Abstract: Commission to Investigate and Report on the Best Method of Administering
the Crown Timber Lands, 1892
In 1890 the Executive Council of the New Brunswick
struck a commission to investigate
a range of issues connected with the administration of Crown
Lands, including the relative merits
of long and short leases, a discussion of the rate of stumpage to be charged with special reference
to European markets, a discussion of the relative advantages and disadvantages of the lumber
trade in northern and southern regions of the province, the question of advantageous changes to
be made in respect to the scaling of logs and lumber, and, interestingly, a discussion of the
"protection and conservation of the forest wealth of the province".
The Commissioners, A. F. Randolph,
Frank Todd, and Allen Ritchie, began by
distributing a questionnaire across the province to obtain pertinent information. A number of
witnesses were subsequently interviewed. From these sources the Commissioners arrived at
some unequivocally stated conclusions.
Regarding the question of the length of leases, the Commissioners reported that it would
be in everyone's best interest, both for the Crown and
lessees, to make tenure as long as possible.
This, they argued, "would lead to more prudent and economical methods of operating", and it
would ultimately prolong the life of the resource.
The Commission also reported that, because Baltic wood was produced more cheaply and
France had one year prior instituted a restrictive tariff, New
Brunswick lumber producers would be effectively barred from making much (if any) profit at a
higher rate of stumpage for spruce and pine. However, the Commissioners also reported that
because northeastern American producers were fast running out of spruce resources, the time
would come in the not-to-distant future when New Brunswick's lumber industry would become
increasingly profitable. As such, the Commissioners recommended careful husbanding of the
resource. To advance this cause, they suggested strict and strident penalties be applied to those
illegally cutting immature trees. They also stated that "no reasonable expenditure should be
considered too great for the protection of timber lands from fire."
h.c.
Commissioners:A. F. Randolph
Frank Todd
Allen Ritchie
D. G. Smith
