TOP-LOPPING IN THE ADIRONDACKS 85 



It is essential to the enforcement of any law, that the people con- 

 cerned should fully understand its purpose, and sympathize with the 

 object sought to be obtained. A law requiring lopping only above a 

 3-inch diameter limit would undoubtedly appeal to the general public 

 and to the lumbermen, as being more reasonable than the present 

 requirement for the lopping of all tops without regard to size. The de- 

 tails of administration could readily bp handled through the assignment 

 of a sufficient nimiber of rangers to keep constantly in touch with the 

 operators in the woods and assist them in the execution of the law with- 

 out tmnecessary resort to the infliction of penalties. 



Shifting the Cost to the Consumer. — Since lumbermen and pulp- 

 wood operators in the Adirondacks are affected alike by the top-lopping 

 law, it might be maintained, that, in the long run, the extra cost of lop- 

 ping would nattirally be regarded as a necessary element of total cost, 

 and would appear in the form of higher prices to the saw or pulp mills, 

 thus shifting the burden to the consumer. This, however, is met by 

 the argument that the prices of pulpwood are determined not so much 

 by local operating costs, as by the competition of outside sources of sup- 

 ply, particularly the Canadian forests, where top-lopping is not required. 

 It is also pointed out, that values of pulpwood at the mill are partially 

 determined in a general way by the market prices of paper, and that 

 these prices are regulated by competition throughout the country, so 

 that a local matter like the New York top-lopping law could have but 

 little if any effect in bringing about such a readjustment as to shift the 

 cost of lopping to the ultimate consumer. It appears, therefore, that 

 for the present at least, the bulk of the extra cost of lopping must be 

 borne by the land owner. 



Protective Measures on Government Lands. — Where the Government 

 is a land owner, whether State, Provincial or Federal, the individual 

 can have no reasonable complaint as to the imposition of conditions 

 looking toward the protection and perpetuation of the forest. This is 

 true since he necessarily takes these conditions into consideration in 

 fixing the amount of his tender or bid for the privilege of cutting. In 

 case of renewal of a license, the conditions, whether new or old, are again 

 considered fully, and the prices are adjusted to correspond, so that 

 the burden of the protective measures falls upon the Government, 

 where it belongs, since it is chiefly interested in maintaining the perman- 

 ence of the forest as such. 



Elasticity in Requirements Desirable. — It will be noted that the 

 top-lopping law in the Adirondacks provides a rigid and unyielding 

 system for minimizing the fire danger due to cutting operations. It 

 might, with much apparent justice, be argued, that, tmder some cir- 



