10 CANADIAN FORESTRY ASSOCIATION 



will be borne which can be made commercially profitable; but the time will 

 come when posterity will bless the enthusiasts who adopted a policy of that 

 kind and carried it out. (Applause). I have personal knowledge (because 

 I have had some experience in the backwoods of this Province) of an area 

 of pine timber that was burned over and absolutely reduced to ashes, that 

 is at the present day and I am not an extremely old man covered thor- 

 oughly with a growth of white pine, which although not yet commercially 

 useful, will in the course of twenty or thirty years become a valuable piece 

 of pine forest. (Applause). When one knows of such a case as this, he 

 feels that he can speak with more positiveness on a subject of this kind than 

 if he has to deal with mere theories. Now, I think I have spoken unneces- 

 sarily long to an audience composed, as this is, of experts and others, and 

 I have probably expressed views which are too much in the nature of A, B, 

 C, to be at all useful or entertaining; but before sitting down I wish to 

 express my opinion that no more useful Convention could be held than one 

 whose object is to consider not merely the protection of the forests which we 

 have, though that is all-important, but the adoption of a policy which will 

 provide forest resources for the future. (Applause). 



The PRESIDENT : I have now much pleasure in introducing a repre- 

 sentative of the Toronto Board of Trade, in the person of its President, 

 Mr. Watson. 



THE PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD OF TRADE. 



Mr. President, Your Excellency, Your Honour, Ladies and Gentlemen-, 

 I wish to assure you of the pleasure it was to the Toronto Board of Trade 

 when we learned that it was the intention of your Association to hold its 

 next Convention in Toronto. It is a very good idea that you should meet 

 in different parts of the Dominion, for in so doing you must necessarily 

 distribute valuable information throughout the country on a subject that is 

 certainly most vital to the different parts of Canada, and your visit must 

 necessarily excite interest that would otherwise remain dormant. The sub- 

 ject of Forestry is one that appeals to all Canadians who have the welfare 

 of their children at heart; for you are endeavouring to pile up an asset for 

 this country to be used by future generations. We all know that selfishness 

 is one of the greatest curses of humanity, while unselfishness is one of the 

 noblest attributes of mankind. And what more unselfish and noble object 

 can a man set before him than that of sowing where others may reap? 

 (Applause). I wish to assure you of the hearty sympathy of cnr Board of 

 Trade with the objects you have in view, the co-operation of many of our 

 members as far as it lies in their power, and personally of the great pleasure 

 it is to me to welcome you to the City of Toronto. (Applause). 



THE PRESIDENT : We will now have the pleasure of listening to an 

 address from the Honourable Mr. Fisher, Minister of Agriculture for the 

 Dominion. 



