170 REPORT OF THE No. ;{ 



modified by tiie proviso that nothing should be construed to prevent 'the 

 exportation of timber, plank and boards "of any inferior oi second qual- 

 ity," with the addition of ' the clause — "provided the quality thereof be 

 declared in the cocket and manifest accompanying the same by the ships." 



Ineffectual Legislation. 



At the same time the provision for the seizure of lumber shipped for 

 exportation without having been culled, stamped and marked, was included 

 in the Act of 1819, and another section rendered it penal for the Master 

 or Owner of a vessel to receive on board unstamped lumber. As there is 

 no mention of any intermediate grading **or provision for other branding 

 than as "merchantable" or "rejected" the duties of the cullers, as regards 

 inferior qualities of lumber, appear to have been left very badly defined, 

 and the_ whole question as to the rights and liabilities of exporters in the 

 matter in an extremely chaotic condition so far as the wording of the Act' 

 wag concerned, though no doubt the custom of the trade furnished a work- 

 ing basis for the system despite these apparent incongruities. 



The Act of 1819 was kept in force until 1823, when some amendments 

 were made, and renewed again in 1825, expiring two years later. In 1829 

 a fresh enactment was made by the Legislature of Lower Canada, much 

 along the lines of the previous laws, but more explicit in its terms, as the 

 whole matter was placed beyond question upon a voluntary or permissive 

 basis. 



All the prohibitions as to the shipment of uninspected lumber were 

 omitted, and it was distinctly provided that "nothing contained in this Act 

 shall prevent or be construed to prevent,. tKe shipping or the exportation 

 of any lumber or timber of an inferior quality or size, or without inspection 

 where or when the shipper or exporter shall think proper, to ship or export 

 any such lumber or timber." After being renewed in 1832 it was permitted 

 to expire by the lapse of the term for which it was revived in 1834. 



Supervisor of Cullers. 



There was no further legislation affecting the lumber trade by the 

 Province of Lower Canada, but after the union of the Provinces in 1840 the 

 Parliament of Canada undertook to deal with the subject. A measure was 

 passed in 1842, bv which the Mayor of Quebec was authorized to appoini a 

 Supervisor of Cullers, and the Board of Trade of the same city to appoint a 

 Board of Examiners, by whom all cullers' licenses were to be granted. . . 

 The inspection of lumber for home consumption was left entirely optional. 

 As regards exportation, the Act provided that no person, being the ownei 

 of mills at which deals were manufactured, should be required to cause 

 such deals to be measured, if exported by such manufacturer on his own 

 account, but with that exception, no lumber should be exported without 

 being measured, under a penalty of one penny currency for each cubic foot, 

 or one shilling for each separate piece of lumber so shipped. Thp Act was 

 to remain in force until the year 1847, but in 1843 it was repealed as being 

 insufficient to accomplish the object in view, and a more strinsrent measure 

 enacted in its place. The appointment of the Supervisor of Cullers was 

 taken out of the hands of the Mayor of Quebec and vested in the Governor, 

 that of the Board of Examiners being entrusted to the Council of the Quebec 

 Board of Trade. Cullers' licenses were to be issued by the Government on 

 the presentation of a certificate of fitness from the Board of Examiners. Fol- 

 lowing the principle laid down in several previous Acts, the culler was 



