Canadian Forestrij Journal, December, 1918 



1993 



THE WESTERN FOREST. 



Hon. J. A. Calder, Minister of 

 Immigration and Colonization, has 

 given out the following statement 

 dealing with the question of the 

 natural resources of the western 

 provinces: — .. 



"Numerous statements are ap- 

 pearing in the press of western Can- 

 ada to the eiTect that the Federal 

 Government has refused to deal with 

 the question of the transfer of the 

 natural resources to the Prairie Pro- 

 vinces. Those responsible for these 

 statements must know that they do 

 not represent the existing situation 

 as regards this problem. Briefly 

 stated, the following are the facts: — 



"Early in the year it was decided 

 by Sir Robert Borden, upon the re- 

 quest of Premiers Norris, Martin 

 and Stewart, that the question of 

 the transfer of their resources would 

 be made the subject of discussion at 

 a general provincial conference to 

 be held later in the year, which con- 

 ference was finally held last month. 



"At the conference it was clearly 

 intimated that the Federal Govern- 

 ment agreed with the principle of 

 the transfer of the resources, and the 

 whole discussion proceeded along 

 the line of endeavouring to arrive 

 at an agreement on the terms and 

 conditions under which the transfer 

 might be made. All the provinces of 

 Canada, except the Prairie Pro- 

 vinces, maintained that they had an 

 interest in the matter, and that the 

 Prairie Provinces should not be per- 

 mitted to retain their grants in lieu 

 of land and at the same time have 

 transferred to them their natural 

 resources as well. 



"Tentative suggestions were made 

 by the Federal Government to the 

 effect that it might be advisable for 

 the Dominion to retain control and 

 ownership of the forest reserves, 

 national parks, and water-powers, 

 and that in the public interest some 

 provision might be made whereby 

 the Federal Government in the 

 future, if it so desired, could secure 

 limited collieries. These were mere- 

 ly suggestions for discussion. • 



"At the close of the conference it 



was apparent the representatives of 

 the provinces could not agree, and 

 finai'y the Prairie Provinces, the 

 Eastern Provinces, and British 

 Columbia submitted their views as 

 to the question either by formal 

 resolution or statement. 



"As yet the Federal Government 

 has reached no decision regarding 

 the final settlement of the question. 

 The matter is still under considera- 

 tion, and the purpose of the Govern- 

 ment is to endeavour to find an 

 equitable solution of the problem. 

 Any policy which may be formu- 

 lated must of necessity be submit- 

 ted to and approved by Parliament. 

 The Government itself cannot decide 

 a question of this nature. 



MAKING BUTTONS FROM WOOD 



The wooden button industry in 

 the United States has received a 

 decided impetus, as a result of the 

 activities of the Government in the 

 prosecution of the war, according to 

 a bulletin just issued by the United 

 States Tai-ilT Commission. The cen- 

 tre of this industry is in Providence, 

 R.I., although some wooden buttons 

 are being made in other New England 

 cities. 



Before the war the industry had 

 an extensive foreign trade, exports 

 going to England, Germany, France, 

 Belgium, Austria and South America. 

 England was perhaps the largest 

 customer until shipments ceased, as 

 a result of Great Britain placing an 

 embargo on the enameled wooden 

 button. 



White birch from the forests of 

 New England provides the raw ma- 

 terial for manufacturing these wooden 

 buttons. The trees are cut in the 

 winter and the logs are sawed at the 

 mills into squares four feet long, each 

 side measuring from H to 4 inches, 

 the squares differing in size. They 

 are seasoned or cured for about six 

 months so that the wood may be 

 worked into all shapes. At the fac- 

 tories these squares are known as 

 "Spool Stock." 



