China's Forest Laws 651 



the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry in Peking. It appears 

 that the Department of Forestry in the Ministry was supposed to 

 exercise some sort of supervision over the acts of the branch 

 bureau (although it was not designated as a "branch") in Kirin, 

 but it is very probable that such supervision was far more nominal 

 than real. Also, during these early years of the RepubHc there was 

 some forestry work carried on in, or by a few of, the provinces. 

 In 1914, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry was combined 

 with the Ministry of Industry and Commerce to form the present 

 Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce. At the same time the 

 Department of Forestry was combined with the Department of 

 Agriciilture under the name of the Department of Agriculture 

 and Forestry, and this nominal organization (nominal at least 

 so far as an active forest policy was concerned) lasted for about 

 two years, or until January, 1916, when as stated above, the Forest 

 Ser\ice was inaugurated as a separate entity in the Ministry. 



Even earlier, under the Manchus, there was a so-called "Board 

 of Agriculture, Industry and Commerce" which had issued 

 a simple set of rules encouraging people to plant trees, but the 

 practical result was so small as to be negligible. Under the early 

 Manchu emperors (Tsing dynasty) and under the immediately 

 preceding Chinese dynasties there may have been some official 

 recognition of the harmful effects of deforestation and some efforts 

 to curb its extension, but all that there is to judge by are a few 

 occasional and indefinite references scattered in books of the differ- 

 ent periods, and such references seem to be more concerned with 

 literary effect than with historical accuracy. 



With this short and possibly inacciurate introduction, I propose 

 to give a free translation of the Forest Laws or Mandates (which 

 have the force of law) issued since the inauguration of the Repub- 

 lic, together with a translation of the memorial from Chow- 

 Tzi-chi, then Minister of Agriculture and Commerce, requesting 

 authority to establish a Chinese National Forest Service, the reply 

 of Yuan-Shi-kai (at that time Emperor-Elect) and certain regu- 

 lations issued thereunder. It is necessary to state, however, 

 that up to the present time the laws appear to have remained quiet 

 upon the statute books, and that little effort has been made to 

 take advantage of their provisions or to comply with the restric- 

 tions they impose. 



The first legal docimient I have been able to find is dated 

 August 8, 1914, and is entitled: 



