The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1879-04-26

impoverished soil in the same proportion. From
1880 to 1866 the Upper and Lower Alps lost
2-OOO inhabitants, or a tenth Of their pOpula-
ton. IL il the mountaineers them.
selves who have made and are seeking to extend
this desert which separates the tributary valleys
OF the Rhonc from the populous plains OF Pied
mont"
IL L. this process Of destruction that the French
Government Is endeavOriug 10 arrest by the Com
mission for re-wooding the mountains.
The following briei sketch Of the French For
est Service and Code is based upon a work by
Prof. PutOn Of Nancy
ORGANIZATION OF forest SERVICE.
The administration Of the French forests is an
auxiliary public service depending on the Minis
ter Of Finance.
1t - placed under the orders of 4 Director
general. who is in direct relation with the Minis
ter, and who directs all the operations relating to
the service.
The interior or Sedentory service is constituted
at Paris by a council of administration formed OF
two administrators, and by various bureaux of
the central administration in the Departments
by the sedentary employees of conservation and
inspection. The exterior or dctiUe service is con-
stituted at Paris by the dIrector-general in the
Departments by the conservators, inspectors, and
chiefs Of cantonment of the administrative man.
agement, who are styled agents" and by
brigadiers and guards for surveillance, called
90 proposes"
The special detached services in this depart
ment are the commission of re-woOding, the SER
vice Of art, the forest schools, and the forest
service Of Algeria, which is specially organized.
There are three grades-trst, the cOnSeTratOr
at the head Of a " conservation ~ who makes
periodical tours, manages the finances of his dis
tTIct, and has a kind Of military authority over
the 50 personnel " under his orders.
Next come smaller divisions called 8 iaspec-
lions, . each administered by a chief Of service
called an inspector and last, o~dntonmeHks, each
under a chief Of environment, who is either a sub
inspector or . garde-general, - and is the imme-
date chief Of the brigadiers and guards under his
surveillance, has direct oversight OF the works
carried on in the forests, etc.
The brigadiers are chiefs Of the guards Of their
brigade, and Intermediary between them and the
chief Of cantonment.
TIE DoMASIAL FORESTS
Of France in 1875 contained 2,447 ,90I acres.
This domain produced in 1869 a revenue Of
81 ,545 ga francs, or about7 "a millions ofdollars.
The Algerian forests are administered by forest
agents detached and placed under the authority of
the GOVernor-Genera Of the colony. In 1872 the
forests belonging to the Government domain in
that colony contained 5,l5l ga acres, Of which
about one-balf are overgrown with bushes and
given up to pasturage.
THE COMMUNAL FORESTS
in 1875 contained 4,725 ,4S4 acres, and are
steadily decreasing. During the twenty years
between 1855 and 1875 the Government author
49, IL NA~NN1 @11 NN W IL aNNAahC
OF about 2,l70 acres per annum. The manage
ment Of the communal forests forms an auxiliary
service Of the communes, which is imposed upon
them, and which they pay for by means of a
special tax. Whenever difference of opinion
arises between the forest agents end the COM
mune, the matter is referred to the Council of
Prefecture of the department, with the right of
appeal to the Council OF State.
THE PRIVATE FORESTS
were stimated in 1865 at Is, lao, 032 acres.
From 1898 to 1874 the administration permitted
the clearing Of / ,085 ,8l7 acres of wood, which
would be at the average rate of % $50 acres per
annum. This figure, however, Is far from indi-
eating the extent of the clearings made, for there
is a large number OF woods in the plains which
can be lawfully cut down without previous declar-
alton and again, private parties are far from
clearing all the wood for which they make the
legal declaration.
Private persons have the right to cut down
their forests, but this right, which was created in
1871, suspended in 1903, and restored in 1859,
must only be exercised under the surveillance of
the administration, which is the Judge of the cases
in which the general interest requires the preser-
walton of the wood. The Minister of Finance
pronOunces finally upon the right of the pro-
prietor, after receiving reports from the forest
agents.
Woods belonging to private individuals are
divided into two ~categories. The first class is
entirely free from the surveillance OF the admin
i~stration, and the proprietor is absolutely free to
cut them down without any formality. 1t in
cludes-
1. Young trees planted within 20 years. ex-
cept when the planting has been ordered by the
Minister in consequence of an illegal cutting, or
when the planting done in the mountains has
been subsidized, or is comprised within a circuit
of obligatory re-wOOding.
2. The wood of gardens and parks, enclosed or
attached to houses.
3. Woods not enclosed, of an extent less than
IN hacEaraa (Ol I'm acraSN rrIcn thai a., not
form part of another wood which would complete
a content of 10 hectares, and when they are not
situated on the summit or slope of a mountain.
All other woods are subject to the surveillance
OF the administration, which, however, cannot
oppose the clearing except for one Of the six fol-
lowing reasons, viz:
L. The maintenance Of the lands upon the
mountains or slopes. ,. The defense of the soil
against erosiOns and inyasions of the rivers,
brooks or torrents. 3. The existence of sources
and streams of water. 4. The protection of the
dunes and OF the coasts against the erosio1s of
the sea and the invasion of the sands. 5. Public
health. g. The defense of the territory III the
parts of the frontier zone, which are determined
by a decree of public administration
The law requires that a proprietor who intends
to cut down his wood shall make a formal declar-
alton in duplicate at the sub-prefecture of the
reimbursement, stating all that is necessary to be
known in regard to the wood. One copy is vised
by the sub-preiect and returned to him.
A forest guard notifies the proprietor eight
days In advance OF the day when the reconnOis-
sance will be made by a forest agent, and after
wards a copy of the report of the reconnaissance
Is given him, with an invitation to present his
observations.
After this the Conservation OF Forests can adj
dress his protest to the project, who notifies the
proprietor Of the fact and sends all the papers to
the Minister Of Finance. The Minister decides
after taking the advice of the section on finance
Of the Council Of State.
Four months after the visa Of the declaration
are allowed the Conservation to make opposition,
and six months to the Minister to decide upon it.
If the proprietor cuts down his wood without
making declaration, or against the decision of
the Minister, he is fined according to the extent
of the wood, and may be compelled to replant it
or to pay the expenses of the operation. But if
the protest Of the Conservator is not made during
the delay Of four months after the formal doclar-
alton is filed at the sub-prefecture by the pro-
prietor, and if the decision OF the Minister is not
| rendered within six mnnths after this nrntest.