586 Forestry Quarterly 



It regulates and distributes work, it avoids duplication, and there- 

 fore reduces expenses. It co-ordinates the results of work, it is 

 better able to judge where lies the cause of success or the source 

 of failure. 



The service should be in the form of a bureau and not in the 

 form of a commission. The latter is fit, by nature of its consti- 

 tution, only for deliberation and not for quick execution. As 

 most of the work of such a service requires prompt action, the 

 principle of expediency demands a bureaucratic organization. 



The matter of appointment is an important one. Since it con- 

 cerns the government service of all departments, consideration of 

 this matter should not be limited to the forest administration 

 alone. At present, as the organization of the various departments 

 has not been completed, there is no uniform rule governing the 

 admission into the government service. 



In the future, a uniform system based on the idea of Civil Ser- 

 vice examinations as in the United States may be worked out. 

 The civil service examination was a very old institution in China, 

 abolished only some ten years ago on account of its well-known 

 abuse in basing the examination exclusively on literary culture. 

 If that abuse is remedied and the examination is put on a more 

 scientific basis, there is no reason why that old institution should 

 not be restored. To all intents and purposes the system based on 

 testing the knowledge and ability of a man is the best, if not the 

 fairest, in admitting employees to the government service after 

 balancing all advantages and disadvantages. After admission in- 

 to the sendee, further promotions may be made on meritorious 

 achievement and on seniority. The combination of both princi- 

 ples appear more rational than dependence on either one alone. 



h. Organization of Central Service — With the possible excep- 

 tion of estabhshing a National Forest in Manchuria, where forest 

 management will be the chief work, the forest administration in 

 China will be for years to come engaged principally in the work 

 of reforestation, especially along the headwaters of important 

 streams. Since this ,work means a very heavy initial cost with 

 very uncertain returns and draws heavily upon the treasury of 

 the nation, it has to get along on a small scale at the outset and 

 to organize the work so as to secure the maximum efficiency, ex- 

 panding the work as previous successes warrant. There is no 



