152 THE STATE AND PRIVATE FORESTS 



The chief arguments which used to be advanced 

 against the State ownership of forest property were 

 the undesirability of State interference or competi- 

 tion with the industrial undertakings of the people, 

 the inadvisability of the State entering into com- 

 petition in the open market with private individuals 

 in the sale of its timber, and the fact that the laws 

 made for the protection of the forests of a country 

 were made by the State — i.e. in the interests of part 

 of its own property. And finally it was held that 

 t)ie State could not manage forest property as 

 profitably as the private individual. 



These being the pros and cons of the ownership 

 of forest property, their application to the position 

 in this country may be considered. 



All the land which is required for the afforestation 

 schemes is owned by private individuals, and of 

 corporations, water trusts, and so forth. 



Moreover, under the existing law the delays in 

 acquiring by purchase any considerable areas of this 

 land would be incalculable and the price prohibitive. 

 All who have any acquaintance with the land, and 

 the difficulties encompassing a change of ownership, 

 must recognize the Jmpossibility of any progress 

 being made under the old methods. The chief delay 

 has always centred round the title deeds. These 

 are made over to a lawyer, who considers it his 

 business to endeavour to find holes in them. Months 

 go by before the land is actually transferred at the 

 expenditure of a considerable sum of money. The 

 land required urgently for agriculture, smallholdings, 

 and afforestation can never be obtained in this 



