268 FEATURES OF FRENCH NATIONAL FOREST ADMINISTRATION 



land by repaying the State with interest; as an alternative the private 

 owner could secure half his land by trading the other half to the State 

 to cancel the costs of reparation. Similar methods were applied to 

 communal lands which were really private lands owned in fee simple 

 but with the various interests undivided. 



(2) Before mountain land can be reserved from use the scheme advo- 

 cated by Government technical representatives had to be passed upon 

 by the village, by the commune, by the arrondissement, by the depart- 

 ment, by a technical and political commission, and by the Secretary of 

 Agriculture who also had to have a decree by the House of Deputies 

 before the actual work could be begun. 



These details are recited to illustrate the difficulty of securing legisla- 

 tion in France, even if it aims at benefiting the public, if private inter- 

 ests are on the defensive. Even during the Great War the requisition 

 of private timber finally had to be passed upon by a local and a central 

 commission before the requisition could be placed. And in France 

 the adverse interests are always represented on the commissions. More- 

 over these interests have representatives in the House of Deputies who 

 can embarrass the ruling party if injustice is done. 



References to Legislation. — Special features of French forest legisla- 

 tion are treated in the various studies of this volume; the references are 

 given in the Index under "Legislation." 



ADMINISTRATIVE ORGANIZATION AND EDUCATION 



Early Organization. — The quality and efficiency of the French 

 Waters and Forests Service has varied with the history of France. It 

 is not surprising that, in the early days, there was a great deal of graft 

 and incompetency. It was the order of the day. At a period when 

 even the bishops and clergy lent themselves to corrupt methods of ad- 

 ministration it was no wonder that the Forest Service suffered likewise. 

 Beginning in 1554 positions in the Forest Service were sold by the King 

 and from the 17th century employment in the royal forests was heredi- 

 tary. The first mention of regular "conservations" was in 1791, when 

 France was divided ' into 28 conservatorships with inspectors, assistant 

 inspectors, guards, surveyors, and rangers as assistants. In 1817 the 

 Forest Service was suppressed, but in 1820 it was reestablished. Real 

 forestry might be said to have started in France December 1, 1824, with 

 the founding of the Nancy Forest School, the first director being Bernard 

 Lorentz, who had studied under Hartig in Germany. Such foresters as 

 Parade, Nanquette, Bagneris, and Broilliard were the result of teaching 

 by Lorentz. 



• See Huffel, Vol. I, pp. 308, 325. 



