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The National Geographic Magazine 



ment of the public lands is left to the 

 provincial governments and the national 

 government where the ownership of pub- 

 lic lands is left to the national govern- 

 ment. If it so happens, and I am afraid 

 it has happened, that some portions of 

 these watersheds have been alienated 

 from the public domain and have been 

 transferred to private ownership, it should 

 be the policy of the national government 

 and it should be the policy of the provin- 

 cial governments to repurchase these 

 lands and bring them back to the public 

 domain. 



THE EXPERIENCE; OE NEW YORK STATE 



The state of New York has inaugu- 

 rated such a policy. The state of New 

 York years ago made the mistake — I was 

 going to say committed the folly, and 

 perhaps that word would not be too 

 strong- — of alienating part of the water- 

 shed of the Adirondack Mountains. We 

 know the fatal consequences that have 

 arisen from that policy in the droughts 

 which have, more than once, been the 

 bane of that beautiful state. And now, I 

 understand, the legislature of the state of 

 New York has passed laws authorizing 

 the administration, as fast as possible, to 

 re-acquire these lands and make them a 

 part of the public domain. If in any part 

 of Canada a similar mistake has been 

 made, a policy such as that adopted by 

 the state of New York should be adopted 

 here, and the national or provincial gov- 

 ernment whose business it is should make 

 it their object to bring back to the public 

 ownership the lands that have been 

 alienated and make these forests a part of 

 the national domain, as is done in Ger- 

 many, France, and some other countries. 

 (Applause.) On this point, I am sure, 

 we all agree. 



REPRODUCING THE FOREST 



The next consideration for which I 

 would invite the deliberation of this con- 

 vention is the reproduction of the forests. 

 Our system of treating the forests is to 

 lease them to the lumbermen for the pur- 

 pose of taking off the merchantable tim- 



ber. I do not know whether this policy is 

 advisable or not. I believe that on the 

 whole it is advisable. But no effort is 

 made to replace the timber that is taken 

 away from what we call the limit under 

 that policy. 



In Germany and France, I understand,, 

 it is the accepted policy, a policy that has 

 been followed for generations, when a 

 tree is removed in any way, to replace it. 

 by the planting of another tree. (Ap- 

 plause.) I am not prepared to say that 

 such drastic conditions should be imposed 

 upon the lumbermen, though I am not 

 prepared to say, on the other hand, that a 

 plan of this kind should not be taken 

 under advice. At all events, I submit to- 

 this convention that we ought to do 

 something more than we are doing at the 

 present time. (Hear, hear!) It is not 

 fair to the country — it is not fair to us 

 who are living, and still less is it fair to 

 the generations to come after us — that 

 we should allow the destruction of the 

 forest to go on year by year, by the cut- 

 ting down of the trees and make no effort 

 whatever to replace what is thus taken 

 away. The trees are a crop like any 

 other growth. True, they are a crop of 

 slow growth ; but that is the only differ- 

 ence between trees and any other crop. 

 In this, as in every case, when a crop is 

 taken off, steps should be taken to replace 

 it at once with another. I said a moment 

 ago that I was not prepared to say that 

 when the lumberman in the course of his 

 work takes away, say, 300,000 trees in a 

 year he should at once plant 300,00a 

 trees; but I do ask this convention to 

 consider what should be done in that 

 matter. One thing might be asked,. 

 whether of the lumbermen or of the state,, 

 that where trees are taken away, trees 

 should be seeded, so that we may have a 

 crop coming on all the time. 



THE BEAUTIFUL, PINE FORESTS ARE RAP- 

 IDLY DISAPPEARING 



It is a fact which we face with some 

 degree of sadness, even to mourning, that 

 Canada in a few years will be devoid,, 

 absolutely devoid, of the beautiful pine 



