Forest Administration. 123 



or, as in Saxony, under the direction of a special 

 bureau, with the assistance of the district manager. 

 Upon the basis of the ge neral wor kin g p lan prepared 

 by these commissions, an annual plan is elaborated 

 by the district managers with consultation and ap- 

 proval of the provincial and central administration. 

 These plans contain a detailed statement of all the 

 work to be done through the year, the cost of each item, 

 and the receipts expected from each source. This 

 annual working plan requires approval by the pro- 

 vincial administration, which is constituted as a 

 deliberative council, consisting of a number of Forst- 

 meister with an Oberforstmeister as presiding officer. 

 The titles of these officers, to be sure, and the details 

 of procedure vary somewhat in different states, but 

 the system as a whole is more or less alike. 



The district manager or Oberforster, now often 

 called Forstmeister, has grown in importance and 

 freedom of position, although his district has grown 

 smaller (mostly not over 25,000 acres), and, being 

 one of the best educated men in the country district, 

 he usually holds the highest social position, although 

 his emoluments are still moderate. He holds many 

 offices of an honorary character, as for instance that 

 of justice of the peace, and the position of states' 

 attorney or public prosecutor in all cases of infraction 

 of the forest laws. These forest laws are still largely 

 local, i.e., State laws, although the criminal code of 

 the empire has somewhat unified practice. 



Curiously enough, wood on the stump is still not 

 considered property in the same sense as other things, 

 so far as theft is concerned; the stealing of growing 



