19b REPORT OF THE No. 3 



ber. The amount of duty levied on red pine was one penny per culbic foot, 

 the timber not being measured but only counted, and the amount made up 

 from a fixed and arbitrary average of 38 feet per stick. 



''The real average of the red pine rafts taken to Quebec varied from 

 26 feet or under to 50 feet or upwards per stick, the large being charged 

 precisely as much duty as the small. In one instance a raft of the largest 

 sized red pine ever seen there averaged 68 feet per stick. • One of the rafts 

 of small timber the previous season averaged 26 feet per stick. 



"The owner of the large raft, assuming the duty to be a penny per 

 foot, had exactly thirty feet in every stick for which he had to pay noth- 

 ing, while the owner of the small raft had to pay for twelve feet more on 

 every stick than it actually contained." Considering the duty as a charge 

 ad valorem he went on to show that as the large raft was sold for Is. 3fd. 

 per foot, and the small raft for 5d. per foot, the owner of the former paid 

 about 3^ per cent, of the whole proceeds of his timber to the Government, 

 while the proprietor of the small timber was taxed something over 29 per 

 cent, on its value. This was admittedly an extreme case, but the principle 

 which rendered such a discrepancy possible operated throughout — Mr. Daw- 

 son went on to say : 



"The remedy for this, as far as making the burden fall more equally 

 upon those paying Crown dues for their timber, is very simple, and would 

 consist in collecting the amount according to the actual number of feet 

 instead of on the number of pieces as now practised. . . . There is, 

 however a more important measure in view which should supersede all the 

 abuses of the present system, and at the same time afford a great degree 

 of relief to the trade at large. This measure is the same as that now in 

 force and which has been found to work so well in New Brunswick, and 

 should consist in imposing a small duty on all timber clearing at the Cus- 

 tom House, which with the proposed ground rent, would stand in lieu of 

 all present charges. One shilling per ton in this way would produce a 

 much larger revenue than that now derived from timber." 



Nearly all the lumbermen examined, including John Porter and Joseph 

 Aumond, of By town, Peter Aylen of Aylmer, and Huggles Wright of Hull, 

 agreed in advocating a ground rent on timber limits in order to prevent 

 monopoly, some favoring five shillings per square mile, while others were 

 disposed to consider 2s. 6d. sufficient. They were practically unanimous 

 as regards the injustice of the system in vogue, and the facilities it pre- 

 sented for fraud, while as to the size of the limits there appeared to be 

 much difference of opinion. 



William Harris, of Bytown, pointed Out how the system of levying dues 

 entailed a loss to the revenue and encouraged wasteful methods of lumber- 

 ing. 



Square Timber and Fires. 



"After all the large timber is cut off a limit, so many trees, blocks, 

 chips, etc., are down on the ground, that pine woods are subject to and 

 are frequently destroyed by fire; thus young and small timber reserved in 

 the woods is totally destroyed; whereas had the lumberman been induced 

 to cut i"t in the first place by an ad valorem duty, he would avail himself 

 of his opportunity, of his advantage to do so, for railroad framing, lath- 

 wood and other purposes where small lumber can be employed. Under the 

 existing system an immense revenue is lost to the Crown, and a serious draw- 

 back is inflicted on the lumberman. Under this system, as large dues are 

 exacted for the smallest tree as the largest — a tree of 12 or 14 feet would 

 be as expensive to cut as one of 60, which amounts to prohibition of cutting 



