Colonial Policies. 249 



of the originally larger forest area; fire and pasture 

 being specially destructive. 



Before the French occupation, the 8 million acres of 

 forest were all, as usual in the mussulman's empires, 

 the property of the sultan, but were used like com- 

 munal property by the people By 1871, the larger 

 portion, some 6 million acres remained in possession 

 of the state, much encumbered by rights of user. 



At the same time, considerable areas (some 700,000 

 acres) had been ceded to communities outright, and 

 others (1.25 million acres) had been sold to private 

 parties. At first, these latter lands were let for ex- 

 ploitation of the cork oak on 40 year leases, later 

 extended to 90 years with indemnities for damage 

 by fire an incentive to allow these to run, until in 

 1870, the fire damage having become onerous, all 

 areas burned after 1863 were gratuitously ceded to 

 the contractors, more than one-third the areas in- 

 volved, and the other two-thirds were then sold at a 

 ridiculously low price and under the easiest con- 

 ditions of payment, in the same shameful manner in 

 which the timberlands of the United States were 

 given away. 



In 1836, a forest administration for the state domain 

 was inaugurated, but the unfortunate division of 

 powers between military and civil authorities was a 

 hindrance to effective improvement of conditions. 

 The fire ravages of 1871 led to a thorough re-organiz- 

 ation under the direction of Tassy, in 1873. 



Nevertheless, in 1900, Lefebvre, Inspector of 

 Forests, in his book, Les forets de VAlgerie, still com- 

 plains that the forests are being ruined, especially 



