128 Germany. 



modern times appears to be toward a more strict 

 interpretation of the obligation of the state to prevent 

 mismanagement of the communal property. 



PHya , ^ forest property, which during the preced- 

 ing century had been largely under restrictions, first 

 under the application of the hunting right, and then 

 under the fear of a wood famine, became in the first 

 decades of the century under the influences already 

 mentioned, almost entirely free, all former policies 

 being reversed; indeed Prussia, in 1811, issued an 

 edict insuring absolutely unrestricted rights to forest 

 owners, permitting partition and conversion of forest 

 properties, and even denying in such cases the right of 

 interference on the part of possessors of rights of user. 



This policy of freedom was also applied, although 

 less radically, in Bavaria, except as to smaller owners. 

 The result was, to a large extent, the increase of ex- 

 ploitation and forest devastation, creating wastes 

 and setting shifting sand and sanddunes in motion. 

 The reaction, which set in against this unrestricted 

 use of forest property, resulted in Prussia not in re- 

 newal of restrictive measures, but in the enactment 

 of promotive ones. The law of 1875 sought improve- 

 ment by encouraging small owners to unite their 

 properties under one management; but the expecta- 

 tions which were founded on this ameliorative policy 

 seem so far not to have been realized. 



This promotive policy has especially since 1899 

 found expression in the institution in many pro- 

 vinces of information bureaus, which give technical 

 advice, make working plans, secure plant material 

 and give other assistance to woodland owners. 



