REPOET BY MINISTER OF FINANCE, 1860. 147 



A great complaint arose ; this was followed by a keen controversy ; the 

 Head of the Government took part in this; a letter from him to the 

 Minister of Public Works, under date 19th July 1856, pubUshed over the 

 whole of France, gave a resume of the popular movement ; and, founded on 

 information elicited, there was issued in his name, under date of 5th 

 January 1860, a programme of procedure, which was followed by a projet 

 de loi, which was submitted to the Emperor with the following report by 

 M. Magne, Minister of Finance : — 



" Paris, 2nd Feb. 1860. 



Sire, — " The attention of youi' Majesty has been given at different 

 times to the dangers which result from the deforesting of the mountains. 

 At the time of the inundations of 1859, you were led to point out that 

 deforesting was one of the causes of the evils which had then afflicted the 

 coimtry ; in the programme traced in the letter of your Majesty is included, 

 in the innumeration of the great administrative measures destined to develops 

 the public prosperity, the clearance of forests on plains, and the reforesting 

 of the mountains. 



" A law passed in the last Legislative Session has given new facilities for 

 the clearance of forests situated on the plain. This law, long waited for, 

 is one of the recent benefits conferred by the Imperial Government; it 

 realizes its liberal views in what, relates to woods belonging to private 

 proprietors. There remains to be proposed, as a necessary complement to 

 this, a law for the reforesting of the mountains. 



"No legislative measure of any importance on this subject has been 

 adopted by the Governments which have preceded that of your Majesty. 

 The old edicts, and the ordinances anterior to 1789, contain only exceptional 

 measures to arrest the progress of deforesting. The code forestier was con- 

 ceived in the same spirit ; there is found there a series of arrangements 

 designed to restrain the abuse of depasturing, but only one arrangement was 

 introduced to promote reforesting ; it is Art. 225, which exempts from tax- 

 ation, for a period of twenty years, woods sown and planted on the summit 

 and on the declivity of the mountains. The law adopted last year, in 

 regard to the clearance of woods belonging to private parties, prolonged 

 this exemption of taxation to 30 years. 



" But, notwithstanding the new extension given by the Government of 

 your Majesty to this favourable arrangement, one knows not how we can 

 await the very important results which must follow. The sowing of trees 

 and plantations, especially those on the mountains, profit the future more 

 than the present, and general interests more than the interests of individuals : 

 hence the necessity for efficacious measures, and for the direct intervention 

 of the State. This intervention has for a long time been urgently called 

 for. Since 1843, sixty-three general councils have urged the necessity of 

 measures being taken for the reforesting of the mountains. A report and a 

 projet de loi were prepared by the director-general of forests in 1845. This 

 projet de loi, remitted for examination to a commission composed of forest 

 administrators and distinguished savants, was amended in many parts, and 

 submitted to the Chamber of Deputies in the session 1847. The report 

 which was presented by the commission admitted the importance which 

 attached to the question, but also the uncertainty which prevailed in opinions 

 relative to the measures which should be adopted ; and nothing came of 

 this projet de loi. 



