Ontario Forests 



163 



to lieutenant-governorships, and to various 

 other places of great trust and dignity can be 

 made only by Government and in these poli- 

 tical considerations will always be more or 

 less influential But it is seldon that 



scandal arises out of this class of appoint- 

 ments. It is not here that the chief evils of 

 patronage exist. They lie in general partisan 

 control of the outside service, in the activity 

 of patronage committees, in the manage- 

 ment of party caucuses and party conven- 

 tions by the office hunting element. 



It is true that all the evils of our politics 

 will not be eradicated by the establishment 

 of a permanent, non-partisan civil service 



and the disappearance of patronage as a 

 stimulus to political activity. But there 

 would be a great increase of independent 

 action in the constituencies. Public men 

 would be relieved from dependence upon 

 the mercenary element which now exercises 

 a baneful authority in the political organiza- 

 tions. The civil service would be greatly 

 strengthened in character and efficiency. 

 The independence of Parliament would be 

 materially enhanced, and the great and 

 serious problems of administration and high 

 political debate upon broad questions of 

 policy and principle would become the 

 chief business of statesmen. 



Ontario Forests 



Extracts from the Report of the Minister of Lands Forests and Mines. 



The importance, of the forests of Ontario 

 to the welfare of the Province and the Dom- 

 inion are brought out in a few figures in the 

 report of Hon. W. H. Hearst, Minister of 

 Lands, Forests and Mines, for 1912, which 

 has recently been issued. 



'The revenue collected on account of woods 

 and forests in 1912 was $1,985,662.78, or 

 $274,225.91 in excess of the revenue collected 

 last year (1911).' 



'The principal increases were in timber dues 

 $166,673.37, and in bonus $113,884.14. 



'The mileage under license last year was 

 996 miles less than that of the previous year. 

 The reason for this was that certain licensees 

 had not paid up their ground rent or were 

 indebted for dues, which prevented the issue 

 of their licenses. 307 miles were also surrender- 

 ed as havirg been cut cut, and were with 

 drawn from license. 



'The output of pine sawlogs, boom timber 

 and square timber brought into feet board 

 measure equalled 487,838,666 feet board 

 measure, which is 96,425,439 feet below the 

 output of 1911. 



'The output of timber other than pine 

 showed an increase of 24,093,160 feet over 

 last year. There was also an increase in the 

 pulpwood of 49,612 cords. The most notable 

 expansion was in railway ties. The quantity 

 taken out last year was 4,270,832 ties. The 

 ^antity taken out this year was 6,704,459 

 ties, showing an increased output for the 

 year of 1,433,627 ties. 



'Several berths in the Rainy River, 

 Thunder Bay and Kenora Districts that 

 had been damage^l bv fire or cut over in 

 previous years were sold by tender. 



'The only other timber sale held during 

 the year was of two berths on the Jocko 

 River, each having an area of 25 miles, 

 which were in a dangerous position and on 

 which the timber had reached its maturity, 

 and it was considered wise to sell them so as 



to get the value of the timber. The sale of 

 this timber established a record for price. 

 The pine timber on Berth No. 1 was sold for 

 $13.26 per thousand feet board measure in 

 addition to $2 dues; and the pine timber 

 on Berth No. 2 was sold for $12.10 per thou- 

 sand feet board measure in addition to $2 

 dues. In the disposal of these berths it was 

 determined to insert a conditin in the terms 

 of sale requiring the licensees to remove all 

 limbs, brush, and other debris arising from 

 the lumbering operations under the direction 

 of an officer appointed by the Department 

 of Lands, Forests and Mines. A deposit 

 was required of $1,000 per mile in each case, 

 which deposit is held as security for the 

 performance of all conditions of sale. The 

 Forester for the Province, Professor Zavitz, 

 was requested to visit the locality, and a 

 special ranger was placed in charge of the 

 cutting to see that the conditions with respect 

 to the disposal of the debris were carried out. 

 The timber will be culled and measured by 

 scalers appointed by the Department.' 



'There were on duty last summer (1912) 

 in forest reserves 228 fire rangers; on rail- 

 ways 193; on lands of the Crown 111; which 

 with 10 chiefs makes a total of 542 fire rangers 

 employed. 



'The timber licensees are required to 

 I)lace ranj^ers on their limits and pay them. 

 Under this arrangement there were on duty 

 on Hcensed lands during the summer 

 350 rangers and 8 supervisors, making a 

 tx)tal staff in the forest last summer of 900.' 



Among the cost figures given arc: wood 

 ranging $91,753; exploration of timber berths 

 $1,062; fire ranging $124,483; forest reserves 

 protection $83,605. These figures make a 

 tatal of $300,903 for this part of the work 

 in Ontario in 1912, and of course they do not 

 include the amounts paid by the timber 

 licensees for their 350 rangers. 



