256 ECONOMICS OF FORESTRY. 



While in general mercantile business it may then 

 be argued that the unprofitable business had best 

 be abandoned, the forestry business, as we have 

 seen, occupies an exceptional position, both in the 

 time element required to secure working capital of 

 standing timber and establish the systematic in- 

 dustry, and in its general cultural significance, so 

 that, aside from mercantile considerations, inter- 

 ference from outside competition is harmful to 

 national prosperity. 



Such is the case in European countries with well- 

 established forestry systems, when brought into 

 competition with countries which are still mainly 

 exploiting natural resources. 



Yet a prominent writer on the subject of import 

 duties on wood ^ discusses the influence of such on 

 German forestry as follows : — 



" The question as to whether high prices, espe- 

 cially as a result of tariff, encourage to reforestation 

 and forestry practice or to forest devastation, is for 

 Germany, according to the latest statistics, of no 

 import. Deforestations on a large scale and ex- 

 cessive overcutting without reference to the future 

 are here neither induced by high prices nor pre- 

 vented by low prices, but are the regular concom- 

 itant of general economic crises and unsound 

 speculation periods." 



The motives for tariff legislation in the old 

 countries were at first fiscal ones, then fear of a 



1 Schwappach, " Forstpolitik," 1894, p. 161. 



