ON THE DISTRIBUTION OF FORESTS IN INDIA. 113 



patience, and conciliatory treatment of the people concerned. In 

 this, as in other matters relating to the administration of forests in 

 India, we are guided by the experience gained in this country, and 

 on the Continent of Europe, in dealing with rights of commons and 

 other prescriptive rights in forest land. There has been much 

 thoughtless talk, as if the natives of India, in burning the forests 

 and destroying them by their erratic clearings, were committing 

 some grave offence. If the matter is carefully analysed they will 

 be found to have the same sort of prescription which justifies the 

 commoner in the New Forest to exercise his right of pasture, mast, 

 and turbary. Such rights, when the public benefit requires it, 

 must be extinguished ; but the wild tribes of India have the same 

 claim as the holder of prescriptive forest rights in Europe to demand 

 that provision be made for their reasonable wants and requirements. 

 The State forest domains in India are thus in course of formation 

 only ; the greater mass of them is in a poor and exhausted state ; 

 many are burdened with heavy rights of pasture and other pre- 

 scriptive demands. Eor many years to come they must be worked 

 most sparingly ; considerable sums must be expended on the demar- 

 cation and survey of boundaries, on roads, the clearing of streams, 

 on plantations, and other improvements. At the same time, all 

 these operations and the protection of these extensive tracts require 

 large and expensive establishments. These are the reasons why 

 the administration of the public forests in India has not yet within 

 the short period of its existence yielded any large surplus revenue 

 to the State. The gross income of the Government forests in 

 British territory has within the last three years fluctuated between 

 L. 420,000 and L. 465,000 ; but the charges have been high, and the 

 highest net surplus of the year has amounted to L. 160,000 only, 

 and in another year fell as low as L. 86,000. 



Nevertheless, there is no doubt that, financially also, the forma- 

 tion of State forests in India, and their methodical management, 

 will eventually be an important source of revenue and strength to 

 the Government. In this, as in all matters, the first commence- 

 ment has been difficult. The idea of providing for coming genera- 

 tions may to many appear an unnecessary waste of time; but when 

 the present generation begins to derive substantial benefits from 

 these measures, then their value will doubtless be fully recognised. 



