THE APPRAISAL OF DAMAGES 139 



which mankind will pay money are by no means confined to the 

 material demands of the body. Simply because it is difficult 

 to place a money value upon such gratification is no reason 

 for denying its existence. Scenery and beauty are capitalized 

 by those who provide hotels and camps for visitors, and the 

 common rights in scenery, especially in the enjoyment of woods 

 and forests, clash repeatedly with the private property rights 

 of those who own and may wish to cut the timber, usually to 

 the loss of the public, without recourse to damage suits. Such 

 rights, just as in the case of watersheds, are best protected by 

 public ownership of lands and forests which have peculiar or 

 exceptional value. 



But the private owner who has acquired property of scenic 

 and aesthetic value is not obliged to accept merely the commer- 

 cial value of the income from wood products as full settlement 

 for damages caused by fire or theft. The additional value is 

 as real to him as similar values are to the public at large. It is 

 just this common or universal acceptance of this form of value 

 which permits of its appraisal as an element of damages. Pur- 

 chasers can usually be found for estates possessing such advan- 

 tages, and at prices which would probably compensate the owner 

 for any reasonable cost he has incurred to secure the results. 

 For this reason, the aesthetic values destroyed may frequently 

 be gauged roughly by the loss in sale value of the entire prop- 

 erty. Where landscape features are affected the damage can 

 best be appraised by experts familiar with landscape gardening 

 rather than forestry. 



148. Punitive Damages. Damages in excess of loss in 

 value are sometimes provided for by law in case of destruction 

 of property belonging to the state. This is not justified by 

 any principle applicable to private owners, but is rather an at- 

 tempt to enforce punitive measures as a matter of public edu- 

 cation. It lies halfway between civil judgments and criminal 

 penalties, in which the offender is punished as a public example. 

 The state of New York has such a law, providing a penalty of 

 $10.00 per tree destroyed on the Forest Preserve. The advantage 

 of combining punitive measures with civil suits for damages is 



