xl Appendix, 
State, should ever be subordinate to their conservancy for climatie con- 
siderations and improvement, to meet the demands of the future. So long 
as this is borne in mind, and we are not tempted to overdraw and trench 
on the capital as well as the income of our forests in the shape of timber 
and minor produce, there is no reason why they should not be dealt with 
like any other property, nor why the State, as proprietor in trust for the 
publie, should not derive from them the maximum amount of revenue 
compatible with the general welfare of the people. 
The financial aspect forms always an important item for consideration 
in the conduct of our affairs, whether public or private, and at present the 
financial question is, I may say, paramount with the Government and 
people of New Zealand. I am not, therefore, surprised at the general satis- 
faction with which the publie press has received my statement at Dunedin 
that the Forest Department should be entirely self-supporting, though I 
am surprised that it should never have struck people before that this could be 
done, as it has been done in other countries. I have no hesitation in reite- 
rating the Dunedin statement, and proceed to explain how it is to be done. 
We cannot, of couse, maintain a department for the selection of reserves 
and their improvement, supervision of unreserved forests, forming planta- 
tions, ete., without money; but we may, I think, get that money from 
sources hitherto untapped, in, short by disposing of our surplus property, 
which we do not want, and which is much better in other hands, to the best 
advantage. No one in his senses would propose to reserve and keep perma- 
nently locked up, either for climatic considerations or prospective money 
value, one tithe of the forests of this colony as they now exist. Time and 
careful exploration, and selections on a definite System, can alone show what 
we should keep, and what may be parted with ; but I may say broadly that 
probably nine-tenths of the existing area under forest in N ew Zealand may 
in time be cleared away, or at least not specially reserved, and devoted to 
the growth of timber. I propose that Government, i.e., the publie, should 
claim and take a fair share of the value of the timber remaining on the 
waste lands of the colony, and not allow it, as has been almost universal 
heretofore, to be monopolized solely for the benefit of individuals, or still 
worse, wasted and destroyed. I do not, let it be well understood, advocate 
for a moment, injurious restrictions on settlement, or withholding bush 
land not suitable for reserves from sale and occupation. To do so would be 
to put a stop in some districts almost entirely to the progress of the country ; 
but I do say that whilst we are selecting the reserves (a matter which will 
take some time), and subsequently with regard to the margin left as unre- 
served, a system may, without inconvenience, be introduced and worked, 
under which Forest Officers shall be consulted by the Waste Lands Boards 
