DISADVANTAGES AT HOME 161 



resources largely through fire by an ignorant popula- 

 tion allowed to pursue its own way by an apathetic 

 Government ; and, finally, to the fact that the markets 

 of the world have for some time been supplied with 

 large quantities of material at a low and more or less 

 fictitious price material that was easily accessible, 

 which paid, for the most part, a very small royalty or 

 none at all material, in other words, which had cost 

 man nothing to produce and therefore could undersell 

 in every country a similar article which had been 

 grown by man himself. True, in this country we had 

 our own special troubles. A better class of material 

 than we had produced in the past in our own woods 

 on soil and in a climate at least as favourable as that 

 from which the imported articles came, easily ousted 

 the home-grown produce, the position being aggravated 

 by the high railway freight rates in force in these 

 islands. 



Amongst European States, of course, the importance 

 of the forest received recognition several centuries 

 ago, as soon, in fact, as the pressure and needs of the 

 growing population came to be felt upon the forest 

 lands. These were only saved by closure and the 

 enactment of forest laws protecting both State and 

 privately owned woods. With the increase in popu- 

 lation came the timber market, the enhanced value 

 of forest products, and the raising of new crops to 

 take the place of those felled over for sale. But this 

 recognition of the value of forests was confined to 

 Europe or the more densely populated parts of it. 

 Elsewhere wasteful utilisation held sway. Gradually, 

 however, expert opinion in this matter during the 



