312 



Canadian Foresfrx Journal, December, 1915. 



except among those who are directly 

 concerned, Mr. Ross." 



The Problem of Tenure. 

 "The original problem was ex- 

 tremely complicated," said the Min- 

 ister. "But we've straightened all 

 that out now, and I believe that I 

 may claim that the result is a 

 thoroughly sound piece of construc- 

 tive legislation. It was this way,— 

 an immense timber resource was idle 

 and unproductive, contributing next 

 to nothing to the development of the 

 Province. We needed revenue, but 

 we were firmly determined not to 

 sacrifice one jot or title of the peo- 

 ple's heritage. So, we permitted the 

 staking of timberlands — anyone 

 could stake cutting rights over a 

 square mile of timber by paying $140 

 a year rental and paying a certain 

 stumpage (we call it royalty) on 

 such logs as he might actually cut. 

 That was a good proposition for the 

 lumberman who wanted timber for 

 a mill and did not want to sink capi- 

 tal in buying stumpage ahead. But 

 there were strings on this conces- 

 sion, in the public interest. Neither 

 the annual rental (which is a sort of 

 interest charge) nor the royalty on 

 cut logs was fixed. They could be 

 changed at any time to meet any 

 rise in timber values that might oc- 

 cur. So the public was well pro- 

 tected. On the other hand, it was 

 left to the changing opinion of suc- 

 cessive legislatures — (ours are elect- 

 ed every four years) — to decide 

 what rental or royalty should be 

 charged. That uncertainty gave 

 British Columbia timber licenses a 

 weak standing as securities, and 

 made the financing of the lumber 

 business difficult in consequence. 



Rentals for Long Period. 



"For a time no solution of this 

 problem could be found. In the end, 

 with the co-operation of the parties 

 affected, a basic principle was work- 

 ed out, and then we passed the Tim- 

 ber Royalty x\ct of 1914. That gave 

 security of tenure to the licencee — - 

 fixed a rental for forty-five years 



ahead and. a royalty on a sliding 

 scale. If the wholesale selling price 

 of lumber throughout the Province 

 goes up above a certain figure the 

 royalty goes up. If it goes below 

 that figure there is a definite royalty 

 charge to correspond. The people 

 of this Province and the lumbering 

 industry are, therefore, partners in 

 the timber. The terms of the part- 

 nership are straightly defined. There 

 is no more room for uncertainty, as 

 is the case with timber or timber- 

 lands in the Western States for ex- 

 ample, where taxation may increase 

 several hundred per cent, in a few 

 short years. The timber license of 

 British Columbia is henceforward an 

 absolute safe security." 



"With regard to the development 

 of the lumber business, Mr. Ross, 

 what have vou to say concerning 

 that?" 



"Just a matter of transportation. 

 The Province has developed a fine 

 system of railway transportation in- 

 land ; so far we have not done the 

 same seawards. There has been 

 chronic congestion at the Coast, a 

 lack of sea-going tonnage that has 

 been stifling our export lumber 

 trade. Remove that and the rest 

 follows — expansion in the lumbering 

 business, foreign markets, activity in 

 every form of commerce." 



"A few figures to show the pre- 

 sent stage of the lumbering indus- 

 try in the Province." 



No Lack of Plant. 

 "A mill capacity of 2}4 billion 

 feet — we shall soon increase that 

 when we have ocean transportation 

 to take up the business offerings 

 from all over the, world that we are 

 obliged to turn down to-day. An 

 actual output, in these hard war 

 times, valued at twenty-nine mil- 

 lion dollars, a thousand million 

 shingles shipped to market in the 

 year ; the new pulp and paper in- 

 dustry producing three million dol- 

 lars a year already; some of the 

 largest plants in the world for saw 

 and paper mills — these are a few 

 points that show our lumbermens' 



