No conviction under any one of the four sections quoted from Chapter 277 of the Public Statutes has come to our knowledge. It was the unofficial opinion of a distinguished Justice of the Supreme Court of New Hampshire, lately deceased, Hon. William S. Ladd, that this was due to the popular judgment that the offense involved no atrocity, to the difficulty of its detection, and to the lack of adequate reward for the performance of such service.

The above statute relating to railroads is deemed by competent judges to have stimulated these corporations to take due care against causing or spreading forest fires. The commonlaw liability above described has been effective in restraining persons of pecuniary liability in the use of fire upon their own premises. Suits by injured parties to recover the damage thus caused are of frequent occurrence, and are often successful. (See Report of Forestry Commission, 1885, pp. 95-97.)

Despite these provisions of law, statutory and common, both the first and second Forestry Commissions recommended the adoption of more stringent laws for protection against forest fires. In 1893 the Legislature first acted upon these recommendations, and (An Act for the Establishment of a Forestry Commission) enacted the following:

"SECTION 3. The selectmen of towns in this State are hereby constituted fire wardens of their several towns, whose duty it shall be to watch the forests, and, whenever a fire is observed therein, to immediately summon such assistance as they may deem necessary, go at once to the scene of it, and, if possible, extinguish it. In regions where no town organizations exist the county commissioners are empowered to appoint such fire wardens. Fire wardens and such persons as they may employ shall be paid for their services by the town in which such fires occur, and, in the absence of town organizations, by the county."

Two years' experience has convinced the present Forestry Commission that this law must prove ineffective. That Commission, in its report for 1895, pp. 35-36, says:

"There is little fault to be found with the manner in which the selectmen of towns have discharged their duties as fire wardens, and that part of the law which clothes those officials with the power to protect the forests of their towns against fire, appears to require only slight modification. That part of the law, however, which relates to the protection of the great forested areas, which are found in the unincorporated townships of the northern counties of the State, should, in the opinion of this board, be amended. The provision by which county

commissioners were empowered to appoint fire wardens for places where no town organizations exist has been wholly inoperative, and, despite the frequently renewed and often vigorous and personal protests of this board, not a single fire warden for such places has been appointed under the provisions of that act.

"Thus what appears to us to have been the plain intent of the framers of that act has been nullified by the neglect of the county commissioners to give effect to its only administrative feature. The only excuse given for this neglect, so far as we know, is that the cost of protecting these areas of forest ought not to be borne by the county, but that it is the duty of each man to protect his own forest."

To supply the defect thus discovered in the administration of the law, the last Legislature, by an act of March 29, 1895, provided as follows:

"SECTION I. It shall be the duty of the forestry commission, upon application by the owner or owners of any tract of forest land situated in a locality where no town organization exists, to appoint a suitable number of special fire wardens for said tracts, to define their duties, to limit their term of employment, and to fix their compensation. The expense attending the employment of said special fire wardens shall be borne one-half by the party or parties making the application for their appointment and one-half by the county in which said tract of land is located.

"Approved March 29, 1895.”

The territorial area of Northern New Hampshire, in which no town organization exists, is relatively large, and much of it is heavily timbered. Hence the enactment just quoted, if wisely administered, promises a larger measure of protection than has ever before been supplied against the ravages of forest fires in the localities where it is most needed.

Investigation of Forestry Conditions.

In order to obtain information to serve as a basis for forestry legislation, the State has authorized the appointment in succession of three Forestry Commissions. The first temporary Forestry Commission was authorized by the act of June 29, 1881, which provided that:

"The Governor, and such associates as he may appoint to act with him, are hereby constituted a commission to institute an inquiry into the extent to which the forests of New Hampshire are being destroyed by the indiscriminate cutting of wood and timber for transportation to other States; also, the effect, if any, produced by the destruction of our forests upon our rainfall, and consequently upon our ponds and streams, and into the wisdom or necessity for the adoption of forest laws."

This Commission, which expired by limitation in two years, was by the act of September 15, 1883, extended for an additional term of two years. Its report, submitted to the Legislature in 1885, treated of the five following subjects:

1. Forest areas.

2. The forests of New Hampshire in their relation to the amount of rainfall, the water supply, and the climate of the State.

3. The trees and shrubs composing the New Hampshire forests, their distribution, relative abundance, and utility.

4. Forest management and reforesting.

5. Forest fires.

It is not improper to add that this report is one of the most valuable of those that have been made upon this subject in any State of the Union, and that the subsequent Forestry Commissions of this State are greatly indebted for the thoroughness with which this investigation was conducted. But public interest was not yet awake to the necessity of further specific legislation for the protection of the forests. The gradual encroachment of the lumberman's axe upon the White mountain forests, several destructive fires along the lines of summer travel in that region, and the realized close dependence between water supply and the growth of our manufacturing interests contributed to keep alive agitation and sufficed to lead to the establishment of a second temporary Forestry Commission. This Commission was appointed in accordance with the act of August 16, 1889, which reads:

"WHEREAS, The preservation of the forests of New Hampshire is essentially necessary, not only for the prosperity of our vast manufacturing interests, but also to preserve and increase that natural beauty of scenery so attractive to our visitors; and

"WHEREAS, The hills and mountains in this State are being rapidly denuded of timber and rendered unsightly by the acts of private parties owning the same; therefore,

"Resolved, That the Governor, with the advice of the Council, is hereby authorized and empowered to appoint a commission consisting of three able and discreet men, who shall examine and ascertain the feasibility of the purchase by the State of the whole or any portion of the timber lands upon the hills and mountains in the State, near summer resorts, or bordering upon the principal sources of the water supplies needed for manufacturing purposes, with the view of preserving the same as public lands and parks, and report their finding to the next session of the Legislature."

The report of this Commission, presented to the Legislature in 1891, was based upon a careful examination of the mountain regions of the State, and contained in its first half an analysis of the functions of mountain forests, under four heads:

1. The preservation of the mountains themselves by clothing them with soil.

2. The supply of timber.

3. The formation in the soil of natural storage reservoirs for the retention and distribution of water.

4. The production and maintenance of such conditions of the soil, water, atmosphere and scenery of the region as are highly favorable to human life, health and enjoyment.

And in its second half statistics and discussions relating to the leading natural resources of the State, its agriculture, timber supply, manufactures, the attractions of its scenery for tourists and summer visitors, the railroads in the State, roads and paths, forest fires, and the inter-dependence of our leading industries. This Commission recommended:

1. That the large expense involved in the condemnation by the State for public purposes, by the exercise of the right of eminent domain, of very extensive areas of its mountain forests, and the undefined limit of the legislative power to authorize the same, render it unwise for the State to proceed far in that direction, and that it confine its action to tracts of small extent, and to those whose condemnation is undoubtedly demanded by the public welfare.

2. That a permanent Forestry Commission be appointed, whose duties should be substantially those now prescribed (An Act Establishing a Forestry Commission, 1893) for the existing Commission.

3. That the penalties for the careless or wilful firing of woods or forests be increased, and that the selectmen of towns be constituted fire-wardens for their respective towns, and that in localities where no town organizations exist county commissioners should act as fire-wardens.

These recommendations respecting fire-wardens also were embodied in the act above cited of 1893.

This second temporary Commission appointed for two years was, by the act of April 10, 1891, extended for an additional term of two years. Its second report, submitted to the Legis

lature in 1893, contains an extended discussion of the various phases of the forestry question in its relations to the permanent interests of the State, and concludes by suggesting the following remedies to prevent the further squandering of the forested wealth of the State:

"1. That, as favorable opportunities offer, the State should purchase of their owners such tracts of denuded land as it may be deemed advisable for the State to acquire, and forever after hold and manage them in such manner as the general interests of its people require.

"2. That, as favorable opportunities occur, the State should purchase of their owners tracts of forest from which all trees of a stipulated size have already been or may be subsequently removed by the seller; said lands to be forever after held and managed by the State in such manner as the general interests of its citizens require.

"3. The resumption of ownersip by the State through the exercise of its right of eminent domain, of important tracts of land, like mountain passes and mountain summits, to be forever after controlled by its government, and devoted to the enjoyment of the public.

"4. That, as favorable opportunities occur, the State should purchase of the proprietors of such forest property as it may wish to control, agreements restricting the owners and their heirs, administrators, and assigns, forever, to cutting of such trees only as are above a stipulated size."

The third, and present Forestry Commission, was intended to be permanent. It was constituted in accordance with the recommendations of the second temporary Forestry Commission, outlined in its report for 1891. The act establishing this present Commission, approved March 29, 1893, provides that the Commisison shall consist of the Governor, ex officio, and four other members, two Republicans and two Democrats, who shall be appointed by the Governor, with advice of the Council for their special fitness for services on this Commission, and be classified in such manner that the office of one shall become vacant each year.

"SECTION 2. It is the duty of this commission to investigate the extent and character of the original and secondary forests of the State, together with the amounts and varieties of the wood and timber growing therein; to ascertain, as near as the means at their command will allow, the annual removals of wood and timber thereupon and the disposition made of the same, by home consumption and manufacture as well as by exportation in the log; the different methods of lumbering pursued and the effects thereof upon the timber supply, water power, scenery and climate of the State; the approximate amount of revenue annually received from the forests of the State; the damages done to