4 Transactions.— Miscellaneous. 
purposes. Had measures in that direction been carried out ten years ago, 
when in the House of Representatives Mr. Potts moved, “ That it is desirable 
Government should take steps to ascertain the present condition of the forests 
of the colony, with a view to their better conservation ;"—had the forest ques- 
tion been then more practically investigated and considered in allits aspects, 
especially in that of the income which State forests, under systematic treat- 
ment, can afford to the publie purse, without either their climatic advantages 
being disturbed through the fellings, nor the supply being reduced below 
the demand, as evidently would have been (and still would be) the case in 
New Zealand—we might have had by this time the same extent of railways, 
less a heavy indebtedness, and also fewer alienations of valuable timber 
lands. Furthermore, we should have now a surplus income, which fund 
would afford a means for a more equitable distribution of the public revenue 
towards municipal interests than the present allotment of lands for such 
purposes can allow. 
The Government may yet be in time to recur to such a policy, and there 
are facts demanding their immediate consideration of the question. Thus, 
the probable duration of the financial resources at present derivable from the 
sales of the forest lands requires serious attention. If we compute the total 
area of the Crown forests, which may be accessible and available for absolute 
disposal, we shall find that it could hardly comprehend more than one- 
eighth part of the area of the whole estate, officially stated, in 1877, as 
29,000,000 acres, valued at £16,000,000. Then, by selling yearly those 
forests to the amount of £400,000 or £500,000, with the addition, mean- 
while, of the land grants, endowments, etc., and also adding the value 
of destruction perpetrated on the leased forests, it becomes evident that 
these operations, if continued, will, in the course of a few years, com- 
pletely alienate the most valuable portion of the public estate. Thereby 
a source of State income, by nature made lasting and abundant, will be 
dried up for ever. The alienated forest will gradually disappear under the 
exigences of individual interest, which demand more immediate returns 
for labour or capital than the conservation of forest lands can afford, and 
the destruction of the forest areas will lead to disasters resulting from floods 
and droughts, which will be severely felt by the Colony. 
However, the State expenditure must be provided for through the ways 
and means allowed by the Legislature; and the purport of this paper is 
simply a humble attempt to ascertain, so far as data and information at 
hand will permit, whether the material interest of the Colonial Treasury, as 
well as that of the country at large, may not be further promoted through 
the establishment of State forests than by the temporary financial resources 
derivable from the forest alienations, 
