Early Administration of Timberlands. 425 



But the great timberwealth seemed so inexhaustible 

 that the governors paid little attention to the wise 

 instructions of the home government for the creation 

 of reservations, and whatever regulations regarding 

 the cutting of timber were made, failed to be strictly 

 enforced. In 178, the policy of reserving to the crown 

 all the timber as far as not granted, and giving licenses 

 to cut, was inaugurated; but not until 1826 was even 

 the revenue feature strongly enough realized to at- 

 tempt systematically to secure the benefit of it, 

 namely by allowing anyone to cut timber "such as 

 was not required for the navy" who would pay a 

 fixed rate for what was cut; a surveyor-general of 

 woods and forests being appointed to collect the 

 timber dues with the aid of qualified "cullers" (1811). 

 There was even an attempt made to prevent waste by 

 doubling the rate of timber dues on all trees cut which 

 would not square more than 8 inches; this restriction 

 probably remained a dead letter for lack of super- 

 vision. 



Lumbermen, however, found it cheaper to buy the 

 land, making only part payment, and after cutting 

 the best timber, forfeiting the land; contractors who 

 had the monopoly for cutting the timber for the royal 

 navy cut also for their own account; corruption and 

 graft pervaded the administration, which enriched 

 its followers with the revenues obtained from the 

 timber licenses and otherwise. The strong hand 

 which, in the absence of a strong government, lumber- 

 men were driven to use in order to protect themselves 

 from piracy by their neighbors, or else to perpetrate 

 such, brought about many bloody conflicts. The 



