Canadian Forestry Convention. 1 1 



terprise shall not be allowed unduly to trench. We must of 

 course have regard also to the necessity for a certain immediate 

 profit to the capitalist who has invested his money and who has 

 a right to carry on his operations as well as to the requirements 

 of legitimate and bona fide settlement. How shall all these 

 objects be obtained? The state can assist by aiding education 

 in forestry as well as by direct control exercised through state 

 regulation. 



Along these lines the Canadian Forestry Association is 

 working. Along these lines it is entitled to and should receive 

 the assistance of our Parliament and Legislatures. I have 

 very great pleasure in assuring you that not only do I take a 

 deep interest in the subject but that I shall be prepared to 

 support any reasonable measures within the limits of federal 

 authority which may be devised for aiding in a work of such 

 vital importance. 



Hon. Frank Oliver, Minister of the Interior — It is a priv- 

 ilege which I appreciate very much to take part in the delibera- 

 tions of this Convention, the object of which is so important to 

 our country. As the special agent or bailiff of this Dominion 

 Government having the -responsibility for the management of its 

 estate, it is for me rather to speak of what has been done, what 

 is being done and what is hoped to be done in regard to the 

 territory in the great North- West which is at the present time 

 under the direct management of the Dominion Government. 

 There the question is the direct opposite from what it is in these 

 eastern provinces. Here the great question is the preservation 

 of the forests with some small part of attention to production. 

 There, the great question is not preservation; it is creation of 

 the forests, with a small part of attention to the preservation 

 of such forests as there are. Everything that has been said 

 here or elsewhere in regard to the necessity of woods to success- 

 ful agriculture is borne out not only by the scientific knowledge 

 that has been acquired regarding the North-West, but also 

 by the experience of the people who have lived there. It is 

 accepted as a fact that the forest brings rainfall. We know 

 that the forest is an evidence of rainfall and that the forest brings 

 rainfall. It is interchangeable If you have the woods you have 

 the rain and by getting the woods you get the rain. It was 

 some time before I assumed the responsibility in this connection 

 that the Government took up this question of forestry in the 

 west and while the requirements are so vast as they are — I say 

 vast in comparison even with the available resources of this 

 great country— it cannot be expected that the conditions have 

 yet been met or even measurably met. The area of the North- 

 West is so great and the conditions of lack of forest have pre- 

 vailed for so many years, for so many ages, it may be said, 



