1908 DEPARTMENT OF LANDS, FORESTS' AND MINES 133 



to everyone with whom they come in contact, in which the law and the regu- 

 lations are set out. We caution them not to be overbearing or to irritate 

 the persons they meet, but to endeavour to enlist their sympathy by every pos- 

 sible means in the work of protecting the forests. We oblige the railways 

 running through the back country to pay for the services of fire rangers 

 placed along their roads for the purpose of preventing the forest from being 

 destroyed. We select these men and we place them at short intervals along 

 the roads so that they keep in touch with each other, and put out fire 

 wherever they discover it. On some railways we furnish them with veloci- 

 pedes so that they can follow the train from one section to another and so 

 on ; thus if sparks are thrown or coals dropped by the locomotive and a fire 

 occurs, it is put out before it has time to assume any proportions. We have 

 divided the licensed territory into divisions, and we have put a supervising 

 fire ranger over each division, so that he may visit the rangers, and see that 

 they are on duty and performing the work for which they are paid. The 

 licensee also has a supervision of them and gets reports from them from time 

 to time. We pay half the wages and expenses of rangers upon licensed 

 territory and the licensee pays the other half. This service has inculcated 

 a respect for authority, and a desire to aid and assist in the prevention and 

 extinguishing of forest fires. We issue circulars periodically, asking the 

 licensees the effect of the service, the quantity of timber damaged, and invit- 

 ing suggestions which will improve the service. The quantity of timber 

 destroyed this year is small and none of it will go to waste. Under instruc- 

 tions the fire ranger reports immediately the occurrence of a fire, its locality 

 and the quantity of timber damaged, and so the licensee is able to lay his 

 plans to cut the timber before it goes to waste. The expressions of opinion 

 from time to time have been commendatory of the service, and the only 

 improvement that has been suggested is that we should increase the number 

 of fire rangers. As an illustration, — last year we had on licensed lands 

 329 rangers, and our share of the wages and expenses was $46,600, the 

 licensees paying an equal amount. On railways we had 147 rangers, cost- 

 ing for wages and expenses |53,235. There has, therefore, been an expendi- 

 ture during the last year upon fire ranging on railways and licensed lands of 

 $146,478, apart altogether from what is spent on forest reserves, and unli- 

 censed territory. 



Our greatest trouble on licensed territory is in cases where townships are 

 open for settlement, and at the same time under license. The interests of 

 the licensees and the settlers come in collision, and it is a most difficult 

 thing to hold the balances between them. Recently my Minister has adopted 

 the system of inspecting lands applied for before a location or sale is made. 

 This inspection is made by an officer called a Homestead Inspector, and he 

 notifies the timber licensee and the applicant for the land when he will make 

 his inspection, and upon the result of his inspection our action is based. Lots 

 that have quantities of valuable pine timber upon them or that have not 

 fifty per cent, of land suitable for cultivation, we do not as a rule locate, 

 and so we are decreasing the taking up of lands for the purpose of despoiling 

 them of their timber. In the case of townships that are not open, we now 

 inspect them before putting them on the market, and if they are rough and 

 not suited for settlement or valuable for their minerals, we do not open them. 

 We do not always satisfy the diverse interests ; sometimes the lumberman is 

 dissatisfied and sometimes the settler, but at any rate our action is a com- 

 mon sense method to elicit the trjith ; our own officer has no axe to grind and 

 the presence of the settler and lumberman enables them to put their views 

 before him. On the whole I think it may be said we have been careful in 

 our management of the timber, only selling as necessity compelled us and we 



