1912 AND FISHERIES COMMISSION. 241 



is in all probability the most economically profitable^ for no material 

 portion of it is lost to the community in returni for the cash which it 

 tends to attract. Fish and game, also, constitute a natural resource 

 which should be permanent if properly conserved, and should, therefore, 

 be more highly esteemed than those resources whose exploitation is 

 synonymous for their disappearance. Mineral, once taken from the 

 ground, ceases to be an asset. Much of its w^orth finds its way abroad 

 in the shape of dividends. Fish and game, however, have recuperative 

 powers, sufficient within certain limits to meet an annual drain without 

 impairing their value. Their greatest economic worth lies undoubtedly 

 in the attraction they possess for the tourist, for the intrinsic value of 

 a few fish, a few birds or some larger animal, as well as the proportion- 

 ate expense of protecting, or even producing, them, caught or killed by 

 the visitor, is offset many times over by the cash paid by the visitor to 

 secure the sport. No effort, therefore, should be spared to obtain the 

 greatest possible income from these natural resources of scenery, fish 

 and game, which they can be made to produce, and it would seem beyond 

 doubt that the first step towards their adequate exploitation must and 

 should be the collection, publication and free distribution of all possible 

 information concerning them by the Government of the Province. 



Recommendations. 



Your Commissioner would, therefore, recommend: — 

 That steps be taken by the Government to secure and collate 

 accurate information concerning the scenic, touring, sporting and other 

 attractions of the Province likely to prove of use to those visiting 

 Ontario and to the citizens of the Province, or to draw visitors to 

 Ontario, and to publish such information in such form and cause its 

 free distribution to be effected in such a manner that the facilities 

 afforded by the Province in these directions will become more widely 

 advertised and known. 



A Scheme for the Improvement of the Fisheries and Game Protec- 

 tive Services. 



It has been the unpleasant duty of this Commission to report most 

 adversely on the system, the equipment and the efficiency of the Fisheries 

 and Game Protective Services. Attention has been called to the fact 

 that both commercial and sporting fisheries, as well as four-legged and 

 feathered game of the Province are becoming rapidly depleted. The 

 necessity for complete reorganization has been insisted upon. While it 

 has been recognized that undoubtedly the reorganization of the present 

 system will take time to complete and that efficiency can only be attained 

 in all departnuMits of the services through gi'eater expenditures of 

 money, the urgency of initiating reforms while there is yet something 



