DEPARTMENT OF LANDS AND FORESTS FOR 1928 9 



Sir William, succeeded Mr. Cochrane, and on the death of Sir James Whitney 

 became Prime Minister. Hon. Mr. Ferguson, the present Prime Minister, 

 became sponsor for the Department when Mr. Hearst was chosen leader, and 

 remained in office until November, 1919. Hon. Mr. Bowman was appointed 

 in 1919, and was followed by Hon. Jas. Lyons in 1923, and the latter after a 

 sojourn by Hon. Mr. Ferguson, by the present Minister, William Finlayson, in 

 1926. 



Of these prominent administrators two, Sir E. P. Tach6 and Sir John A. 

 Macdonald, attained to the Prime Ministership of Canada, and no less than 

 three, Hon. A. S. Hardy, Sir W. H. Hearst, and Hon. G. H. Ferguson, to the 

 Prime Ministership of their native Province, while four reached the Lieutenant- 

 Governor's chair, viz., Hon. Wm. McDougall having been appointed in 1869 

 for the Northwest Territories and Rupert's Land, Hon. Jos. Cauchon for Mani- 

 toba in 1877, Sir Alex. Campbell for Ontario in 1887, and Sir John M. Gibson 

 for Ontario in 1908. Upon eight, knighthood was conferred, John A. Macdon- 

 ald, E. P. Tach6, A. A. Dorion, Alex. Campbell, Matthew C. Cameron, R. W. 

 Scott, J. M. Gibson, and Wm. H. Hearst. 



While the early administrators, prior to Confederation, were filled with zeal 

 and possessed of uncanny vision, they were largely concerned with an area of 

 about 50,000 square miles, comprising but a portion of what we now term Old 

 Ontario, and could scarcely have anticipated that within two generations the 

 magnitude of the territory to be administered and developed would have grown 

 eight hundred per cent., and the population from a few scattered thousand to 

 three million. 



The revenue from timber in 1827 amounted to only $360.00, in 1828 to 

 $3,134.00, while in 1928, the year just closed, the revenue from the same was 

 over $4,000,000. 



The Department of Lands and Forests, as the term implies, deals with the 

 disposition of all Crown lands for settlement, summer resorts, ranching, timber 

 cutting, pole lines, industrial sites, commercial enterprises, mining and numerous 

 other purposes. In addition it administers the timber areas and provides for a 

 judicious development of the forest wealth. It has control of the park system 

 of the Province and establishes and supervises the large and important Forest 

 Reserves. 



Under its jurisdiction come the water powers with their assets of incalculable 

 economic value. The responsibility of surveying the unsubdivided areas of the 

 Province rests on the Department along with the supervision and control of its 

 lakes, rivers and streams, except for navigation. 



Because of the varied character of the land and its productiveness it is 

 essential that proper data be gathered to enable an equitable disposition of the 

 resources. The very magnitude of the province, some 400,000 square miles, 

 forces the conclusion that a satisfactory inventory in detail of our potentialities 

 cannot be made except after a long, close and continued examination. It is 

 obvious that the regions unsuited for farming and adapted only for the pro- 

 duction of certain timber types should be segregated and held in reserve for the 

 prime purpose of reproducing timber, whereas the sections found to be well 

 given to farming, in the real acceptation of the term, should be held for such. 



The benefits derived from such segregation are quite noticeable in those 

 substantial areas already set aside and held as Forest Reserves and Provincial 

 Parks. Consequently the Department is continuing its intensive efforts towards 

 getting technical and practical material upon the diversified resources of our 

 Crown areas. 



