For private circulation only
(to be submitted to the Fourth Annual Meeting of the ConservationCommission of the Dominion of Canada in 1913.)
The original address on Animal Sanctuaries in Labrador was publishedin the spring of 1911. The Supplement was published in the summer of1912. The present Plan, or Second Supplement, is now being submittedfor consideration to the Fourth Annual Meeting of the Commission ofConservation at the beginning of 1913.
These papers are published for free distribution among those who areinterested in the preservation of wild life. They are to be obtained onapplication to The Secretary, Commission of Conservation, Ottawa,Canada. But both the Address and Supplement are almost out ofprint.
Communications on the subject itself should be addressed direct tome:—Colonel Wood, Quebec, Canada.
I gladly take this opportunity of thanking the many experts whose kindhelp has given my papers whatever real value they possess. Some of theseexperts have never been called so in their lives, and will be greatlyastonished to find that they are called so now. But when I know they arethe thing, why should I hesitate about the name? In any proper meaningof the word there are several first-class "experts" among my friends whogo fishing, sealing, whaling, hunting, trapping, "furring" or guidingfor their livelihood. And I hereby most gratefully acknowledge all Ihave learnt during many a pleasant day with them, afloat and ashore. Theother kind of experts, those who are called so by the world at large,have been quite as generous with their information and advice. In fact,they have been so very generous that perhaps I should call myself theeditor, rather than the author, of the Supplement, as more than halfof it is occupied by extracts from their letters concerning theAddress.
It might be as well to restate the argument of this Address in thefewest possible words.
An eagerly exploiting people in an easily exploited country, we are onlytoo apt to live on the capital of all our natural resources. We are alsoin the habit of developing one thing at the expense of everything elseconnected with it. The value of these other things often remainsunrecognised till too late. For instance, reckless railways burn forestswhich ensure a constant flow of water for irrigation, navigation, powerplant, and fish, besides providing wood for timber and shelter for birdand beast. The presence of a construction gang generally means theneedless extermination of every animal in the neighbourhood. Thepresence of mills means the needless absence of fish. And the presenceof ill-governed cities means the needless and deadly pollution of waterthat never was meant for a sewer. The idea is the same in eachdisgraceful case. It is, simply, to snatch whatever is most coveted forthe moment, with least trouble to one's self, and at no matter whatexpense to Nature and the future of man. The cant phrase is only toowell known—"Lots more where that came from". Exploitation is destroyingnow what civilisation will long to restore hereafter. This is lamentablytrue about material things. It is truer still about the higher thanmaterial things. And it is truest of all about both the material andhigher values of wild life, which we administer as if we were the finalspendthrift heirs and not trustees.
Animal sanctuaries are places where man is passive and the r