NEW BRUNSWICK FORESTRY CONVENTION 185 



burnt by fires causing a stoppage of business and loss of time in putting 

 these poles back. 



Now I think if the Government would make it an object for the sealers 

 throughout the province to take charge of their different districts and in- 

 augurate a system similar to the one that I have used as I have stated to- 

 you, I feel sure that in their capacity as "fire wardens during the summer 

 they would have considerable interest in the work, and acting as deputy fire 

 wardens they would have control of their districts and be in a position to- 

 order men on any fires that might take place, and should they fear that the 

 fires were getting beyond their control, they should be enabled to call in the 

 assistance of the deputy fire warden in the adjoining district. 



In an organization of this kind there should be some provincial head 

 who would keep in touch with the sealers as deputy fire wardens, and the 

 sealers themselves should see that the different officials throughout the 

 county such as road-masters and constables should comply with the Act as 

 in section 12. And I feel sure that where a system of this kind would be 

 inaugurated it would have a great deal better effect than any system of 

 forest rangers. For this reason : Our province is intersected by a great 

 many settlements which have been distributed over nearly all of it and were 

 several men interested and ready to take action at any moment in these out- 

 lying districts, I am sure that they would be in a better position to discover 

 fires than any one forest ranger in any given district appointed by the Gov- 

 ernment who might be walking on one side of a hill through the woods and 

 a half a mile distant on the other side of the hill, with the wind blowing 

 away from him a fire might be raging, and he, . the ranger, know nothing 

 about it. 



This is a thought which, if carefully looked into, you can see is very 

 plain, that is, that it would be impossible for the Government to appoint 

 a sufficient number of forest rangers so as to work out beneficially for the 

 reason that they can only see over a certain amount of territory at one 

 time, while our settlements practically cover the whole of the province by 

 eyesight. 



I might say in cannection with the above that I have arranged with 

 the lumbermen throughout my territory where they have men in the woods 

 in the spring months looking after their camps, supplies, and so forth, that 

 may have been left over, to have these men notify the lumbermen whenever 

 they saw any indications of fire, and I have requested that the different 



