256 REPORT OF THE No. 3 



"Provided however, that this order shall not apply to any land to be 

 sold as mining land under "The General Mining Act of 1869," nor to land 

 to be sold to any Free Grant Locatee under the Regulation or Order-in- 

 Council bearing date this day." 



Free Grants Act of 1868. 



The "Free Grants and Homesteads Act of 1868," providing for the 

 setting apart of land for Free Grants to actual settlers expressly reserved 

 to the Crown all pine trees upon such locations, with the customary excep- 

 tion of timber for building, fencing, and fuel and those trees necessarily 

 removed in clearing the land. All other pine trees cut before the issue of 

 the patent were to be subject to timber dues. Trees remaining on the land 

 at the time the patent issued were to pass to the patentee. An Order-in- 

 Council issued May 27th, 1869, provided that all pine trees on land located 

 or sold under the Free Grants and Homesteads Act of 1868 should be sub- 

 ject to any timber license in force at the time of location or sale, or granted 

 within five years subsequently and might at any time before the issue of 

 the patent be cut and removed. 



Licenses covering Free Grants. 



Doubts arose as to the construction of the Free Grants and Homesteads 

 Act of 1868, which rendered uncertain the right of the Commissioner of 

 Crown Lands to issue licenses to cut timber upon lands located or sold to 

 Free Grant Settlers and some litigation resulted. This necessitated the 

 passage of an explanatory act in 1877, by which the authority of the Com- 

 missioner to grant licenses including such lots was clearly laid down, and 

 existing licenses covering Free Grant territory continued subject to any 

 conditions and regulations specially applicable to such territory. 



Further amendments of the Free Grants and Homesteads Act were made 

 in 1880 by a provision under which the patents for land located under the 

 Act should contain a reservation of all pine trees on the land, and allow- 

 ing the license-holder within whose limits the lot was included to enter the 

 uncleared portion of the land, and cut and remove trees at any time during 



Lumbermen^ s Dues to Settlers. 



the continuance of his license. The patentee of land located or sold under 

 the Act, was to be paid on all pine trees cut on his land, on which dues had 

 been collected by the Crown, the sum of 25 cents per thousand feet board 

 measure, for saw logs, and |3 on each thousand cubic feet of square or 

 waney timber. In 1890 the rate of payment was increased to 33 cents per 

 thousand feet for saw logs and |4 per thousand for square or waney timber. 



Furtlier Restrictions in 1899. 



By an Order-in-Council dated the 18th day of May, 1899, it was pro- 

 vided that occupants, locatees, or purchasers of public lands, should not, 

 unless under settlers' licenses or for clearing, fencing or building purposes 

 be permitted to cut or dispose of timber until they had gone into actual 

 hono fide occupation of the land, built a habitable house of at least 16 by 

 20 feet, continuously resided there for six months and cleared and put under 

 cultivation at least two acres. 



