Ontario Should Rejotesl, 



»47 



the wish Ih fatlior to the thought. 

 Some years ago (May, 1908) a meet- 

 ing of State Qovernors and other 

 distinf^iiistiod nnd Keientifie m(>n 

 was I'ulh'd at WashinKton by Presi- 

 dent Koosevelt to (IIhcuhs the eon- 

 servation of the national resouriM's. 

 Amonjfst others who attended this 

 nieeting was Andrew Carnegie, and 

 in his address he made the statf- 

 mcnt that the United States was 

 even then within measureahle dist- 

 ance of the exhaustion of their sup- 

 ply of anthracite coal, and he placed 

 the life, of the Pennsylvania coal 

 fields at less than fifty years, even 

 at the then present rate of consump- 

 tion. This statement has since been 

 confirmed by scientific authorities. 



Preservation is the first law of na- 

 ture, and it is therefore probable 

 that long before the coal in the Un- 

 ited States becomes exhausted, the 

 entire supply will be taken over by 

 their Government and conserved in 

 every possible way for the national 

 benefit. One thing is certain, not 

 a single pound of it will be allowed 

 to be exported from the United 

 States. 



What Can Ontario Do? 



This being the case, what remedy 

 will the people of Ontario have? So 

 as far as I can see, their remedy can 

 lie only in three directions: 



First, the application of scientific 

 methods to our great virgin forests 

 and the reforestation of cleared 

 lands whieii are unsuited for agri- 

 culture. The application of scien- 

 tific methods to our existing forests 

 could be quickly brought about, but. 

 unfortunately, only a small propor- 

 tion of our standing timber is suit- 

 able for high-class fuel, and could 

 never take the place of coal, either 

 for heating purposes or for the pro- 

 duction of power. In addition to 

 this, the supply is situated far from 

 our present commercial centres, and. 

 even were it suitable, the freight 

 would enhance the price so much as 

 to make its use almost prohibitive. 



The reforestation of old Ontario. 



especially with hardwood* suitable 

 for fuel, would be a very slow and 

 expensive process, but it could be 

 done with profit to the community 

 generally, and the sooner such a 

 policy is entered upon by th<» Gov- 

 ernment, the better it will be for the 

 future of the province and for those 

 who will come after us. For not on- 

 ly will such forests produce valu- 

 able commercial timber as well as 

 fuel, but they would materially help 

 our farmers by increasing the rain- 

 fall, diminish the danger from 

 spring floods, and increase and 

 equalize the flow of our rivers so 

 as to render them more valuable for 

 the development of hydro-electric 

 energy. 



Second, the exploitation of the 

 immense beds of peat fuel to be 

 found within the boundaries of the 

 province. 



Third, the nationalization and de- 

 velopment of our water powers. 

 This has already been taken hold of 

 by the government of Ontario, un- 

 der the management of the Hydro- 

 electric Commission, and they are 

 at present endeavoring to supply 

 the people of Ontario with power 

 as near its actual cost as is com- 

 mercially possible. This is not only 

 a new but a true national policy, 

 which will ultimately be of advant- 

 age to every man, woman and child 

 in the province of Ontario. 



[Mr. McNaught here gives a de- 

 tailed estimate of Ontario's water- 

 powers, which total as follows: Ni- 

 agara River, ,3,000,000 h.p.; Central 

 Ontario. 2.201.187 h.p.; Northern 

 Ontario, 2,030,600 h.p.; total, 7.231,- 

 787 h.p. In order to be on absolute- 

 ly safe ground he a8.sumes that they 

 would have a minimum development 

 of 3,000.000 h.p.l 



Value of Ontario's Water-powers. 



On the assumption, therefore, that 

 we can always depend upon our 

 water powers for a development of 

 3.000,000 h.p., what does this really 

 mean to the people of this prov- 

 ince? 



