72 



The one promotive action of the state, which is pre-eminently required 

 to establish a proper forest policy, the propriety of which cannot be ques- 

 tioned for a moment, and which arises from the primary function of the 

 state, its police Junction, is to aliord protection to forest property, at least 

 equal to that afforded to any other property and adequate to the peculiari- 

 ties and needs of such forest property. 



Such protection is the unquestioned right of the forest owner, and 

 without it he cannot be expected to maintain a "sustained yield" manage- 

 ment which requires maintainence of a large wood capital subject to depre- 

 dations and to destruction by fires unless properly guarded. 



it is not sufficient for the state to legislate, but, at least wherever broad 

 communal interests are at stake, it must provide the machinery to carry out 

 this legislation. 



The principles most needful to keep in view when formulating legisla- 

 tion for protection against forest fires are : 



(1). A well-organized machinery for the enforcement of the laws 

 must be provided, in which the state must be prominently represented, since 

 the damage done by forest fires extends in many cases far beyond immed- 

 iate private or personal loss. 



(2). Responsibility for the execution of the law must be clearly de- 

 fined, and must ultimately rest upon one person, an officer of the state ; but 

 every facility for ready prosecution of offenders must be at command of 

 the responsible officer. 



(3). JN one but paid officials can be expected to do efficient service, 

 and financial responsibility in all directions must be recognized as alone 

 productive of care in the performance of duties, as well as in obedience to 

 regulations. 



(4). Recognition of common interest in the protection of this kind of 

 property can come only by a reasonable distribution of financial liability for 

 loss between the state and local community and the owners themselves. 



Generally speaking, restrictions and supervision of private forest in- 

 dustry have proved themselves mostly undesirable and impracticable ; their 

 only justification would appear when protection of neighboring properties 

 or of general communal interests demonstrably require them. 



The recognition of the fact that the removal of the protecting forest 

 cover may give rise to shifting sand and sand dunes, which may encroach 

 and despoil larger areas beyond, is sufficient call for the exercise of the 

 police functions of the state to prevent such damage, if we admit the provi- 

 dential character of such functions. 



The experience that the deforestation or even bad management of the 

 forest cover, forest devastation, on mountain tops and hills, leads to excess- 

 ive water stages, to destructive floods, filling channels, thereby impeding 

 navigation and sifting agricultural soils, damaging neighboring or distant 

 interests, again makes the exercise of the police function of the state, in a 



