266 FORESTRY IN FRANCE, 
treasury. The inspector prepares a budget estimate for his pro- 
posed expenditure on works ; and when this has been sanctioned, 
the various undertakings are commenced. Towards the end 
of each month he submits to the conservator an estimate of his 
proposed expenditure for the following month, during the last days 
of which that sum is paid to him, and he disburses it at once, 
transmitting the vouchers together with the unexpended balance, 
should there be any, to the Treasurer-General ; he keeps no money 
in his hands. In exceptional cases, however, the conservator can 
grant orders for advances to the officers employed under him ; but 
in this case they must, at the end of each month, adjust the 
advance by vouchers handed in to the Treasurer-General along with 
any balance of cash that may remain unexpended in their hands, 
The Treasurer-General thus keeps all the accounts, both of receipts 
and expenditure, of the Department. 
DEPARTMENTAL STAFF. 
Members of the Forest Department are ineligible for any other 
office, either administrative or judicial; they are prohibited 
from engaging in trade, or in any industry connected with wood, 
and they must be regularly sworn in before they can enter upon the 
exercise of their functions. They have, as regards forest offences, the 
powers of police, including the right to make domiciliary visits for 
purposes of investigation, and to arrest suspected persons ; but 
these powers are exercised chiefly by the members of the subordinate 
staff. Officers of the superior staff act as publie prosecutors in 
forest cases. 
Superior Staf:—Candidates for the superior staff are, as a rule, 
trained at the National Forest School at Nancy ; but one-third of 
the appointments to the lowest grade (Garde général) are reserved 
for the promotion of deserving subordinates. A young forest 
officer, on leaving the school, is employed for a time, usually about 
a year, in learning his duties under an inspector ; and his advance- 
ment from this probationary stage, as well as his further promotion 
through the higher grades, depends on his own qualifications and 
exertions, as reported by his immediate superiors. 
A promotion list is drawn out every year by the Council of 
Administration, and published for general information. On it are 
inscribed the names of those oflicers of each grade who are con- 
