CO885-(11-12) — Page 368

PUBLIC

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RECORD OFFICE

Reference -

C.O.882/12

ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BF REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH—NOT TO

| PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

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Mr. Thompson recognized these facts:-

it is obvious that a considerable part of the duties now per- formed by the forest staff could easily be performed, and with great advantage, by the existing Police Force; such as the protection of river and mountain reserves and the pas géometriques which the law directs shall be protected and perinanently maintained in wood; and which would practically amount to nothing more than the protection of public property, for which the Police Force is the constituted guardian." We entirely agree, and repeat this recommendation. In making this proposal we are laying no impracticable burden on the Police, as we have already explained. A striking feature of the administra- tion of the Colony is the very large number of police stations; in particular the stations which are either on the coast or close to the coast are most appropriately sited for the general control of the pas géometriques. It is the duty of the Police to see that the law is observed, and the ordinance constituting the pas géometriques should not be placed outside the range of their activities. When there is a police station in practically every inhabited area which adjoins a coast plantation it is impossible that there should be any unlicensed felling or movement of timber unknown to the Police. In our view their action can completely reinforce the ordinary control over the leases of pas géometriques which will be maintained by the Public Works Department.

10. For the same reasons the mountain and river reserves must not be regarded as beyond the attention of the Police, but we neither expect nor desire that this attention should be very con- tinuous. To see a mountain reserve is to realize once again in Mauritius how much exaggeration lies in title; isolated,

prominent, inaccessible, and small, these reserves require for their protection no more than one annual visit from the Conservator or his Foresters.

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We view with scepticism the supposition that an occasional patrol protects" the line of trees on private land along the rivers, the river reserves"; we would read with astonishment the literature on this subject did we not realize that the system of river reserves has the result of securing protection for private rights at the public expense. The erosion of the banks of the rivers, if it can be assured that there is a serious risk of the extension of their rocky beds, is a menace only to the land and water-rights of the proprietors: to a large extent the protection of the water edges against mosquito larvae, a sanitary and not a forest issue, affects the proprietors also.

When we observe how minutely estate owners have watched the irrigation schemes of the Government in order not to lose a cubic foot of water, we cannot believe that they will be indifferent to the felling of riverside trees to their own detriment, and we have

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heard evidence which supports this view. The protection of river reserves should be left to the proprietors, as being a normal incident of land ownership.

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It is hardly necessary to mention the roadside trees, the clear-

vacant lots."

The ance of the cemetery grounds, and the care of latter is the duty of the Health Department, the former should by ordinary administrative practice be in charge of the Public Works Department, which maintains numerous road gangs who are a sufficient agency for reporting to the Police any case of injury to the roadside avenues.

11. The present total cost of the department is Rs.299,500, including five clerks, etc., on the General list. We propose to add one 5th class clerk (Rs.2,400) to the Department of Agriculture, and on the executive side to select eight officers for the new Foresters posts, on an initial pay of Rs.1,500. The pay of the Conservator is Rs.14,000, which will be reduced by the general retrenchment to Rs.12,600; he should continue to draw this pay, though on the next vacancy the post should be brought on to the proposed senior technical scale at Rs.9,500-500-12,000. Adding Rs.40,000 for other charges the cost of the new branch of the Agricultural Department will be Rs.67,000. The saving on present budget figures will be Rs.232,500. Assuming that none of the Forest Officers can be transferred to other posts the immediate cost of dispensing with their services would be Rs.95,000 in gratuities and Rs.26,768 in pensions; in other words the sayings for the first half-year would be absorbed, but there would then be an annual saving of Rs.200,000.

With this drastic reduction the Forest Department will cease to exist but this recommendation should not be regarded as a counsel of despair, depriving Mauritius of the possibility of any future development. This is not the case. Even if the financial situation were favourable, even if we were considering schernes in which the probable expenditure was known in detail, even if a declared market were awaiting Mauritius timber, it would not be safe to expect success, so long as the staff was the product of unfortunate tradi- tions which divert them to useless objectives and unfit them for forestry. Whether the forest policy be protection or development, there must be a sharp break with the past. We regard the measures which we propose as the first step towards the future.

CHAPTER VII. AGRICULTURE. The total expenditure controlled by the Director of Agriculture is Rs.482,388, of which approximately Rs.206,000 is spent on staff. In addition there are seven General Clerks costing Rs.19,000.

The fact that less than three per cent. of the total expenditure of the Colony is devoted to agriculture, which is the sole source of

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