FORESTS AND EMPLOYMENT IN GERMANY 17 



building, is left almost exclusively to the men. The proportion of 

 women workers in the State (and probably also the communal) forests 

 is much higher than in other forests, because of the more intensive 

 planting and cultural operations in the public forests. (9). 



EMPLOYMENT POLICIES IN BAVARIA 



The instructions of the Bavarian State Forest Service (6), for 

 example, specify that in employing new workers preference shall be 

 given to local people, especially small property owners and those en- 

 gaged in seasonal industries. No nonresidents may be employed as 

 long as local people capable of doing the work are available. This 

 applies to both permanent and temporary jobs. When necessary to 

 lay off workers, special consideration must be given to regular workers, 

 heads of families, and workers who depend upon wages for their 

 existence. It is stated that: 



The small property owner who is attached to his native soil is and will continue 

 to be the most reliable and efficient worker in the State forests; even in times of 

 political revolution he remains true to his employer, and he resists best the 

 temptation to turn his back on the forest work when there are opportunities for 

 higher earnings in other occupations. 



Such persons must form the backbone of the work force; propertyless 

 workers are more subject to political and economic unrest and are 

 likely to leave the generally lower paid forest jobs at the first oppor- 

 tunity. 



Id employing workers, then, the employing officer is required to 

 consider the following factors: 



Ability to do the work. 



Need for employment, especially in case of local people. 

 Housing status: home ownership, other property, debts. 

 Family status: wife and other dependents. 



Special circumstances: long service, injuries received in forestry work or in the 

 World War, etc. 



Under normal conditions, unless there are heavy debts or sick and 

 aged dependents, a property with 12 to 15 Tagewerke (10.1 to 12.6 

 acres) of cultivated and meadow land of average quality will support 

 a family without outside work. Owners of areas larger than 12.6 to 

 16.8 acres are not to be employed, as a rule, except as foremen. 

 Most workers in the Bavarian State forests who own land have less 

 than 8.4 acres; most of those with larger holdings are persons who 

 have acquired the land gradually, by dint of hard work and thrift. 

 It is not deemed good policy to turn them out now to make room for 

 relief cases. 



Other reasons for favoring local residents over those from a distance 

 are: The seasonal character of most of the work, much of it in winter, 

 makes it peculiarly suitable as a supplement to farm work; skilled 

 workers, familiar with local conditions, are required for most phases 

 of the work; the State forests must be operated on a reasonably 

 efficient basis, not merely to furnish work to the unemployed. Out- 

 side workers can be and are used mainly on unskilled jobs that are 

 done in summer, such as road construction. 



Persons over 65 are not eligible for employment as forest workers, 

 except in case of exceptionally able foremen or group leaders. In the 



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