網頁圖片
PDF
ePub 版

CHAPTER XII

THE PROGRESS OF FOREST ADMINISTRATION IN BRITISH INDIA AND BURMA, 1901-25

I

N the second part of the second volume of this history a general review was given of the progress made by the Department between 1871 and 1900. A survey of progress during the first quarter of the present century will be now attempted. That the Department has made a noteworthy advance in the practice of scientific forestry will become evident from the sequence and the subjects dealt Iwith in this Part. In the review in the second volume such items as the State proprietorship in the land, Forest Laws, Settlements, Demarcation, Surveys, Exploitation and Protection took precedence, the progress made in sylviculture, Working Plans and research having been comparatively small. During the succeeding quarter of a century the position was reversed. As mentioned in Volume II (p. 463), a period of stagnation followed the completion, for the most part, of the above-enumerated work. This was terminated by what may be termed the renaissance of sylviculture and much else besides, due to the introduction of Research which, as has been strikingly demonstrated, had been delayed far too long. In the present Part chapters on Research, Sylviculture and Working Plans take the premier position, a position this professional work now occupies in many Provinces in the country. Some areas, it is true, are lamentably backward; in others the old ideas that revenue-making and the balance-sheet can be the only justification for according larger grants to the Department still remain supreme. But this old fetish is dying and, unquestionably, faith in the value of research as a potential factor in the financial improvement of the Forest Estate has become an established fact.

Full recognition has been accorded in this history to the great work undertaken by the first three Inspectors-General, who were of German nationality. They brought the Department

into being and established a Forest Administration in the country. But the rigid lines upon which German forestry was conducted, lines which modern German Foresters now realize were not in all things in conformance with nature, did not afford sufficient elasticity for Indian requirements or, in its broad sense, for tropical forestry. It is significant that the scientific application to Indian conditions of the training the Forest Officer receives has eventuated during the administration of English Inspectors-General. And the position achieved, as these pages will show, is remarkable if it be taken to date, as history will, it is believed, unerringly date it from the year 1906, when the Secretary of State (Lord Morley), in a memorable Despatch, No. 61-Rev., dated 23rd March, 1906, sanctioned the formation of the Imperial Forest Research Institute. But even the far-seeing statesmanship which provided the Department with the one thing needed, combined as it was with long-delayed reorganizations and improvement of salaries, to enable it to undertake the work its officers were trained for could not have anticipated the results achieved in two short decades. For no Forest Officer of the time and even a decade later foresaw the extraordinary development which, aided admittedly by War demands, was to take place.

It will be remembered that Ribbentrop, the last of the German Inspectors-General, retired in 1900 and was succeeded by Mr. H. C. Hill, C.I.E. Hill, after a bare two-years' service, of which the last few months were spent on furlough, died suddenly at home. Mr. R. C. Wroughton had been appointed to officiate for Hill on 20th April, 1902. Shortly after Hill's death in 1902 Wroughton proceeded on furlough and then retired. Mr. (now Sir Sainthill) Eardley Wilmot, K.C.I.E., was called from Burma, where he was Conservator of Forests, and was appointed Inspector-General on the 4th February, 1903. Eardley Wilmot was succeeded on 9th November, 1908, by Mr. F. Beadon Bryant, C.S.I., who retired on 4th April, 1913, to be succeeded by Mr. (now Sir George) Hart, K.B.E., C.I.E. Hart was followed on 23rd February, 1921, by Mr. (now Sir Peter) Clutterbuck, C.I.E., C.B.E., V.D., who still holds the post (1925). During the period the following officiated as Inspectors-General: Mr. J. H. Lace, C.I.E., from 17th April, 1907, to 16th July, 1907; Mr. L. Mercer, C.I.E., from 31st August to 30th November, 1911; Mr. M. Hill, C.I.E., from 30th March, 1914, to 9th October, 1914; Sir Peter Clutterbuck from 26th May, 1919, to 27th October, 1919.

With the increasing work which the administration of the forests threw upon the staff it became necessary to subdivide the Circles and, as a consequence, increase the number of Conservatorships in the larger Provinces. These additions gave rise to confusion owing to the number of independent heads in charge of Forest Administration in a Province. It is true that in a Province where there was more than one Circle the Secretariat had to some extent endeavoured to take the opinion on technical matters of the Senior Conservator; but this did not obviate friction, since the Senior Conservator had no authority over the other Conservators. In 1904, when Burma had four Conservators-Messrs. F. B. Manson, F. Beadon-Bryant, T. A. Hauxwell and H. Slade-these officers drew up a Memorandum, dated 26th April, 1904, suggesting that a post of Deputy Inspector-General should be formed in the Province. The history of this proposal is of interest, and since the arguments in its favour were, or became, common to all the Provinces it is necessary to briefly review it. The Burma proposal was no new one. It had been first suggested sixteen years before. On his transfer to Upper Burma in 1887 (after the third Burmese War) Mr. H. C. Hill was made Secretary to the Chief Commissioner in Forest matters and held the post for two years, when he quitted the Province. Before Hill left, however, in 1888, Sir Charles Crosthwaite (No. 992, 31 B., dated 27th August) recommended the appointment of a Deputy Inspector-General of Forests in Burma. The suggestion was not approved (G. of I. letter, No. 381 F., dated 31st (30th ?) April). Ten years later Ribbentrop, Inspector-General of Forests (No. 1227, dated 11th October, 1898), advocated a return to the arrangement in force between 1887 and 1889. Sir Frederick Fryer, the Lieutenant-Governor, was not in favour of the proposal and made certain alternative suggestions (letter No. 495, 2 A., 23, dated 21st December, 1898). He was unable to recommend the step owing to "the difficulty in defining the respective jurisdictions of the InspectorGeneral and the new Deputy Inspector-General." He proposed the appointment of "a Conservator who would be Forest Secretary and would control the Rangoon Depot, but would have no territorial jurisdiction." No further action was taken until the Burma Conservators drafted their Memorandum of 1904. Sir F. Fryer's main objection had been that as the system of issuing purchase contracts for the extraction of teak was to be continued the time was not ripe for the

appointment of a D.I.G. Forests. In their letter to the Government of India (F.D. No. 66-2A.-27, dated 4th August, 1904) recommending the proposal the Government of Burma, after recapitulating the history above given, wrote: "The system of exploitation by private agency is still maintained in many of the forests, but, nevertheless, it is impossible to avoid the conclusion that the forest work of the Province has greatly increased in volume and still more in complexity in recent years. The extraction of teak timber, both by departmental and by private agency, is being more closely controlled and supervised year by year by the Forest Department. The preparation of Working Plans, the protection of the Reserved Forests from fire and sylvicultural operations of all kinds occupy more and more of the attention of Forest Officers, and as a result the questions presented to the Local Government are more technical in character and more difficult of solution. It is the opinion of all the Conservators in the Province that the work in several of the larger Forest Divisions has grown to an extent which it is beyond the power of the Divisional Forest Officer to efficiently control, and that a rearrangement and increase of divisional and possibly of Conservator's charges is required in order to place the department on a sound footing. Proposals to bring the Arakan Civil Division under the administration of the Forest Department and to form it into a Forest Division have already been submitted to the Government of India with my letter No. 455-1 M. -11, dated 15th June, 1904; it is not improbable that more than one Division will ultimately be required in Arakan, suggestions by the Conservators concerned to form two new Divisions from the Tharrawaddy and Salween Divisions respectively are at present before the Lieutenant-Governor, and proposals in the same direction for splitting up certain other Divisions are being drafted by Conservators. The revision of the divisional charges will necessitate a reorganization of the Forest Services in the Province and the whole subject is one which needs to be thoroughly and carefully taken up on uniform lines for the whole Province by one officer as the head of the Forest Department in Burma. In paragraphs 4 to 6 of their letter the Conservators emphasize the need for a central authority in the Province on technical and administrative matters to whom they can themselves apply for advice, and they consider that the absence of such an authority retards the development of the Forests of Burma.

"

In these views the Lieutenant-Governor entirely concurs.' The latter was Sir Hugh Barnes, and his letter admirably marshals the arguments in favour of the appointment. He instances the fact that Burma possessed magnificent forests, and it was necessary to find markets for species other than teak, yet he had noticed that the Port Commissioners, who were carrying out extensive Port improvements in Rangoon, "have lately imported large quantities of Jarrah timbers from Australia for their new wharves. Pyinkado (Xylia dolabriformis) is admitted to be a better wood for the purpose, and there are quantities of it to be found in Burma, but the Port Commissioners were unable to obtain it in the form required. Similarly the discovery and exploitation in such a manner that it can be readily procurable of a good cheap building timber to take the place of the expensive teak now almost universally used by the Public Works Department would effect a very great saving in expenditure." Sir Hugh agreed with the Conservators that the Deputy Inspector-General should not be the Secretary for Forest matters to the Local Government since it was desirable that he should tour constantly, which would not be possible if he was buried in the Secretariat. Nor was the opinion held in Burma that the appointment would in any way conflict with the powers and duties of the Inspector-General of Forests. In the Government of India letter (129, dated 20th April, 1905) to the Secretary of State (St. John Brodrick) the Burma Government's proposal was strongly supported. It was suggested, however, that the title be changed to ConservatorGeneral. Eardley Wilmot was Inspector-General, and, evidently on his advice, the Government of India add: "and we would also transfer to the Conservator-General the control of all sanctioned Working Plans in Burma and thus relieve our Inspector-General of a portion of his increasingly burdensome work." The Secretary of State (79 (Revenue), dated 2nd June, 1905) sanctioned the proposal and also settled the title of the new post in the following: "Your proposal is sanctioned, but with reference to your remarks as to the most suitable designation of the new officer I suggest for your consideration whether 'Chief Conservator' might not more appropriately describe the functions to be assigned to the officer in question."

As an outcome of the Burma proposal, and owing to a reorganization of the Imperial Forest Service being under

« 上一頁繼續 »