Patriotism in Forestry. 



163 



Dr. B. E. Fernow, Dean of the Faculty of Forestry of the University of Toronto. 



timber and the opening up of the 

 country was the object, this system 

 worked well enough, although an un- 

 necessary and undesirable liberality al- 

 lowed the timber limits to be retained 

 in the hands of licensees and their 

 claims to be extended not only to the 

 grown, but to the growing timber. 

 Now, however, when it was recognized, 

 first that the virgin timber supply was 

 not only not inexhaustible, but near 

 exhaustion, when there was no more 

 need to force settlement, when there 

 was no more difficulty to induce capital 

 to embark in timber exploitation, when 

 the revenue question was not an}' more 



urgent, and the need of considering the 

 future ought to be most prominent, the 

 antiquated license system had become 

 an evil, which should be excised or 

 thoroughly reformed to permit a 

 rational use of the remaining forest 

 resource. 



According to the reading of the li- 

 censes the Government had the right 

 to change the conditions of the con- 

 tract and impose new ones. While this 

 would theoretically enable the Govern- 

 ment to impo.se such conditions as 

 would protect the future of its prop- 

 erties, prevent conflagrations and s 

 cure a satisfactory young growth, pr ^ 



