Railways fail to shift responsibility jor fires 



near tracks 



I'lioii tli<> applii-.itioii of tin- Caiiiiiliaii 

 PuLiiic Kailwav, the Kailway I'c'.iiiiiijision 

 hel<l a hearing April G at Ottawa, in con- 

 nection «ith that portion of the Hoard's 

 General Onler No. I(i7, which places upon 

 railways the responsibility for extingwishintj 

 fires which occur within 300 feet of the 

 track, unless in each case the railway in 

 question shall show that it was not re- 

 sponsible for the origin of the fire. The 

 contention of the CIMi. was that this clause 

 should be eliminated from the order, so that 

 the railways wouM be primarily responsible 

 for the extinguishing of only such fires 

 outside the right of way as should lie posi- 

 tively known to be due to railway causes. 



HOARD NOT lONVlSCKD. 



The .»^howing made by the railways was 

 not sufficient to convince the Board, and 

 the application was dismissed, with, how- 

 ever, the understanding that, should they 

 see fit, the railways might later re-open the 

 matter on the basis of requesting a reduc- 

 tion in the 300 foot limit, should they be 

 able to fecure sufficient evidence to justify 

 such action. It has been suggested that 

 possibly a reduction to 200 feet might be 

 justified, and the matter may be re-opened 

 later on something like this basis. It would 



■ From Other Editors 





"The announcement by the Surveyor- 

 General of Xew Brunswick that 'the Gov- 

 ernment intends to look carefully into the 

 large <)uantities of pulpwooil exjiorted from 

 the Province and will j>ut an end to the 

 cutting of undersized timber by cancelling 

 the licen^es of those jiarties foun<l guilty of 

 the practice' will be greeted with ap{>roval 

 by all interested in the development of the 

 Province s resources j>roviding the Surveyor- 

 (leneral understands exactly what he means 

 by 'undersized.' '' — Pulii and Piiprr Maga- 

 zine. 



"The Canadian Fore-strii Journal is the 

 niode>t organ of an important movement. 

 The last number shows what is being done 

 in reforesting bare slopes and timber lands 

 to prevent carrying away of soil in storms 

 and to con>erve the water supply, as well 

 as to make om-e more productive timber 

 land whiih has been mistakenly cleared for 

 agricultural, and rendered entirely bar- 

 ren." — Montreal IVeekhj tt itness. 



seem, however, that as a result of tne hear 

 ing of April (i, the princijde may be con- 

 sidered definitely and finally established in 

 • 'aiiucia, of placing the onus on railway 

 companies to lie responsible for extinguish- 

 ing lircs which occur on or near their rights 

 (if way, except where the comjianies can 

 show that specific fires were <lue to other 

 than railway cam-es. That this is a pro- 

 gressive and neces^ary jirovision is being 

 recognized to an increased extent on this 

 continent, anil it has not yet been shown 

 that it impoM's a sufficiently st vere liardshi(i 

 on railways to justify the sacrifice of public 

 interest which would be involved in its aban- 

 donment. 



(ooi'KUA Tius m:i:i)i:i>. 



There is, however, no doubt that, in full 

 fairness to the railways, there should be a 

 greater degree of co-operation on the part 

 of the Dominion ami Provincial Govern- 

 ments and timber owners, particularly in 

 reihicing the fire hazard resulting from the 

 large accumulations of inflammable debris 

 on lands immeiiiately adjacent to railway 

 rights of way. A beginning has beeji made 

 in this direction, liut for the most part the 

 situation is urgently in need of attention. 



Every Reader Should Fill 

 in these Blanks. 



Sccrclm _\ 



Canadian Forestry Association, 

 Journal Building, Ottawa. 

 I believe that the following persons 

 would be interested in knowing atiout 

 the work of the Association and nnght 

 be persuaded to become members: 



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Kindly mail this to the Secretary as early 

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73 



