240 REPORT OF THE No, 3 



little attention. But it is certainly a curious illustration of the ebb and 

 flow of public opinion, and the manner in which movements for the abate- 

 ment of public evils or the promotion of needed reforms frequently subside 

 after having attained a considerable headway, only to spring into activity 

 again many years afterwards, when their former influence has been well 

 nigh forgotten. 



Revenues in 1866. 



Some details showing the extent and principal characteristics of the 

 timber industry at the time of Confederation may appropriately be pre- 

 sented. The report of the Crown Lands Department of Canada for 1866 

 gives the amount collected during that year for timber dues and ground 

 rents as |338,302, and for slide dues |63.483. The total exports of forest 

 products for the year ending June 30, 1867, are valued by the Trade and 

 Navigation returns at |13,948,648, as compared with total exports of agri- 

 cultural products of a value of |16, 765,981. 



Exports to United States. 



Nearly all the exported forest products found a market either in Great 

 Britain or the United States, the proportion consigned to each of these coun- 

 tries being nearly equal, as Britain received shipments to the value of 

 16,889,783, while those sent across the border were valued at |6, 831,252. 

 These figures indicate a very considerable change in the conditions of the 

 trade during the course of the decade immediately preceding Confedera- 

 tion, at the beginning of which the British demand was double that of the 

 Americans. The total exports of forest products to Great Britain for the 

 three years 1854-5-6 amounted in value to |18,288,702, while the aggregate 

 shipments to the United States for the same period were valued at |8, 894,218. 

 It will be seen therefore that at the time of Confederation the American 

 demand for Canadian timber and lumber had more than doubled, while 

 that of Britain remained comparatively stationary. The principal increase 

 in the volume of the growing American trade was in sawn lumber. While 

 "plank and boards" to the value of |1, 866, 712 were exported from Canada 

 to the United States in the year ending Jan. 5th, 1854, the same item figures 

 in returns for 1867 to the extent of |5, 043, 367. This development of the 

 sawn lumber trade with the United vStates, while to a certain extent fostered 

 under the favorable conditions of the Eeciprocity Treaty, was no doubt in 

 the main due to the rapid growth of population in the Eastern States, coin- 

 cident with a gradual diminution in their home sources of supply, rendering 

 it necessary for them to look to Canada for their requirements. 



Export of Hemlock Baric. 



In 1868 the Dominion House of Commons set on foot an enquiry into the 

 best means of protecting hemlock timber from the destruction caused by the 

 demand for hemlock bark for tanning purposes. A select committee was 

 appointed on April 1st, composed of Mr. Pope, Hon. Mr. Dunkin, Hon. Mr. 

 Wood, Hon. Mr. Huntington, Mr. Brown, Mr. Masson of Soulanges, Mr. 

 Joly, Hon. Mr. Beaubien, Mr. Senecal and Mr. Burpee ''to enquire into 

 and report upon the best means of protecting hemlock timber from destruc- 

 tion caused by those manufacturing the extract of hemlock bark and the 

 exportation thereof from Canada." The report of the Committee, based 

 on answers to questions submitted to a number of those having special inter- 



