China's Forest Laws 659 



we consider the wide extent of our territory and the rich forests in our border 

 provinces, it will be seen that an early establishment of a Forest Service cannot 

 fail to benefit the country. It is also a great pity to see mountains and hills 

 lying idle and not utilized: therefore it is necessary to take immediate steps to 

 devise means and regulations to develop these natural resources. It is the 

 duty of this Ministry to conserve the forests. In the former Ministry of 

 Agriculture and Forestry there was in existence a separate Department of 

 Forestry until the Ministry was merged with the Ministry of Commerce and 

 Industry, at which time the Department of Forestry was also merged into the 

 Department of Agriculture under the name of Department of Agriculture and 

 Forestry. Since then the duties of the Department have increased as the 

 work has multiplied, and it is, therefore, diflficult for it to render efficient 

 service and to produce good results. Furthermore, forestry work in different 

 provinces is under the charge of the Division of Industry in which there 

 is no man who devotes his complete attention to forestry; and there are also 

 no technically trained foresters. Upon careful consideration the Ministry 

 has reached the conviction that unless a special organ is established in the 

 Ministry and unless districts are marked out with special commissioners to 

 take charge of them, it is impossible to lay responsibility anywhere and to 

 expect progress of any kind. Therefore, taking everything into consideration, 

 this Ministry has definitely decided to organize a Forest Service to carry out 

 forestry work throughout China, appointing the Vice-Minister to act as 

 Director-General, and two technical foresters being proposed as co-directors. 

 For the remaining staff of the Forest Service, there are other members in 

 the Ministry who have graduated from eastern and western universities where 

 they received technical training in forestry. These will be placed in accord- 

 ance with their ability and qualifications: and for the present each province 

 wiU be made a forest district, to each of which a Provincial Forest Commis- 

 sioner will be appointed. Provincial Forest Commissioners will be recom- 

 mended to His Majesty jointly by the Minister and the Governors of the 

 provinces concerned. The Central Government will bear the administrative 

 expenses of the Forest Service, but the expenses of the Provincial Forest 

 Commissioners and of their reforestation work in the districts (hsien) must be 

 borne by each province and district and charged to the provincial annual 

 administrative expenditure. By so doing responsibilities are clearly placed. 

 Technical men at different places will be working jointly and abundant results 

 will be achieved. The expenses will be borne separately and this will make 

 them lighter to bear. The Ministry believes that such an arrangement cannot 

 fail of good results. The Ministry has carefully drawn up regulations in 

 16 articles governing the organization of the Forest Service and also its budget 

 for the coming year, and hereby respectfully submits them to His Majesty 

 for His Holy Perusal. If the plan is approved, the Ministry will humbly 

 follow it out, and will notify the Ministry of Finance and the Governor of 

 each province that they should act accordingly. As soon as the Central 

 Government shall have rectified and graded the official system, the Ministry 

 will immediately submit a petition for the necessary change of the present 

 Department of Agriculture and Forestry. 



Respectfully submitted, 



Chow-Tsz-chi, 

 Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce." 



The sixteen regulations referred to above were submitted 

 in a separate but accompanying document which reads as follows : 



"The Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce hereby respectfully submits 

 the following 'Regulations' to His Majesty for His Holy Perusal : 



"Art. 1. The Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce intends to organize 

 a 'National Forest Service' as an annex to the said Ministry. Said Service 



