854 



Canadian Forestry Journal, December, igi6 



Pointed Evidence. 

 Brief comments were made by most 

 of the members of the deputation, all 

 expressing confidence in the Minister's 

 intentions to place Ontario's forest ser- 

 vice in the front rank of Canadian pro- 

 vinces. Mr. Ellwood Wilson, Presi- 

 dent of the St. Maurice Forest Protec- 

 tive Association of Quebec, gave a suc- 

 cinct outline of the results obtained 

 from the use of modern protective 

 methods. The application of a set- 

 tlers' permit law did not alienate the 

 settler, as some might anticipate- Tact- 

 ful education was a sufficient weapon 

 to overcome prejudice, and the threat 

 of legal penalties sufficed for the fev« 

 recalcitrants. Mr. Frank Hawkins, as 

 Secretary of the Lower Ottawa Forest 

 Protective Association, gave the Min- 

 ister a valuable resume of the success 

 in combatting fire during 1916. Sir 

 Edmund Walker, President of the Ca- 

 nadian Bank of Commerce; Mr. W. E. 

 Bigwood, President of the Canadian 

 Lumbermen's Association ; Mr. James 

 White, Deputy Head of the Commis- 

 sion of Conservation ; Mr. Parsons, 

 Vice-President of the Canadian Manu- 

 facturers' Association; Mr. T. H. Hall, 

 representing the Canadian Fire Under- 

 writers' Association; Mr. Arthur 

 Hewitt. President of the Toronto 

 Board of Trade; Mr. James Simpson, 

 representing labor unions of wood- 

 workers; Mr. Cyril T. Young, of the 

 Canadian Northern Railway ; J. G. El- 

 liott, President of the Canadian Press 

 Association; C. M. Auer, representing 

 Porcupine mining interests, and the 

 township of Tisdale and town of Tim- 

 mins in Northern Ontario, presented 

 very helpful comments- The latter 

 speaker frankly told the Minister that 

 the -fire hazard had been greatly in- 

 creased by the 1916 conflagrations, and 

 that the population could not be held 

 in the country if prompt protective 

 measures were not taken. 



The Association's Part. 

 The introduction and conclusion of 

 the Canadian Forestry Association's 

 memorandum were as follows, (the 

 body of the document containing de- 

 tailed observations of the Ontario sys- 

 tem being omitted here for lack of 

 space.) 



"The part played by the Canadian 

 Forestry Association in relation to the 

 Ontario forest protection system has 

 had as its object the educating of public 

 opinion upon the value of the forest 

 possessions and the wisdom of guarding 

 them against the waste of fire. Such 

 questions as the extent of forest fire 

 losses, the dependence of forest indus- 

 tries upon accessible and abundant sup- 

 plies, the profitable results of modern 

 patrol systems, the common-sense of 

 the 'permit plan' for controlling set- 

 tlers' clearing fires all required discus- 

 sion and in affording the means for this 

 we aimed to bring the people to intelli- 

 gent conclusions as to their existing 

 forest laws and administration. 



"The effect of the educational cam- 

 paigns has been to stimulate public 

 conviction and to provide necessary 

 support for this Government in adopt- 

 ing an advanced policy. We come be- 

 fore you to-day not to emphasize what 

 we believe are the shortcomings of the 

 system which has been inherited from 

 previous Governments, but to assure 

 the Minister of Lands, Forests and 

 Mines of our full confidence in his de- 

 sire to give Ontario the most useful 

 plan of forest protection that can be 

 devised. We congratulate him upon 

 the investigations he has set in motion 

 for the securing of full information, and 

 do not doubt that the new basis of or- 

 ganization for forest protection pur- 

 poses will bring the province of Onta- 

 rio within reasonable reach of its great 



responsibilities 



"We recognize that the rousing of 

 public sentiment on the question of On- 

 tario's forest service has been due more 

 to the terrible loss of life in the Clay- 

 belt fires that to any other considera- 

 tion. The lack of official data on 

 provincial forest conditions, annual 

 losses from fires, etc., as reflected in 

 the annual reports of the Department 

 of Lands and- Forests, has been partly 

 responsible for previous public indif- 

 ference to the seriousness of the situa- 

 tion. What was not reported upon by 

 the Department was too often accepted 

 as a matter of no public concern. 



"The proof of the efficiency of mod- 

 ern protection systems is available on 

 every hand, in the 24,000 square miles 

 of privately-managed limits of Quebec, 



