154 REPORT OF THE No. S 



"All reserves must be held to be legal the object of which was the obliga- 

 tion upon the tenant (censitaire) to allow the accomplishment by the 

 Seignior on his part, of the obligations of that nature stipulated by the King 

 in the grant of the fief. 



Illegal Reservations. 



"That the following reservations or others, analogous to them,' were 

 illegal and do not give to the Seignior a right to indemnity by reason of 

 their suppression. Art. 1 — A reservation of firewood for the use of the Seig- 

 nior. Art. 2 — A reservation of all marketable timber. * * » * 



"The reservation of timber for the construction of churches without 

 indemnity, and the reservation of the right of fishing and hunting on the 

 lands conceded are illegal and give no right to indemnity. 



"The question being put 'is the reservation of timber for the building 

 of the manor-house and mills without indemnity legal, and does it give to 

 the Seignior a right to indemnity for its suppression?' the Court is equally 

 divided." 



Briefly then, the main features of the system of timber administration 

 at the close of the period of French rule in Canada were the reservation by 

 the Government of timber adapted for naval and military purposes, and the 

 further customary but not strictly legal, reservations by the Seigniors, of 

 timber for various purposes out of the forest products of the holdings leased 

 to their habitants, with frequent interventions on the part of the authorities 

 to prevent the unauthorized stripping of lands of their timber by those not 

 entitled to it,, without any attempt to make the timber resources tributary 

 tu the public revenue. 



THE BRITISH OCCUPATION. 



When the British took possession of the colony in 1763 very elaborate 

 instructions were furnished to the first Governor, James Murray, as to his 

 administration of the new acquisition. The first thought of the Home Gov- 

 ernment in relation to the forests of Canada was the necessity of preserving 

 the timber for the same purposes which were regarded as of such paramount 

 importance by the French. They appear to have contemplated a more gen- 

 eral and systematic method of accomplishing this object than the mere 

 reservation of the timber in the deeds, as will be seen from the following 

 extracts from Governor Murray's instructions dated Dec. 7th, 1763. 



"You are therefore to lay out town shTps of convenient size and extent 

 in such places as you, in your discretion, shall judge most proper; and it 

 is our will and pleasure, that each township do consist of about 20,000 

 acres, having, as far as may be, natural boundaries extending up into the 

 country and comprehending a necessary part of the river St. Lawrence where 

 it can conviently be had. 



The First Forest Reserves. 



"And you are also to reserve to us proper quantities of land in each 

 township for the following purposes, viz. : For erecting fortifications and 

 barracks where necessary, or other military or naval services, and more 

 particularly for the growth and production of naval timber if there are any 

 woodlands fit for that purpose. 



