CANADIAN FORESTRY ASSOCIATION 73 



maples in the north country, from their broad leaves do cast a shade under which the 

 pine has very great difficulty in growing. Where it can be done it is always con- 

 sidered necessary to take out those large deciduous trees if you wish the pine to grow. 

 Again I say I think the different departments should take some means of having Mr. 

 White's paper published in bulletin form. 



Mr. WHITE. I just want to say a word in answer to what Mr. Stewart said about 

 making the renewals of licenses statutory for twenty years, or something of that kind. 

 If that had been the law when we had the difficulty with our American friends we 

 would not have been able to overtake them. It was because the licenses terminated, 

 absolutely on the 30th of April, and we could attach conditions to the renewal of the 

 license, that we were able to checkmate them. 



Mr. STEWART. I admit that, but could not the license be renewable subject to 

 any regulations that may be made? ' 



Mr. MAHAFFY, M.P.P. I am not a member of this Association, but I happen to 

 represent a riding that is a very important lumber district, and in which there is 

 always more or less friction between the settler and the lumberman. I was struck, sir, 

 by one thing in Mr. White's admirable paper and that is the striking difference be- 

 tween the ground rent charged in British Columbia and in all the other provinces 

 $160 per mile. And in the other provinces it ranged from $2 or $3 to $8. Now there 

 must be some reason for that, some basic principle upon which it is worked out, and I 

 would like to ask what is the guiding principle in regard to the fixing of this ground 

 rent ? It seems to me that there is a great deal to be said in favour of a higher ground 

 rent than perhaps is being charged in other provinces outside of British Columbia. 

 For this reason, sir, I am not an old man, but I have lived long enough to see licensees 

 hold limits on which at the time they were bought the merchantable timber was all 

 1hat was actually paid for, although the license covered all the timber, and then by 

 holding this for a prolonged and indefinite period for a small sum, an annual fee of 

 ground rent, the other timber not computed at all at the time of purchase grows into 

 enormous value, and practically becomes a bonus to the licensee. Now, I do not know 

 whether that is the object of the British Columbia legislation fixing the ground rent, 

 or not, but I think the point is worth consideration. 



Mr. WHITE. I would like to say in connection with that, that you will observe 

 by the British Columbia laws licensees pay only 50 cents per thousand for their timber 

 as Crown dues. Here they pay from $1 to $2 per thousand. Now, the ground rent 

 is, after all, a very small thing as compared with the dues, and we prefer the system 

 of putting limits up by auction and getting their full value in the shape of bonus, 

 subject, of course, to a substantial payment as dues for each thousand feet when cut, 

 and subject to a moderate ground rent. We do not think it would be fair to increase 

 the ground rent to anything like that charged by the British Columbia Government, 

 because their system is entirely different from ours and they do not begin to get any- 

 thing like the proportion of the value of the timber that we do. Mr. Mahaffy of 

 course is a lawyer, but he said some things that did not appeal to my reason, just now. 

 When he referred to those limits that were sold some years ago, he said they were sold, 

 but at the time they were sold the timber other than pine was not valued by the men 



