160 Canadian Forestry Journal. 



that no quarter of the Dominion could have been taken in pre- 

 ference to Vancouver and in British Columbia. 



"It is no vain boast of the Canadians who live in the West 

 to say that the timber wealth of this Province is illimitable, and 

 that there is no place in the known globe where the timljer can 

 compare in quantity or in quality with the huge forests of British 

 Columbia. (Applause.) It has been to those who have charge 

 of the business of the country a serious matter w^hen they come 

 to consider just how far reaching their responsibility with regard 

 to the timber industry really is. His Excellency has sounded 

 a note of warning. He has spoken of countries where wanton 

 waste has resulted in deforestration, and he told us that we must 

 be careful in this Province not to repeat the same experience. 

 The warning is well-timed. I find in my intercourse with lumber- 

 men that verv great surprise is occasioned among those engaged 

 in the industry in the East at the wasteful practice which prevails 

 here of allowing a great deal of valuable timber to lie and rot in 

 the woods, which, down in the interior and eastern parts of the 

 continent, would be considered a marketable commodity. The 

 first duty of British Columbians is the preservation of the forests, 

 and the economical operation of the lumberindustry. (Applause.) 



" Up to date British Columbians have been trying to do the 

 very best they can with the resources at command. It must be 

 remembered however, that the superficial area of this Province is 

 much greater than the area of the Province of Ontario, or that 

 of Quebec, or of all the maritime provinces put together. When 

 it is considered that a mere handful of taxpayers has the respon- 

 sibility of attending to this immense area, I think it must be ad- 

 mitted that the Province has done remarkably well. But the 

 Province is not satisfied with what it has done. (Applause.) 

 The people were quite sensible of the situation which stares them 

 in the face. They know that the tremendous forest fires which 

 rage in the summer and fall mean the destruction of thousands 

 of dollars' worth of valuable timber. We know that awa}^ be- 

 yond the zone in which Vancouver finds herself, away down in 

 the interior of the Province, the same waste goes on, and we 

 realize that the responsibility rests upon us to deal with the 

 problem as soon as it is possible to do so." (Applause.) 



After acknowledging the ready co-operation which the Pro- 

 vincial authorities receive in this direction from the Dominion 

 authorities in the same field, Mr. McBride said it was a matter 

 for great congratulation that such a spirit of co-operation was 

 manifest in the Province between employers and employed in 

 the lumber industry. To-day, he said, the mills of the Province 

 were running, he believed, at their full capacity. They had 

 orders that would keep them so employed for months to come, 



