Conceived in Liberty Volume 2 - Ludwig von Mises Institute

twelve-inch diameters or more (but the diameter was measured from
higher up than in the Massachusetts charter) located in any of the Northern
colonies; (2) placed naval stores on the enumerated list; and (3) granted
generous bounties for the exporting of naval stores to England, including
pitch, tar, rosin, turpentine, hemp, masts, and other timber. Thus the carrot
was combined with the stick. Cutting of the bigger trees, moreover, could
be done only under special royal license.
To ensure enforcement of the restrictions and to encourage naval-stores
production, the English merchants had the Board of Trade send John
Bridger to the colonies. Concentrating on the New Hampshire coast,
Bridger was still unable to enforce the restrictions. What is more, the
Massachusetts General Court refused to follow the lead of New Hampshire
in reaffirming the restrictive clauses of the Massachusetts charter. Consequently,
Parliament passed the White Pine Act of 1711, extending those
provisions of the charter to New England, New York, and New Jersey.
Moreover, the White Pine Act of 1722 prohibited cutting without royal
license any white pine trees that were publicly or privately owned and
growing outside township limits in New England, New York, or New
Jersey.
The restrictions still proved unenforceable. As Bridger began to get convictions
of woodsmen committing violations, the neighbors of the offenders
refused to buy their condemned property at auctions and therefore the
government could not collect its fines. Furthermore, Bridger's zeal was
cooled by woodsmen threatening to shoot him if they caught him interfering
with their livelihood. The sturdy New Hampshire frontiersmen, dependent
on timber cutting for their livelihood, averred that "the king has
no wood . . . and they will cut what and where they please." Indeed, the
regulations could not be enforced, even though further restrictions were
imposed on the cutting of pine trees. In 1729, cutting of any pine on public
lands, even within township bounds, required a license, and any cutting
on private lands (that had become private since 1690) of trees over
twenty-four inches in diameter was prohibited without a license. Furthermore,
in 1722, exclusive jurisdiction over the timber laws was turned over
to the royally appointed and juryless vice admiralty courts.
Trying to enforce the tightened restrictions was the tyrannical Scot
David Dunbar, surveyor general of the King's Woods and lieutenant governor
of New Hampshire. But Dunbar was checked not only by the decided
lack of enthusiasm of Governor Jonathan Belcher, but also by magnificent
countersuits filed by the timber-cutters for defense of their property
against the surveyor. The countersuits, moreover, were tried in the antitimber-law
civil courts of New England. In reaction, Dunbar began to
seize and destroy the timber and equipment of the illegal loggers. In
1734, a pitched battle broke out near Exeter, New Hampshire. Dunbar
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