1908 DEPARTMENT OF LANDS, FORESTS' AND MINES 131 



except tliat a settler miglit take what lie required for building, fencing, etc., 

 and remove what was in the way of clearing his land. Settlement immedi- 

 ately began to flow into Muskoka, and it was necessary to sell the timber out 

 of the settlers' way. Accordingly, what was the first Timber Sale of new 

 territory was held in the year 1871 ; 487 miles were offered for sale ; a con- 

 dition was imposed that no pine trees below the diameter of 13 inches on 

 the stump should be cut, and for the purpose of that sale the Crown dues 

 were raised to |1.50 per thousand. Notwithstanding these conditions $241 

 per mile bonus was realized. The increased dues, however, were reduced in 

 1876 to 75 cents, the same as existed elsewhere. This action was taken on 

 account of a depression in the lumber trade then prevailing. The diameter 

 limit was never enforced because it was found that if the licensee left the 

 small trees the settler cut them, or they were destroyed by fire. 



In 1872, 5,031 miles of territory on the north shore of Lake Huron was 

 sold as timber berths, and other sales have been held from time to time down 

 to the present. 



Generally speaking the causes leading to the sales were the advance of 

 settlement, the danger of fire, to enable mill-owners to obtain timber supplies, 

 the necessities of revenue, etc. All the sales were held by public auction 

 after due advertisement, and it is fair to assume, therefore, that the value of 

 the timber at the time it was sold was obtained. 



The sale of 1872 covered an enormous area, almost one half what has 

 been sold since Confederation. It was evidently in advance of the necessities 

 of the time, as an enormous quantity of pine timber is still standing on 

 the territory then sold, after 36 years' cutting. The timber on this terri- 

 tory has changed hands many times, always at largely increased values. 

 The dues and ground rent remained the same until the year 1887, when the 

 Government determined to increase them so as to share in the increment of 

 value that had taken place. The ground rent was advanced from |2 to |3 

 per mile, and the dues from 75 cents to |1 per thousand. There was a large 

 sale in 1887. 



In 1890 we had a sale in the Rainy River region, which had just come 

 under the control of the Province. For the purpose of that sale, the dues 

 were ll.cO; pine timber only was sold, and for the first time it was provided 

 that timber cut on these limits should be sawn in Canada. 



In 1892 we had another large sale, in which the dues were fixed at $1.25 

 and the ground rent remained the same. The condition in the 1890 sale, 

 that logs must be sawn in Canada, was not attached to the conditions of the 

 1892 sale. Subsequent to the sale of 1892, there came an agitation in con- 

 nection with the export of our logs, and in 1897 a regulation was passed, 

 afterwards ratified by Act of the Legislature, that all logs cut on licensed 

 lands of the Crown must be sawn in Canada, and that condition has pre- 

 vailed ever since. The condition has been extended to spruce and hemlock, 

 so that now all pine trees, spruce trees and all hemlock trees cut on licensed 

 lands of the Crown must be manufactured in the Dominion of Canada. The 

 right of the Province to attach this condition to its licenses was the subject 

 of litigation, but the Province's action was sustained and this leak of our 

 natural resources was stopped, and great development in our Northern dis- 

 tricts was another result. Since then we have had other sales, in which a time 

 condition for the removal of the timber was inserted, and at the last sale by 

 public auction in 1903 the ground rent was increased from $3 to |5 per mile, 

 and the dues to |2 per thousand B. M. Notwithstanding the time limit, 

 the increased dues and ground rent, the average bonus at this sale was con- 

 siderably over |4,000 a mile. Since 1904 we have sold some small areas and 



