Private Forests. 331 
within the provinces. Of these, some 500 square 
miles or more of forest are leased to the government 
and under its control; and in some cases forest admin- 
istrations are instituted by the rajas themselves. 
In the Act of 1878 there was a clause calling for pro- 
tection of private forest property against trespass and 
encroachment, but this remained a dead letter. By 
later legislation the government is entitled to exercise 
control over private forests and lands, if it appears 
necessary for the public weal, or if the treatment 
which such forests have received from their owners 
affect the public welfare or safety injuriously; but in 
such cases the owner can require the government to 
expropriate the land in question. 
The forest act also provided that the government 
may assign to village communities from the reserved 
forest area so-called village forests, and make rules for 
their protection, use and management. How far this 
policy has been applied does not appear. 
There are still areas the ownership of which is not 
settled, and rights which are still in doubt, the work 
of the so-called forest settlements still going on, several 
thousand square miles being annually changed in 
status, and several thousand dollars annually spent to 
quiet rights of user. Zz 
3. Development of Forest Policy. 
Through the long history of India that preceded the 
arrival of the Mohamedans in the 10th and 12th cen- 
turies, it appears that the forest area was only slowly 
encroached upon by the Hindoo civilization. Even 
when the invaders, nomads by habit, drove many 
