1907 DEPARTMENT OF LANDS, FORESTS AND MINES. 231 



your committee strongly recommend that no change whatever be made in 

 the terms upon which limits are held, pending the final decision of your 

 Honorable House, in reference to this most important question, as it is 

 their unanimous opinion that until the system be determined upon and 

 regulated by Act of Parliament a change of the present regulation would be 

 detrimental to the public interests.' 



"Your Committee entirely concur in the above and would further 

 recommend that whenever eveji any minor change in the regulations may 

 be thought advisable, it should be published for at least three months before 

 anv Order-in-Council be passed to give effect to it, so that the trade may 

 have an opportunity of being consulted in regard to the change contem- 

 plated. 



"With regard to the supposed difficulties between the lumber merchants 

 and the settlers it appears by the evidence that no diversity of interest exists, 

 but that the trade complains, not of the actual settler, but of those who 

 make a pretence of settlement to break up their limits and secure the timber 

 to which the outlay of their capital has given value. 



"The actual bona fide settler in like manner, finds the operations of 

 the lumber merchant to his advantage, by reason of the roads constructed 

 and the market for his produce thereby afforded. Your Committee are of 

 the opinion that where such a complete community of interest exists, there 

 need be no difficulty in arranging a system to the mutual satisfaction of 

 both parties. And here again your Committee find that the want of any 

 definite rule is the cause of misunderstanding. The Crown Land Depart- 

 ment should divest itself of the power of dealing specially with cases as 

 they arise, and provide and enforce a general system alike intelligible to 

 them all. 



"It appears from the evidence that settlement has been unreasonably 

 pushed in some localities quite unfit to become the permanent residence of 

 an agricultural population. Especially has this been the case on some of 

 the Free Grant roads and adjacent country, lying between the waters of 

 the Ottawa and Lake Ontario Your Committee would refer to the evidence 

 and recommend that 'he Government should, in all cases,, ascertain posi- 

 tively the character of the country before throwing open any tract of land 

 for settlement, so that such lands that are really not fit for profitable cul- 

 tivation, may not be thrown upon the market. There being considerable 

 diversity of opinion among the witnesses in regard to some of the localities 

 adverted to, it seems to the committee that the Government should have an 

 examination made by some thoroughly competent and reliable officer, whose 

 report would be available in any further consideration of this subject. 



Tenure of Limits. 



"Your Committee M'ould further suggest to your Honourable House, that 

 it would be advisable, for the protection of the public forests of the Pro- 

 vince, the commercial value of which is of such vast interest to the country, 

 that a character of greater stability be given to the tenure of timber limits, 

 providing of course against its being made any barrier to the actual settler 

 on lands adapted for cultivation." 



^ During the session of 1864 an attempt was made to complete the work 

 of investigation begun by Mr. Dawson's committee in accordance with the 

 suggestion embodied in the report. On the 17th of March in that year the 

 House adopted a resolution appointing a Select Committee composed of 

 eighteen members, with Hon. Mr. Cauchon as chairman, *'to enouire into 

 the causes of the rapid destruction of our forests, and the means to be 

 16 L.M. 



