56 HAPPY INDIA 



twice as great, we begin to realise the enormous 

 extent of the Indian forests. These forests 

 could supply 100,000,000 tons of wood every 

 year, wood suitable for fuel, without in any way 

 damaging them or reducing the production of 

 timber suitable for building and timber work of 

 all kinds. 



But these forests are not easily available for the 

 supply of wood fuel because they are in the moun- 

 tains, and it would be necessary to make a good 

 many new railways into these forests in order to 

 get at the timber, and it would involve a considerable 

 outlay of capital, and the Indian Government has 

 no capital, it could only get the money by borrowing. 

 It would have no difficulty in borrowing, only it 

 would have to raise the money to pay the interest 

 on the loan by means of taxation, and people do not 

 like paying taxes, and therefore the Government 

 does not like to make itself disagreeable in that way 

 more than can be helped. There are extensive 

 forests in the Independent State of Nepal, and, if 

 necessary, it is cruite possible that permission might 

 be got to buy timber from that country. Whilst 

 the most important forests are in the mountains of 

 the Himalayas, in Burmah, and on the Western 

 Ghats, still there are forests scattered over a great 

 part of India, so that if railway conveyance was 

 properly organised, supplemented by motor lorry 

 conveyance, or traction by oxen, it would be quite 

 possible to supply every district with wood fuel 

 from existing forests without doing any damage to 



