by the farmers who are carrying on agricultural operations 

 of a minor character, and by the large number of men who remain 

 in the region after the lumbering operations on which they were 

 employed have ceased. Fifty years ago, when there were scarcely 

 any people in our woods, forest fires were almost unknown. Fires 

 do not start spontaneously; some man or railroad is responsible for 

 them in every case. The more railroads we have, the more of the 

 idle, shiftless class remaining there, the greater the danger to our 

 woodlands. It is to be hoped, however, that the State in carrying 

 out its policy of acquiring lands will purchase the holdings of the 

 small farmers, together with other petty interests detrimental to the 

 safety of forest property, and thereby minimize this prolific source 

 of evil. 



Though an unpleasant duty, attention is called to the laxity of 



