AREA, DISTRIBUTION, MANAGEMENT, &c. 43 



Meisters, sometimes called Sub-foresters, [a designation not 

 to be confounded with that of under forester, another class 

 of officials of whom mention will be made. They, like 

 the ecclesiastical officials designated bishops and arch- 

 bishops in Russia, are equal in power in their own sphere 

 without any subordination to authority of the Oberforst- 

 Meisters, and take their inferior rank from the compara- 

 tively lesser importance and magnitude of their charge 

 alone.] 



' If we divide the whole area of 710,000 desatins equally 

 amongst the whole of the warders employed, it gives us 

 not less than 500 desatins, which is no small area for a 

 man to guard in those forest estates, which are surrounded 

 by villages in close proximity to them. And notwith- 

 standing thefts of all kinds being carried on by the popu- 

 lation of the locality, and the difficulty of keeping watch 

 and ward, the warders are badly paid. The head warders, 

 for instance, receive an annual salary of from 22 to 45 

 roubles, and there are some in the service who are only 

 allowed a rouble and a half [at the present rate of 

 exchange, three shillings per annum !] 



'The assistant warders receive from 1 to 18' roubles, 

 but with 7J desatins of land and a free house. With the 

 great scarcity of provisions in Poland, and the poor soil in 

 these small allottments, the condition of such men was very 

 bad, so bad that it is difficult not to believe that many of 

 them do abuse their official power to make up their 

 insufficient salary. 



'Unhappily the continued abnormal condition of the 

 country since 1865 and 1866 prevents us from estimating 

 at their true worth the services of these warders. And 

 although when astounded by the great loss occasioned by 

 theft we cannot attribute this entirely, directly or indirectly, 

 to the warders, it is a fact that on the guarding of the 

 forests being entrusted to the troops the thefts were at 

 once diminished nine-tenths. 



