254 ECONOMICS OF FORESTRY 



balances the benefit; and even then the effect is 

 rather to greater wastefulness in the exploitation, 

 to forest destruction, or increase of effectiveness in 

 the existing wood-working business, than to the 

 establishing of a new industry, the forestry busi- 

 ness. A duty which prohibits or essentially cur- 

 tails importations, the demand remaining the same, 

 can only tend to increase the cut, and more rapid 

 decimation of our own resource. 



In other words, the encouragement is toward 

 greater consumption of existing forest products as 

 far as the exploiter can bring it about, rather than 

 toward efforts at their renewal. 



The reason is clear, if we recall our discussions 

 on the nature of forest growth and on the nature 

 of the forestry business. 



The larger part of the harvest of a nature-grown 

 wild woods is inferior material, which is either 

 unsalable or unprofitable to handle. If the tariff, 

 therefore, stimulates wood consumption, or by the 

 exclusion of foreign-grown material necessitates a 

 larger output from the native woods, this waste 

 by necessity must be also increased. A rational 

 tariff, which had in view the benefit and conserva- 

 tion of the natural forest resource, would put a 

 premium on the importation of the better grades, 

 and would absolutely prohibit the importation of 

 the poorer grades, when the disparity of poor and 

 good grades in the home exploitation might be 

 somewhat alleviated, a closer utilization made 



