288 ECONOMICS OF FORESTRY. 



In the expenditures it is of special interest to 

 note that fire protection absorbs less than 2 per 

 cent of the gross revenue, namely, about ;^ 100,000 

 per year, and about as much is expended on cul- 

 tural operations, while the superior staff absorbs 

 a little over 1 3 per cent and the subordinate staff 

 with office estabUshments 14 per cent. 



The forest laws of India were, like those of most 

 countries, a matter of growth and adaptation, with 

 the important difference, however, that the well- 

 defined object of preserving a continuous supply 

 of the all-essential timber was from the beginning 

 steadily kept in mind. The principal acts are 

 those of 1865, 1869, and especially the "Indian 

 Forest Act" of 1878, with secondary legislation 

 applying to particular localities, such as the act of 

 1 88 1 for Burma and of 1882 for Madras, and others. 



In general, these forest laws provide for the 

 establishment of permanent or "reserved" state 

 forests, to be managed according to modern for- 

 estry principles. They provide for a suitable 

 force of men, give the forest officers certain 

 police powers, prohibit unwarranted removal of 

 forest products, the setting of fires, or otherwise 

 injuring the forest property. The laws also regu- 

 late grazing and the chase by permit systems, and 

 prescribe rules by which the work of the depart- 

 ment is carried on, as well as the manner in which 

 officers are engaged, promoted, etc. Since the 

 peculiar circumstances require men specially fitted 



