state Supervision. 119 



probably had an influence on the final shaping of forest 

 policies in these respects. Altogether there -was such 

 variety of historic development in the different parts of 

 Germany that it is not to be wondered at that one finds 

 a great variety of policies still prevailing. 



At the present time three different principles in the 

 relations of the state to the corporation forests may be 

 recognized, namely, entire freedom, excepting so far as 

 general police laws apply, which is the case with most of 

 the corporation forests in Prussia (law of 1876) ; special 

 supervision of the technical management under approved 

 oflBcials with proper education, which is the case in Sax- 

 ony, most of Bavaria, the Prussian provinces of West- 

 phalia, Ehineland and Saxony, and some of the smaller 

 states; or lastly, the absolute administration by the 

 state, which prevails in Baden, parts of Bavaria, pro- 

 vinces Hesse, Nassau, and Hanover. The tendency, 

 however, in modem times appears to be toward a more 

 strict interpretation of the obligation of the state to pre- 

 vent mismanagement of the communal property. 



The private 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 

 absolute unrestricted rights to forest owners, permitting 

 partition and conversion of forest properties and even 

 denying in such cases interference on the part of pos- 

 sessors of rights of user. 



This policy of freedom was also applied, although less 



