Brief Remarks on the Work and Aims of the 

 Commission of Conservation 



BY 



Sir Clifford Sifton 

 Chairman of the Commission 



GENTLEMEN : I regret that, as my time is pretty well occupied, 

 I am not able to give myself the pleasure of being present at 

 your sessions. I must depend for accurate information on reading 

 the report of the addresses afterwards and I shall give myself that 

 pleasure when the papers are reported in the Proceedings of the 

 Committee. I called mainly in order to congratulate you upon your 

 success in bringing about this meeting. 



Importance Dr. Jones will remember that, when I suggested that 



of Committees ^e take the chairmanship of this Committee, he was 

 over-modest in his estimate of his capacity satisfac- 

 torily to fill the position, and I can assure you, gentlemen, that I had 

 to exercise some pressure upon Dr. Jones in order to induce him to 

 accept this responsible position. I expressed the idea to him then, as 

 I have expressed it to the members of the Commission once or twice 

 since the work of this Commission started, that there was a good deal 

 of danger that it might degenerate into a one-man-power affair. That 

 is to say that, on account of the fact that I was the only resident 

 executive officer, there was a great danger that it might degenerate 

 into an organization which would be directed altogether by myself 

 and that, as a result, the activities would be very greatly limited because 

 one man's power is very limited, no matter how good his will may be. 

 To the best of my ability I have tried to avoid that by asking the 

 Chairmen of Committees to exercise their functions as far as possible 

 independently of me ; that is to say, to follow their own lines of policy 

 and to develop their own work. I am satisfied that only in that way 

 could we have achieved as satisfactory results as we have in the course 

 of our work in the last four or five years. We can look back now 

 and see where we have accomplished very great and satisfactory 

 reforms in connection with the affairs of Canada. In this particular 

 branch of the fisheries, there have already been some substantial 



