OUR FORESTS AND UNEMPLOYMENT.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 545, 28 June 1909, Page 4

OUR FORESTS AND UNEMPLOYMENT.

—* —-' The-.Timber'. Commission has at' last concluded its labours, although its report and recommendations have' not yet been made public. The .Commission spent something over two months in a more or less pleasant' perambulation of- tho Dominion) and succeeded in discovering a number of things in regard to the industry which most people knew before, or which, if they did not, might easily have been ascertained by the officers'. of. the Lands Department in tho different, /dis-, tricts concerned. Howcvor, the parlous plight of the sawmilling industry demanded action of some kind, and the Commission was the'easiest way out for a much harassed Government. It- now seems plain that the Commission ' will prove almost as valueless as it was costly. Even allowing for the actual need of an inquiry into the conditions, affecting our timber industry, the.Commission was unwieldly in point of numbers, its personnel was. composed of divergent and antagonunits, and tho conduct of its pro: ccodings was marked by: an abnormal amount of irrelevancy and unnecessary repetition,; The chief point, at; issue appeared to centre' around the' importation of/Oregon pine. In regard to this, the advocates of Oregon had their supporters amongst the members of the "Commission, as opposed to the special pleaders for pur own sawmillers, who claim that .their business in. many: centres has been seriously injured by' the American competition., On, this particular question ..tho weight of opinion amongst the users;..of timber appeared 'to •be that .'Oregon possesses/certain advantages over local-tim-bers, particularly in the matter of seasoning arid in 'the ■ lengths available,' / The result will probably be a compromise under which it will be recommended that .the, duty, on tho longer lengths''of';' imported timber wilhbc removed or reduced, while the shorter- lengths will have ;to pay a heavier duty. /:'•... /■'./. ■/;;/ .;-.■ /'•■'■ ; ;'' ; .

Two questions included .within the sco'p'o of the investigation, however, were of oven wider interest arid concern than the-, immediate future' of; thb 'sawmilling industry. ;Theso.were.in rogard to.'conservation of .bur existing bush arid afforestation. Tho ; propriety of tion was in .the main opposed, by, the. sawrnillers, some!of w)iom appeared, to, hold the view that posterity should bo allowed to lookaftcr-itsclf.,'! The. ever-present risk of the : dangar of destruction of.'our foTests by fire was'also.dwclt on. 'The: former .argument—although thoroughly: intelligible, coming from thoso interested in a, struggling industry,.wbich-is. finding it hard enough to. live ■ in .'■ the. present with-' out thinking• of the ; future l —cannot be .so lightly dismissed by the public: The .lesson taught-by Spain,'and .other countries,: which, in. bygone "days,; were ruthlessly: denuded of .their, ■'■. timbpr,. .'cannot' : bo ignored., .In.regard to.the rislc,'from'fire; that no doubt is a serious one,, and' in America has been taken seriously,in handHero it has been; practically, ignored. At.the present 1 rate ofr denudation our timber, supply, will.:, be 'completely.-"';'ox-'' hausto'd in'- .something :, like...thirty-fivo years';' much of ihe landWw.iwdpdcd will bo utterly unsuitable for'agriculturaiand pastoral purposes;' climatic changes ofV deplorable character will almost' incyik ably/ensue; 'and'.a largo/proportion of our bush; areas"wiir be ; cpnverted*:irito "a'bar-! rcn.'unbcautiful,. and unprofitable, wilder-', ncss. This raises a: sorious prospect; with : which our : Legislature .has ' beon'fall'tpo' tardy: in grappling, especially, in vibw"of the .fact ■ that our', native' itimbbrs : do riot . reprpduco,themselves— i do" >in ;tho United States- and other countries—and that;so far we have practically n'6 system'' of affprestetibn.' ; To'dignify'the.wbrk of a few gangs of prisoners on .isolated patches of ground by that name would be rather absurd..: .■ '■'■ •<,'■;' ; .' ■. ;; .V '.:■'{':

; On this subject of afforestation tho'need °f, a.! properly-oqu'ipped ' : State 'Forestry Department appears to be urgent. -'Already tho, United; States,; Germany, and : other countries' have .addressed themselves seriously ..to the question, -and adapted sweeping": methods to guard; against a doarth of: timber in , the ;years:; to comei That wo in' New Zealand have been"back- : ward in this respect is undeniable, and some day a heavy penalty will bo paid for our In the opinion of exports, much of our waste land could be : advantageously .planted with Home., and other timbers .which' maturo within: a comparatively short span of years, and could be' made: to supply\tho place of tho rapidly-disappearing native forests. have, on ' previous occasions directed ■tho attention;of the,Goyerhmcnt' to this-sub-' jeet, and pointed out that systematic treeplanting by the. State would be a means of finding profitable employment to many of those iinfortu'nate enough 1 to be out of work, .during •tho"winter;•' months!.,. -We again./commond: this view to "Ministers; They aro finding work for unemployed at bushfetling, let them find equally, profitable '.employment-profitable aliko to the individual and ; to .the State-in taking steps to replace the "forests which are be-ing-swept away../...,.-. ..-; •