38 North American Forests and Forestry 



one hundred pounds. There were other regula- 

 tions, designed to prevent wasteful lumbering, 

 some of which were not ill-devised and might have 

 been approved by the colonists had they been im- 

 posed for their benefit instead of that of the 

 mother country. For instance, in 1705 a penalty 

 of five dollars was provided for cutting "pitch 

 pines or tar trees " of less than twelve inches di- 

 ameter. As it was, all these regulations were cor- 

 dially hated, and poor Bridger had a lively time of 

 it. When he seized timber illegally cut, it was 

 often rescued by mobs ; juries refused to convict 

 offenders on the plainest evidence ; the marks on 

 the king's trees were cut out by persons who, by 

 way of adding insult to injury, put the broad ar- 

 row on worthless little runts. Bridger's life was 

 frequently threatened, and he was accused of all 

 sorts of malfeasance. Once he had to go to Eng- 

 land at great expense to defend himself against 

 charges of corruption. The Board of Trade, un- 

 der whose jurisdiction he was, pronounced him 

 innocent and he resumed his ofifice. His succes- 

 sors showed no better results than Bridger in en- 

 forcing the laws, although it is said that they knew 

 better how to make out of the ofifice profits which 

 would not look well in official reports. The irrita- 

 tion growing out of these laws did not cease until 

 British dominion came to an end. 



One of the causes of legitimate dispute regard- 

 ing these regulations grew out of the vague and 

 inconsistent character of reservations contained in 



