CANADIAN. POKES TEX ASSOCIATION. 35 



barkpeelers, I ; dwelling, I ; unknown, 18 ; total, 66. The extent of country 

 burned over was 161 square miles, the approximated damage, $30,000; 

 cost to Province of fighting fires, exclusive of regular patrol, $4,138.93. 



Hon. Mr. Hazen, after quoting from the report of the Surveyor- 

 General, as above, went on to say that the Province was divided into four 

 districts with a chief fish, game and fire warden over each. This official 

 received $800 per year and expenses. All the wardens combined the duties 

 of fish, game and fire protection. The expense of the system to the Prov- 

 ince in 1909 was over $40,000, and the amount received from game 

 licenses was about $34,000. Although the duty of these officers was to 

 protect the Crown lands, yet they did go in and fight fires on private lands 

 with a view to preventing their spreading to Crown lands. The licensees 

 have the guarantee of a certain amount of protection from fire because of 

 this system. Some of those who had just spoken, had held the Government 

 should insure the limit holders, the lessees, against the burning of the tim- 

 ber on their limits, that the Government should see that the limit holder 

 got the timber he bargained for. But he held there could be no positive in- 

 surance against fire on the part of the Province. It could be argued only to 

 a limited extent that the Province should insure timber against fire. No 

 landlord renting a house would insure his tenants against fire, and the same 

 was true of the Crown in leasing timber lands. At the same time the Crown 

 Land Department could co-operate with the licensees to protect from fire 

 and it would do more in the future than it had in the past in this direction. 



The greatest danger that now threatened the forests of New Bruns- 

 wick was from the line of the National Transcontinental Railway where it 

 crossed the timber lands of the Crown, the New Brunswick Land Company, 

 and the Alex. Gibson Company. This was a portion of the country where 

 there were no settlers. During the construction of the National Transcon- 

 tinental Railway there had been comparatively little damage, but there 

 would be new danger when the operation of the line began. The Gov- 

 ernment of New Brunswick had required the National Transcontinental 

 Railway Commission to put on guardians for fire protection. That Act 

 was subsequently repealed, because it was felt the Province had not power 

 to pass such legislation, but it was understood that the Commission would 

 thoroughly protect the line. Subsequently there was a conference between 

 the Government and the Commission, and the former offered either to 

 patrol the line and charge up the expense to the Commission, or to make 

 the railway officers fish, game and fire wardens, they to protect the country 

 along the line from fire. The latter offer was accepted and the railway 

 officers came to Fredericton and were sworn in by the Surveyor-General, 

 thus being invested with the same powers as fire wardens appointed by the 

 Province. Any owner of timber lands could have his fire rangers invested 

 with all the powers of a fire warden appointed by the Province in the same 

 way. 



Since there would probably be a repetition along the line of the Na- 

 tional Transcontinental Railway of what had occurred on other lines, it 

 would be well for the Convention to address itself to the question of the 

 practicability of running trains through forest districts, either by fuel oil or 



