666 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [March 2, 1885. 



under a giant or contract in writing made or entered 

 into by or on behalf of the Crown or some person in 

 whom 'such right or power to create the same waB 

 vested when the proclamation was published. 



9. Then follows inquiry by forest settlement officer 

 who shall take down in writing all statements made 

 under section 7 and shall enquire into all claims and 

 the existence of any right in respect of which no claim 

 is made <fce. 



10. The powers of forest settlement officers are 

 those 'f a Civil Court for compelling the attendance 

 of witnesses and the productoin of documents ! 



11. Power is given to the forest settlement officer 

 to acquire land over which right is claimed and to 

 admit am/ claim wholly or in part. It the claim is 

 admitted wholly or in part the forest settlement officer 

 may (1) come to an agreeir.eut with the claimants for 

 the surrender of the right, or (2) exclude the land 

 from the limits of the proposed forest, or (3) proceed 

 to acquire such land iu the manner provided by the 

 Land Requisition Ordinance 1870; and as regards right 

 of wai/ <fc. power is given to the forest settlement 

 office i- to admit or reject the same wholly or in part. 



12. The forest settlement officer is empowered to corn- 

 mule any rights admitted to forest produce {for instance 

 honey) by paying a sum of money in lieu ttiereof, 

 or with consent of the claimant by grant of laud or 

 in such other manner as such officer thinks fit. 



13. An appeal from the decision of the forest 

 settlement officer lies to the Government Agents of 

 the provinces or Assistant Government Agents of 

 the districts, not as is essential to properly constituted 

 judicial tribunals, viz., the District Court and Supreme 

 Court, with ultimate appeal to the Privy Council if 

 need be. 



14. The conditions of this ajtpeal to the Govern- 

 ment Agent are, among others, after all lands (if any) 

 to be included in the proposed forest, which the forest 

 settlement officer has elected to acquire have become 

 vested in the Crown. 



15. Rights, in respect of which no claim has been 

 preferred, and of the existence of which no knowledge 

 has been acquired by enquiry under section 9, shall 

 thereupon he extinguished. 



10. The Governor in Council may, within certain 

 limits, revise, rescind, or modify any order under this 

 chapter within five y ars from date of proclamation. 



17. No right of' any description shall be acquired in 

 or over a reserve forest, except by succession or under 

 a. grant or contract in writing made by or on be- 

 half of the Crown or some person in whom such right 

 or 'the power to create euch right was vested when 

 the notification under section 18 was published. 



IS. Any forest officer may, from time to time, 

 with the 'previous sanction of the Government Aged 

 or any officer duly authorized in that behalf stos. 

 any public or private way or water-course in p 

 reserve forest provided that for the wry or water- 

 course so stopped another ivay or course, which in 

 lln opinion of the Government Agent is 'qually con- 

 venient, already i. cists or has been provided or con- 

 Cted I'll such forest officer. 



1!). Certain ace* are prohibited in reserved forpsts 

 under the following penalties :— Imprisonment for a 

 term which nay extend to eix months or with fine 

 Which may extend to live hundred 'rupees, or with 

 both in acTdrtion to such compensation for damage 

 dona to the forest as the convicting court may direct 

 to be paid. _ . 



20. There follows an extraordinary provision: — 'J. he 

 Governor may by notification in the Gazette direct 

 that from a date fixed by such not-fication any forest 

 or any | o> tion theieof reserved under this Ordinance 

 Bhall cease to be reserved; but the rights (if any) 

 which have been extinguished therein shall not revive 

 in consequence of such cessation.' 



21. Next comes ante-dated confiscation without 

 judicial enquiry: — ' Any forest which has been declared 

 a reserved forest under any rules iu force previous to 

 the day on whkh this Ordinance comes into force shall 

 be deemed to have been reserved hereunder, and all 

 questions decided, orders issued and records prepared 

 in connection with the reservation of such forest shall 

 be deemed to hare been decided, issued and prepared 

 lire itndi,-, die.' What special purpose (tor such 

 these must be) is intended by such an unfair un- 

 British provisiou ? Not surely to attempt to obtain 

 the effect, of law to proceedings taken I— 'Ultra rir, s ? 



22. The Governor in Council may prescribe for in- 

 fringement of rules imprisonment for a term which 

 may extend to six months or fine which may extend 

 to five hundred rupees, or both. 



23. Any forest officer empowered in that behalf 

 may compound forest offences ! 



OF FOREST OFFCERS. 



24. It shall be lawful for the Governor from time 

 to time to appoint a Chief Conservator of Forests, and 

 euch other officers as are required for the purposes 

 of this Ordinance, and there shall be paid to such 

 Chief Conservator and officers such salaries as the 

 Governor with the advice and consent of the Legis- 

 lative Council may from time to time determine, 

 Every Government Agent and Assistant Government 

 Agent and every Conservator of Forests and every 

 forest-officer authorized in writing under the hand 

 of the Governor on that behalf shall posses, for the 

 purposes of this Ordinance, the following powers (that 

 is to say): — (<i) the powers of a civil court to compel 

 she attendance of witnesses and the production of 

 documents; (b) power to issue search-warrants under 

 the Code of Criminal Procedure. 



25. Whenever it appears to the Governor that any 

 land is required for any of the purposes of this Ordin- 

 ance, such land shall be deemed to be nn ded fur 

 a public purpose within the meaning of the Land 

 Acquisition Ordinance 1876, section 6." 



THE COST OF TEA. 



A correspondent writing from Foochow to the Daily 

 Telegraph gives some particulars as to the cost of tea there, 

 and "the duties it hns to bear before getting into 

 the consumer's tea-pot." If his object is to show that 

 tea is not a legitimate object of taxation for revenue he 

 is arguing to no purpose in the present state of the British 

 Exchequer, which can certainly not dispense with the duty: — 



There were Oof ,000 chests of Congou, weighing 09,700,000 lb. 

 bought in Foochow during season 1883-84, average cost 

 of which on this market was 15 taels per picul, or equal 

 to 0|d. per lb. This price includes all native commissions 

 and profits, and is the actual cost to the shipper packed 

 and ready for shipment. It also includes all native author- 

 ities' " squeezes " between place of production up coun- 

 try, and the shipper's warehouse. Now let us see what 

 it costs the consumers in England if they can buy it on 

 paying only Id. per lb. profit, divided amongst the importer, 

 dealer, and village grocer. The average cost as above, 

 15 taels per picul (133 lb.) ; duty paid here to Chinese Gov- 

 ernment, 2-8 taels, per picul (at exchange 5s. per tail) — 

 17-80 taels per picul, £4 9s ; freight on 133 1b., at £3per 

 ton (Id. per lb.), lis. Id. ; commissions and charges, China 

 and London, say 13 per cent., Us. 10d.— £5 Us. lid. (or 

 laid down all charges in London warehouse at lOd. per 

 lb); duty paid to British Government, 6d. per lb. on 

 133' lb., £3 0s. 6d. ; profit, say Id per lb. divided amongst 

 importer, dealer, and grocer (the two latter probably get 

 Od per lb. profit), lis. Id.— £0 Shs. 0d. ; or a cost to the con- 

 sumer of Is. 5d. per lb. Should dealer and grocer get their 

 regular profit, this crop, costing Gfd in Foochow, is sold 

 to consumer at Is. lOd. per lb. It will be seen that the 

 duty paid by the foreign shipper to the Chinese Govern- 

 ment is over IS per cent, on the actual cost, whilst the 

 British Government charge a duty equal to 90 per cent. 

 The value of tea iu China and on the Londou tea market 

 has declined enormously of late years but we doubt if the 



