281 



A. The forest commission, in the first place,' said they would pro 

 ceed under this penalty law, suing people who had cut timber upoi 

 the State lands, for the $25 a tree; I went into Essex? county anc 

 was gone ten days or two weeks to lopk the country over and '. 

 came back to the forest commission and told them the conditio] 

 of affairs; I told them that they were blockaded by the courts, anc 

 that there were not surveyors enough "in the whole northern part o 

 the State to get the cases ready for trial; after lodking the matter al 

 over they finally decided to establish rules of settlement for all thosi 

 cases at one dollar and twenty-five cents where -the lumbermen ha< 

 cut the timber, and when he bought it of other parties, seventy centi 

 the log; that means a market log, hemlock and spruce ; no discrimi 

 nation. 



Q. How did that compare with tlie actual value ? 



A. The ten shillings was the full value in the dams at the mills ii 

 Glens Falls. 



Q. How did it compare with the value standing in the woods there 



A. That depends largely on where the timber stood with reference 

 to getting it to a stream; a good deal of timber wasn't worth ovei 

 twenty cents standing for hemlock logs, and others * ere worth thirty 

 five and forty cents, depending upon how near the timber was to i 

 stream; values varied all the time. 



Q. What difficulties did you find in the way of prosecution ? 



A. The difficulty in the way of prosecution was the knowing of th< 

 correct lines of these lots; in the first place you go to a man to secur< 

 him as a surveyor and unless he is educated as a surveyor so he cai 

 stand an examination from the opposite counsel, it is of no account 

 he has got to be a first-class surveyor in order to run those lines; thi 

 counsel will examine him, with another surveyor behind him to fur 

 nish the questions, and if he can't answer the questions they will as! 

 the court to declare him an incompetent witness, and the court has th< 

 disposition to do it. , 



By Chairman .Etan: 



Q. These lawyers will do that ? 



A. Yes, sir; they will when they are on the other side; now many o: 

 these lines were run many years ago; we ran the line on the Law 

 rence patent, and it had been ninety-three years since those lines hac 

 been run, and it had been eighty-seven years when we were then 

 since the lines of the Oxbow tract had been run; when you get youj 

 lines and have your surveyor so he can get through the court, yoi 

 have got to get your witnesses who can swear to the cutting, anc 



