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one method of appeal to a class that is directly responsible for a very 

 large portion of our conflagrations. 



While it is wise on the part of the State to suppress, as promptly as 

 possible, forest fires when they occur, it is most unwise to allow a 

 single case to pass without a serious and determined effort to discover 

 how or by whom it was caused, and then if there was guilt, or negli- 

 gence, associated with it, to bring the offender to justice. 



The past season has been by no means one of serious forest fires. 

 This was due in part to the damp weather and also, in part, to the fact 

 that the continuous agitation against.them has had a certain effect in 

 awakening public attention to the losses which they occasion, and to 

 the need of care to prevent them. 



The law of 1897, which made constables of townships ex-officio fire 

 wardens, has been tested and given, so far as I am informed, fairly 

 satisfactory results. It could hardly have been expected that such 

 an innovation could have been made without causing more or less 

 friction. We may fairly assume that time will adjust the new condi- 

 tions. 



The act of July 15, 1897, which makes it the duty of the County 

 Commissioners to appoint persons to ferret out those who create 

 forest fires, was the best that it seemed possible to procure at the 

 time. If rigidly enforced it will be a power for good. There is, how- 

 ever, in my judgment, a serious defect in it. First, the appoint- 

 ments of detectives to find and bring the culprits to justice are very 

 likely to be made upon political grounds, and these detectives are 

 the ones, of all others, the ones least likely to wish to incriminate their 

 neighbors. It would be vastly better if a reasonable sum of money 

 were placed at the disposal of the Commissioner of Forestry for the 

 specific purpose of hiring competent and willing officials to do this 

 work. It would relieve others of a disagreeable though necessary 

 duty, and probably result in securing a larger number of convictions 

 than are obtained under the present law. 



REBATE OF TAX ON STANDING TIMBER. 



It is doubtful if any measure passed by the Legislature in its last 

 session will ultimately be of greater general good than the one intro- 

 duced by the Hon. Ziba T. Moore, which "provides for the preserva- 

 tion of forests and partially relieving forest lands from taxation." In 

 itself, immediately considered, it appears like an unimportant meas- 

 ure, but it came as a distinct relief to our farmers, many of whom 

 are now taking advantage of it. The real principle which the State, 

 by the passage of this act, has allowed, is that standing timber con- 

 fers a benefit upon the community at large, and that so long as the 

 owner allows it to stand he is entitled to a partial relief from taxes, 

 because of the benefit which his trees are conferring upon the Com- 

 monwealth. 



