Canadian Forestry Journal, July, ipi6. 



619 



Civil Service Efficiency 



"The civil service of Canada," 

 says the Ottawa Citizen, editorially, 

 "has many able and fearless and 

 conscientious men and women in it. 

 What an asset it would be to this 

 country to have its civil service free 

 from the menace and molestation of 

 patronage ministers, who really re- 

 flect a bygone age of barbarism and 

 not the science of government as it 

 is understood in this the twentieth 

 century. It is only necessary to re- 

 view the immense service the 

 Auditor General has been, and still 

 is, to Canada, to get a glimpse of 

 how much better off the Dominion 

 w^ould be if the entire civil service 

 were elevated to the same plane of 

 economic security and freedom from 

 patronage domination. The Cana- 

 dian public should welcome any 

 movement to put the civil service 

 on a better basis. Could such a 

 movement not be initiated from 

 within the service itself?" 



It has been pointed out frequently 

 that the outside service of the Do- 

 minion Forestry Branch can be 

 brought under the merit system of 

 the Civil Service Act without new 

 legislation. Were such action taken 

 it would remove one of the worst 

 drags on efficiency which the coun- 

 try is compelled to carrv. 



Mr. Ellwood Wilson, Forester of 

 the Laurentide Company, recently 

 made a trip to an aeroplane factory 

 to examine aeroplanes and see if 

 they would be practical for forest 

 lire ranging work. He reports that 

 while for finding fires they are en- 

 tirely practical, they are so difficult 

 to launch and to land with at pres- 

 ent that they are hardly practical 

 as yet. "A suggestion made by 

 someone that clearings of seven or 

 eight acres in extent be made at 

 convenient places in the forest for 

 landing and starting is out of the 

 question, as such clearings would be 

 too expensive to make and keep 

 clear, and the great value of the 

 aeroplane would be its ability to 

 travel fast, see over a large are'a at 

 once, and to alight near a fire and 

 extinguish it. This latter is the most 

 important and the most difficult 

 thing for an aeroplane to do. Of 

 course, a flying machine travels so 

 fast that a fire could be reported 

 without delay, but by the time a 

 crew was organized and transported 

 some fifty or one hundred miles the 

 fire would have gained a big start. 

 It is certain, however, that these 

 disadvantages will soon be overcome 

 and the necessity for lookout towers 

 and slow-moving rangers will be 

 done away wnth." 



Lectures at Summer Resorts 



The Secretary of the Canadian 

 Forestry Association will deliver a 

 series of "Forest Travelogues" at 

 the largely populated summer re- 

 sorts of the ]\Iuskoka Lakes and 

 Georgian Bay, during the last 

 week of July. 



Arrangements have been made 

 for the following itinerary : 



Minnicoganashene. Georgian Bay. 

 Friday, July 21. 



Wawa Hotel, Norwav Pt., Alon- 

 day, July 24. 



Highland Inn. Algonquin Park, 

 Tuesdav. Tulv 25. 



The Monteith House, Lake Ros- 

 seau, W^ednesday, July 26. 



Beaumaris. Thursday, July 27. 



Elgin House, Friday, July 28. 



The Roval Muskoka, Saturday, 

 July 29. 



In building up the attendance at 

 these lectures the Association has 

 had the assistance of hotel manage- 

 ments, railways, etc. One hundred 

 and fifty pictures are given during 

 each lecture. The Association bears 

 all expenses, including advertising, 

 printing, etc., thereby leaving to the 

 local authorities the sole responsi- 

 bility of securing a good audience. 



