186 . Canadian Forestry Journal. 



of fires, and the penalties were increased to a maximum fine of 

 $200.00, and not less than $50.00 in every case of conviction — 

 half the fine going to the prosecutor. Convictions under the 

 Act do not bar individuals whose property has been injured, or 

 destroyed, from suing for damages. Railway companies are 

 made liable for damage done through the medium of their 

 locomotives, and it is laid down that all engines shall be equipped 

 with approved appliances to prevent the escape of sparks and 

 cinders. Neglect to provide such appliances constitutes an 

 offence punishable by a fine of $200.00 in each case, as well as 

 liability arising out of a civil action. Under the Act of 1897, 

 every Government Agent, Gold Commissioner, Timber Inspector, 

 Forest Ranger, Mining Recorder, Provincial Police Officer, or 

 Constable, is constituted a fire guardian, and each of them is 

 enjoined to prosecute every case which may come to his know- 

 ledge. Every pre-emptor of Crown lands is furnished with a 

 copy of the Act at the time of his application. Enforcement of 

 the law is difficult in a territory so vast as British Columbia, and 

 in a majority of cases evidence is difficult or impossible to obtain. 

 The miscreant who deliberately sets fire to the woods is usually 

 careful to hide his guilt, and the hunter or prospector who leaves 

 his camp fire extinguished, or thoughtlessly throws a lighted 

 match, or cigarette stump, or "heel" of his pipe into the under- 

 brush, will in every case proclaim his innocence when confronted 

 with the serious results of his carelessness. Cases are rare in 

 which positive evidence can be secured, and magistrates are loath 

 to convict on circumstantial evidence, where the accused is a 

 poor man to whom the infliction of a heavy fine would prove a 

 great hardship. Many forest fires are also caused by lightning. 



The rigid enforcement of the " Bush Fires Act" is impossible 

 without the earnest co-operation of the people themselves. The 

 vigilance of an army of Forest Rangers would prove inadequate 

 to prevent the occurrence of fires without the sympathy and as- 

 sistance of the community. Eternal vigilance on the part of 

 every man, woman and child in British Columbia is necessary to 

 prevent our woods from suffering the scourge of fire, and in order 

 to create a general interest in the subject of forest preservation 

 the people must be educated to a sense of its importance to the 

 future of the country. The Canadian Forestry Association has 

 undertaken this work of education and every assistance should 

 be extended to enable it to make its work thorough from one end 

 of Canada to the other. The school children should be enlisted in 

 the army of foresters and taught that the wanton destruction of a 

 tree is a crime against society. I would like to see a copy of the 

 Association Journal placed in every school-house and in every 

 home in Canada, in order to awaken universal interest in the sub- 

 jects with which it deals. It is to the lumberman, however, that the 



