62 CAXMH.l\ Fnlih >//,'> ASSOCIATION 



ing made for the first time, it will be sufficient to say that none were made, the policy 

 was started but no life given to it. What was done was to insert a reservation of the 

 white pine to the King in all patents issued. 



We now come to a period where timber was cut for exportation from Canadian 

 forests. The reservation of the pine, as already stated, was to be for naval purposes. 

 Shortly after 1800 the attention of the contractors to the dockyards in England was 

 called, perhaps by some wide-awake Canadian, to this reservation, and perhaps it was 

 said by some Canadian advocate of ' Preferential Trade within the Empire :' ' Why 

 do you not come to Canada and get some of your timber there instead of getting it 

 all from the Baltic ?' Be that as it may, the naval contractors did apply to the Home 

 Government for permission to cut masts, &c., in Canadian forests, and licenses mark 

 that word were issued, one of which is now in my possession, dated 7th October, 

 1807, authorizing Messrs. Scott, Idles & Company to cut timber in the forests of 

 Canada. This license was directed to the Surveyor General of Woods and Forests 

 on the continent of America fancy that for a jurisdiction. Messrs. S^ott, Idles & 

 Co. transferred their rights to Messrs. Muir & Jolliff, of Quebec. The Lieutenant- 

 Governor-in-Council of Canada directed the Deputy Surveyor General of Woods for 

 Canada to mark the trees that might be cut quite a contract for him, was it not? 

 No attempt seems to have been made to inspect this cutting, much less mark the trees, 

 and cutting was limited only by the ideas of the people who \vere operating under these 

 licenses. Here we have the first issue of any form of authority, under British rule, 

 to cut timber on the Crown lands, and the name of that authority, viz., license, has 

 lu'cn continued ever since. This business of contractors for dockyards cutting by 

 proxy was the genesis of our square timber trade, and it centred in a few Quebec 

 merchants, and these gentlemen were the precursors of those great firms which after- 

 wards made Quebec famous as one of the principal timber markets of the world. It 

 is to be noticed that these licenses did not cover any area. The holders of them went 

 where they pleased, cut the "best timber and paid nothing for it. The first of these 

 licenses was issued in 1807, and it was not until 1826 that we find any attempt at re- 

 gulation or supervision. Such a system as this created discontent, it being in the 

 nature of a monopoly, and at last the people began .to take the law into their own 

 hands and go into the forests and cut as they pleased, without any authority. 



To bring an end to the discontent, bring order out of chaos, and more important 

 still, to obtain some revenue from the timber cut, Sir Peregrine Maitland, the Lieu- 

 tenant-Governor, issued a proclamation on the 3rd May, 1826. Under this any person 

 was at liberty to go into the forests, along the Ottawa river and its tributaries, and cut 

 as much timber as they wished subject to paying three cents per cubic foot for oak, 

 two cents per cubic foot for red pine, one cent per cubic foot for white pine, and four 

 cents each for sawlogs suitable for deals. If trees were cut that did not square eight 

 inches, double these rates were exacted. 



Under these regulations, bad as they were, we have the first attempt to collect 

 revenue from Crown timber. Under this system disputes as to boundaries took place, 

 and there was no proper supervision of the cutting. The next year Mr. Peter Robin- 

 son was appointed Commissioner of Crown Lands and Surveyor-General of Woods 

 and Forests. He had authority to grant license over such territory as the Governor 

 approved of. The licenses were to be limited as to quantities, 2,000 feet was all that 

 could be cut under one. They were to be advertised in the York Gaztte at an upset 

 price and sold by public auction. Here is the first provision for an auction sale of 

 Crown timber. The licenses ran for one year only, but timber had to be cut within 

 nine months and the dues had to be paid within fifteen months, and the timber was 

 to be measured by a Government measurer. This system never took life it died still- 

 born. The regulations established by the proclamation of 1826 seem to have been 

 continued in the Ottawa region, at any rate, and not much timber was cut elsewhere 

 for export. 





