182 



while in 1846 a supply was forced upon the market out of all proportion even to 

 the great demand and shipments of that year ; the result was that, in the one 

 year, individuals realized a profit on their business and the country at large 

 reaped a profit on the total export, while in the other year individuals had, from 

 over-supply, to sell for much less, timber which (from over-stimulated production, 

 enhanced price of labor, etc ) had cost more, and were, therefore, in many instances, 

 ruined, a loss being at the same time sustained by the country at large, which, in 

 the total export of the season, parted with so much capital at something like 

 half its value. 



" The over-production of 1846 (which did not all reach market that year) 

 continued to depress the trade for several years, the supply of square timber 

 resulting from it in Quebec market having been as follows, viz.: In 1845 there 

 was a supply of 27,702,344 feet, to meet an export of 24,223,000 feet ; but in 1846 

 a supply of 37,000,643, to meet an export of 24,242,689 feet ; and in 1847 a supply 

 (including the overstock of previous years) of 44,027,253 feet, to meet an export 

 of 19,060,880 feet. Here then the distinctive interests of the different branches of 

 the trade may be seen. The business of 1845, which was so profitable to the 

 producers and the country, having been of but doubtful benefit to the shippers, 

 who had to pay quite as high a price here as the prices in England would justify; 

 while the business of 1846, which was so ruinous to the producers, who had to 

 sell at less than the cost of production, was profitable to the shippers, who obtained 

 the timber in Quebec at about half the price it had cost them the previous year, 

 while there was not a corresponding diminution of price in the English markets, 

 at least during that season, and those of them who had contracted realized the full 

 benefit of their contract prices on the diminished rates they had to pay in Canada. 



" It is needless to discuss the continued depression of the succeeding years, in 

 which the general derangement of commercial affairs, which began in 1847, was 

 the principal cause ; but there can be no doubt that, so far as the lumber trade 

 was concerned, the depression was aggravated by the enormous production of 

 1846, which continued to hang upon the market for years after. But it is 

 important to observe that the cause of the over-production itself was shown by 

 the parliamentary inquiry referred to, to have been in part indeed the natural 

 stimulus arising from the successful operations of the previous years, but, in part 

 also, the unwise course, at that time pursued by the government, of forcing pro- 

 duction, as will hereafter appear upon explanation of the regulations. 



" It is to the advantage of the shipping interest that production should again 

 be forced ; it is to the advantage of the producing interest that it should be 

 limited. Shippers and producers are alike essential to the trade, and while it 

 would be a mere waste of the labor and capital of the Province for the Government 

 to force production, it may be safely assumed that the true course is to let the 

 trade, as far as practicable, regulate itself, without interfering on the one side or the 

 other. 



" But it so happens that there must be'some regulation to govern the cutting 

 of timber on Crown lands, and it is an unavoidable incident of such regulations 

 that they must exercise some influence upon the trade. The object the regula- 

 tions should have in view, therefore, in this particular, is to exercise that influence 

 to the least extent possible at the same time that they hold out equal facilities to 

 all desirous of embarking in the trade, due protection to all in the rights acquired 

 and full security for investments of capital necessary to be made, to render the 

 resources of the timber territories available, but not to lock them up in unpro- 

 ductiveness. 



