Conservation of Resources. 



161 



the first call to the people of the United 

 States was followed by another, which 

 embraced the whole of the continent, 

 and is shortly to be followed by one em- 

 bracing the greater part of the civilized 

 world. It is anticipated that from these 

 gatherings and from the information 

 they disseminate much good will flow. 

 Canada is to be congratulated that the 

 Federal Government has taken action 

 in this matter. The Canadian Forestry 

 Association should bestir itself to lay 

 before the new Conservation Commis- 

 sion everything affecting these re- 

 sources, which it is the aim of the Asso- 

 ciation to protect. 



Our water supply, whether for irri- 

 gation, industrial or domestic uses, or 

 for navigation, depends for its proper 

 regulation on our forests; the conser- 

 vation of the moisture in the soil of our 

 fields is aided b}' the preservation of the 

 forests; our mineral wealth cannot be 

 developed without timber, so much of 

 which is used in our mines. Our forests 

 in retarding the flow of water derived 

 from the spring thaws or from storms 

 prevent flood and erosion. 



The principles of the Irrigation Act 

 could with advantage be extended all 

 over Canada and all matters relating to 

 one subject covered in one Act. For 

 instance, it has been held that the Act 

 does not apply to waterpowers. 



Mr. Pearce refers with approval to 

 the address of Mr. George Otis Smith, 

 Director of the United States Geological 

 Survey, at the Irrigation Convention at 

 Spokane. The people of Canada should 

 know what the United States is doing 

 to protect the public rights in the public 

 domain, and Canada should be urged to 

 'take similar action. By an Order-in- 

 Council of October 31st, 1887, the Gov- 

 ernment reserved to itself, in all the 

 lands not alienated from the Crown, the 

 right to the minerals throughout those 

 portions of the Northwest Territories 

 west of the Third Meridian. It would 

 be well to extend that reservation to all 

 lands controlled by the Dominion, and 

 the provinces urged to adopt the same 

 principle. Some of the provinces (Nova 

 Scotia, at least) have, it is understood, 

 always acted on it, so far as coal-beds 

 are concerned. Mr. Smith at Spokane 

 urged that the price of all lands disposed 



of should be based upon the quantity 

 and quality of the article sold, and Mr. 

 Pearce holds that this should be ap- 

 plied to all natural resources. The pro- 

 ceeds of the sales of United States public 

 lands are made available for the re- 

 clamation service. Canada will soon be 

 in the position of the United States, 

 namely, that the lands that can be re- 

 claimed by private enterprise will be 

 exhausted. Canada could therefore with 

 advantage adopt the policy of the 

 United States with respect to the area 

 to be reclaimed by irrigation. There 

 is in Alberta and Saskatchewan, south 

 of the North Saskatchewan River, in 

 addition to what will probablv be bene- 

 fitted by private irrigation enterprise, 

 a large area of land which would be 

 greatly benefitted by irrigation, and 

 which when irrigated would at least 

 quadruple the value of the non-irrigable 

 portions. 



The close relation of irrigation and 

 forestry is noted by Mr. Pearce, and in 

 this connection he states that he has 

 burned several cords of wood cut out 

 of a windbreak planted by himself less 

 than twenty years ago. 



Mr. Pearce has asserted for years that 

 the people of Canada have been living 

 in a fool's paradise, regarding their 

 timber resources. This assertion he 

 finds borne out by the evidence of Mr. 

 R. E. Young, of the Department of the 

 Interior, before the select Standing Com- 

 mittee on Forests, Waterwavs and 

 Waterpowers, on April 6th, 1909. In 

 his evidence Mr. Young stated that 

 there was an astonishing lack of infor- 

 mation about forests. Estimates of 

 forest area run from 800,000,000 acres 

 down to 100,000,000. His Excellency 

 Earl Grey, addressing the Canadian For- 

 estry Convention at Toronto in Feb- 

 ruary, 1909, put the area at 354,000,000 

 acres which was perhaps the best esti- 

 mate. But there was no doubt that 

 Canada's area of merchantable timber 

 was much smaller than that of the 

 United States. 



Mr. Young's evidence regarding the 

 timber of the Northwest and Northern 

 British Columbia is quoted bv Mr. 

 Pearce at considerable length, and Mr. 

 Pearce states that Mr. Young's conclu- 

 sions are more optimistic than his own, 

 after having given attention to the sub- 



