CANADIAN FORESTRY ASSOCIATION. 3] 



this should be done in the case of railways through forests. Your remarks, 

 Sir, about the pamphlet on forestry to be distributed among the schools are 

 excellent. I think if some extracts could be incorporated from the address 

 of the Secretary, Mr. Lawler, delivered in St. John a few evenings ago- 

 one of the finest addresses on educational forestry I have ever had the 

 pleasure of listening to it would be a good thing. 



MR. ELLWOOD WILSON (Grand Mere, Quebec) : When a man buys 

 something from the Government he has a right to expect he will get what 

 he is paying for, and when the Government requires that the limit holder 

 should bear the whole expense and the whole trouble of fire fighting, the 

 Government is certainly confessing its weakness. I think it is perfectly 

 patent to everyone that the limit holder will have a great deal of difficulty 

 in taking care of forest fires. One company or limit holder may have an 

 excellent system of fire protection, may have telephone lines and do all 

 in his power to prevent fires from originating or spreading to his lumber. 

 But what protection has he against the careless, indifferent or impecunious 

 neighbor on one side or the other? It is not right that he should have to 

 protect his own part and all contiguous territory as well. 



Another problem has to be faced. We have had to take care of the 

 protection along the right-of-way of the railway companies. The National 

 Transcontinental Railway Commission has done nothing in this matter at 

 all except bear a portion of the expense. This railway will be of great 

 value to the wheat interests of the West, and a great deal of trade and 

 commerce will pass through the whole northern country. But from the 

 lumbermen's standpoint the railway means nothing at all in the way of 

 benefit, except in the way of getting in supplies. But, on the other hand, 

 the railway is to the forest one of the worst possible things. There is no 

 way in which you can protect your territory from fire along the railway at 

 any sort of reasonable expense. And it would seem that when the Gov- 

 ernment gives the railway the right to run through this Province, it should 

 saddle on the railway company the entire protection of the surrounding 

 country. (Hear, hear.) In accordance with this, this Forestry Conven- 

 tion has certainly a great work to do, and which has been more or less 

 neglected in the past. The Forestry Association has been so officered that 

 any direct expression of opinion on any subject which in any way touches 

 on politics was almost impossible. Of course, the whole value of this 

 Association lies in every one working together, and everything being as 

 harmonious as possible, but the Association has a very grave duty. It is 

 necessary for public opinion in Canada to be aroused, and it is necessary 

 to more or less initiate and direct legislation. Legislatures have not got 

 time to examine questions which are of importance to the Forestry move- 

 ment. It is difficult for legislative bodies to get the necessary information 

 and to take the necessary action contingent on that information. Now, it 

 seems to me, this Forestry Association ought to focus public opinion on 

 the things which are necessary in regard to the conservation of our forests, 

 and this can only be done by divorcing this Association entirely from politi- 

 cal control. We want an Association which will represent the people of 

 Canada and represent the interests of Canada, but which will not be con- 

 stantly afraid of hurting somebody's feelings if an expression of opinion 



