Colonial Policies. 251 



a license system is in vogue, giving concessions to ex- 

 ploit limited areas for a given time, at an annual rent 

 of less than one cent, per acre per year. The con- 

 cessions run from 5 to 20 years, and on 12,500 

 acres or more, the time of their duration being ex- 

 tended from the lowest term for one year for every 

 2,500 acres. Police regulations and fines are in- 

 tended to check abuses, and to regulate the rights of 

 user exercised by natives. 



In Indo-China (Cochin-China, Cambodia, Anam, 

 Tonquin) the total forest area is still unknown. 

 Only that of Cochin-China with 2.5 million acres, 

 and of Cambodia with 10 million acres can be stated, 

 and Cochin-China seems to possess the only approach 

 to a forest service. Although it is estimated that in 

 1901 in the whole of Indo-China, with 18 million 

 people, some 85 million cubic feet of wood were cut 

 (nine-tenths fire wood) an import of over $200,000 

 worth of workwood from Europe was needed. 



The first attempts at regulating forest use in these 

 Asiatic possessions date back to 1862, when exploita- 

 tion was confined to delimited areas. The adminis- 

 tration, however, remained inefficient, and under 

 impracticable and heterogeneous orders, which were 

 issued from time to time, devastation progressed 

 with little hindrance. 



For Cochin-China, a more definite forest' policy was 

 formulated in 1894-5, when not only the State domain 

 but also the private forest property was placed under 

 the regime forestier. The supervision of the private 

 forests consists in requiring the marking of trees to 



