State Supervision. 119 
probably had an influence on the final shaping of forest 
policies in these respects. Altogether there was such 
variety of historic development in the different parts of 
Germany that it is not to be wondered at that one finds 
a great variety of policies still prevailing. 
At the present time three different principles in the 
relations of the state to the corporation forests may be 
recognized, namely, entire freedom, excepting so far as 
general police laws apply, which is the case with most of 
the corporation forests in Prussia (law of 1876) ; special 
supervision of the technical management under approved 
officials with proper education, which is the case in Sax- 
ony, most of Bavaria, the Prussian provinces of West- 
phalia, Rhineland and Saxony, and some of the smaller 
states; or lastly, the absolute administration by the 
state, which prevails in Baden, parts of Bavaria, pro- 
vinces Hesse, Nassau, and Hanover. The tendency, 
however, in modern times appears to be toward a more 
strict interpretation of the obligation of the state to pre- 
vent mismanagement of the communal property. 
The private forest property, which during the preced- 
ing century had been largely under restrictions, first 
under the application of the hunting right, and then 
under the fear of a wood famine, became in the first 
decades of the century under the influences already 
mentioned, almost entirely free, all former policies being 
reversed ; indeed Prussia in 1811 issued an edict insuring 
absolute unrestricted rights to forest owners, permitting 
partition and conversion of forest properties and even 
denying in such cases interference on the part of pos- 
sessors of rights of user. 
This policy of freedom was also applied, although less 
