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[PUBLISHED DAILY.]
JUST TAXATION--CONOOMIOAL GOVERNMENT
PERFECT FREEDOM OF TRADE.
THURSDAY, AUGUST 18, 1898.
Australian' Governments have not
displayed forethought in dealing with
the timber-bearing areas of their re
spective colonies, ihemce a considerable
amount of revenue has been lost to the
Crown, and a valuable asset seriously
deterioi'ated. This fact il now recog
nised, and no doubt in future sys
tematic efforts will be put forth to
prevent ruthless destruction, and to
make provision for the time to come.
Tasmania up to the present has been
singularly remiss in safeguarding her
tiknber interests, and' the consequent
loss to the public exchequer can ,easily
be imagined. At one time she pos
sessed a Conservator of Forests, Mr.
George S. Perrin, who ani present occu
pies a similar. post in Victoria; his
successor being Mr. W. E. T. Brown,
now member for Campbell Town in
the House of Asembly. Ultimately
the office was abolished, and at pre
sent matters are conducted in hap
hazard fashion. Mr. E. A. Counsel,
Surveyor-General and Secretary for
Lands, has submitted to the Minister
a report on the timber industry of the
island, which every member of the
legislature should make it his special
business to carefully study. Mr,
Counsel starts by referring to the
absence of any accurate and complete
information, upon which a reliable es
timate may be made of the value and
extent of the numerous timber-beds
throughout the' colony. This is a
matter that calls for attention without
delay, for an up-to-date report is es
sential if reform in forest administra
tion is seriously contemplated.. An
increased demand has been made on
'our timber-beds of recent years, par
ticularly in the mining districts, and
large areas have also been destroyed
by fire. Under the circumstances it
is no use whatlelver depending updn
information that is. comparatively
speaking, ancient history, mand which,
in the light of late developments, is
not to be depended upon. A fai'ly
reliable estimate of how our timber re
sources stand at present, and showing
the demands likely to be made uppn
them in the near future, would no
doubt open the' eyes of legislators to
the true significance of the question;
then system would perhaps take the
place of the present policy of insuf
ficient contl'ol and general inactivity.
Mr. Couasel says that to make a mode
rately accurate estimate of the extent
of the various timber areas would
necessitate a personal examination.
Probably, he adds, one-fourth of the
island, or 4,000,000 acres, is e'opposed
of forest of more or less value. The
forest reserve consists of 33 blocks,
embracing a total area of 55,300 acres.
These blocks have not in all cases
been judiciously selected, some pos
sessing nIo timber of any commercial
value. The ilndustry, the report very
correctly points out, has been "utterly
neglected" in the past; many of the
best and most conveniently-situated
forests having been worked out with
out practically any direct advantage
to the Treasury. It is here that the
"penny-wise-and-pound-foolish" policy
of successive G'qvernmeats is glaringly
apparent. Instead of expending, com
paratively speaking, a few .pounds an
nually in maintaining a proper system
of forest control, a cheap and nasty
method has been adopted, which has
resulted in a loss to the public ex
chequer snot only in direct revenue,
but in the serio~us depreciation of
what should be a valuable asset
through the indiscriminate destruc
tion of miles of gbod timber.
At the present time Mr. Counsel
says-and the fact is known generally
-there is a considerable demolitifon
of timber beyond that which is ne
tuallff necessar-y in clearing the land.
The bush fires of the late summer
have to some extent been responsible
for this, but the report directs especial
attention to what Mr. Counsel de
scribes as "the enornmous consump-'
tion of valuable timber which is in
process of being destroyed in the
mining districts, particularly on the
West Coast." The rapid development
of this part of the island alone should
induce legislators to see that the inte
rests of the colony and of future gene
rations are duly protected, and that,
too, without delay. Then, again, we
are reminded that there is no con
stituted authority to prevent the
lighting of fires on unoccupied Ci'own
lands, except where the country has
been specially reserved. The conces
sion given to mining lessees by the
act of 1893, Mr. Counsel . holds, is
""enormous;" nay, for instance, in the
case 'of a man leasing such a large area
as 80 acres. The act gives him the
sole right to one-half the timber of
every kind upon his leasehold, a gift
far too liberal when the safeguarding
of public interests comes into, the ques
tion.
"Looking at the matter from every
standpoint," Mir. Counsel remarks, "I
am e'qnvinced that a system which pro
vides fixity of tenure for a number of
years, accompanied by a royalty pay
able to the State according to the
value of the timber, is the most equit
able, economical, and in every respect
the best suited to the saw-milling in
dustry. The royalty may either be
computed on the sawn timber at the
mill or 'an the estimated quantity con
tained in the tree as it stands; extra
supervision would, however, be re
quired. in the latter case." Among
other suggestions made by the Secre
tary for Lands are the proclanation
of forest reserves along all projected
railways and 'other places where valu
able timber-beds exist on Crown lands;
the framing of regulations to protect
young pine and other trees and plants
from destruction; the passing of strin
gent measures prohibiting the lighting
of bush fires on unoccupied Crown
lands; and the appointment 'of a forest
officer to act with the bailiffs of Crown
lanis and the district surveyors in con
netio;n with the timber industry, anLd
for other duties required by tlhe depart
ment. At the suggestion of the Pre
miter, who aclknowledged that Mr.
Counsel's policy seemed ~q be a good
one, the opi?ion! of Mr. Perrin was in
vited. This gentleman has, at the re
quest of the Tasmaniaan Government,
furnished an interesting and valuable
report, in which he divells especially
on the necessity that existed for the
questiloan of forest conservatioja being
taken up with a broad and liberal
policy, a.nd in a thoroughly systemnatic
manner." "THalf-her?ted measures,"
Mfr. Perrin very correctly observes,
"are mischievous and vexatious"
Among other reforms he suggests the
introductidn of royalties, and the
"block system," the prohibiting of
seleetion upon timbelr areas unti?l peir
manent reservation3 s have been mapped
out, the closin?g of thle wattle distriots
for from three to five years to give
time for recuperaioibn, and the placing
'of the forests and timber reserves
under the control of a trained expert.
In the reports submitted legislators
have before them the opinions of two
capable officers, wholse advice, let us
hope, will not be fruitless.
From the evidence given by the
General Manager, of Railways before
the Select Committee on the Tas
mmanian Central and West Coast Rail
way Bill it wouldl appear that the
charges on ore on the Strah?an-Zeehan
railway are diffe?rentiated according
to value. Thus Mr. Back states that
the rates for concentrates or high
grade ore is 5d per ton, per mile, and
that when the value falls below £6
per ton the rate, is 2d per ton per
mile, but that the reduction had not
brought about any remarkable in
crease in the quantity of low-grade
ore carried. He also stated that satis
factory arrangements had been made
with the manager of the Zeehan smelt
ing works for the carriage of ore, but
what the arrangements are was not
mentioned. Having thus put. the
General Manager right with the public
'on this point, it is interesting to note
some other features of hai evidence.
Mr. Back contends that a Mole Crdek
railway would never carry catitle to
Zeehan, as owners can now send stock
from the extreme end of the North-.
West Coast, presumably Ulverstone,
for 5s per head in truck loads. Taking
an average beast at from Gcwt. to
7cwt., this would mean three to the
ton; therefore, the rate for live stock
from Ulverstone to Hobart, a distance
of 204 miles, would be 15s per ton, or
something like nine-tenths of a penny
per ton per mile. When this is com
pared with the ehargei on ore the
great difference is at once obvious,
seeing that ore worth, on the average,
£ 11 per ton is required to pay 5d per
ton per mile, or 36 miles, for 15s, aand
ore under the value 'of £6 per ton per
mile is charged 2d per ton per mile,
or 90 miles' for 15s. If the "value"
principle is sound, then a, ton of beef,
which at 20s per cwt. is worth £20,
should pay nearly double the rate of
first-class ore, instead of which it does
not pay one-fifth. fMr. C. II. Hall, whb
is evidently a staunch believer in' re
ducing the rates on the West Coast
lines, was led into a lengthy contro
versy with the General Manager, who
renmarked that any man whose mind
was not trained to railway work might
well fall into the mistake of compar
ing rates on railways in one country
with those in ,another. This is obvious,
for in comiparatively level districts,
where engines can taie five times the
load that they can in Tasmania, it is
but natural that rates should be less.
But in the case: quoted the compari
sons are drawn between one 3ft. Gin..
line in Tasmania and another. It is
admitted that from a commercial
standpoint it may be advisanble to
make reductions in through rates be
tween one seaport and another to
compete with water carriage,' but the
wide difference between: the items
cited would hardly be justified by the
conditions. A ton of live stock re
quires more space than a .ton of ore,
and also more careful handling. From
a railway expert's pboin.t of view the
difference may be justified, but
the ordinary commercial mind cannot
formulate satisfactory reasons for the
wide divergence in rates.
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