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2 tracts, in which every possible interference with vegetation is disallowed, and
3 leaving rights to be freely exercised in the rest. The phrase which has passed
4 too much, it is to be feared, into a stock commonplace of “carrying the people
5 with us” in our efforts to conserve by this system acquires its true meaning,—and
6 one that is really tangible. ‘There is not a single district. in which the system has
7 been carried out in which (witness the case ot Hoshiarpur) the people have not been
8 satisfied so soon as they saw the real result and practical bearing of what was
9 proposed. But it is not to be wondered at that ignorant villagers, slow to under-
10 stand the necessity of forest conservancy, and looking only to the pressure of their
11 own immediate wants, should not understand all at once the benefit of the system ;
12 still less is it a matter of surprise that in districts like Rawalpindi, where a
13 eneral and uncontrolled license over every part of the forest has for years been
14 in practice, though perhaps not in theory, allowed, should find even the most
15 Difficulty of control at legitimate and partial check galling at first. In such
16 firat starting. cases the shoe must pinch a little; and then it is that the
17 great and legitimate authority of the District Officers must be exercised firmly
18 to maintain the new restrictions, trusting to time and to good management
19 to wear off the feeling of dislike. In Jiéwalpindi, during the year, there were
20 Case of Rawalpindi, numerous complaints ; the chief of them arose simply from
21 the fact that the old system of indefinite conservancy over
22 the whole tract was tried. Grazing fees, which according to the existing rules
23 were perfectly legitimate, were exacted on the road to Murree, and the permit
24 system was kept in check. This produced great discontent—much enhanced by
25 the very injudicious action of the local authorities. It was only my determina-
26 Local authorities foster- tion (which I have constantly impressed on my subordi-
27 ed opposition. cai to avoid to the utmost extent possible any collision
28 with the District Officers, that prevented my reporting in detail the steps that
29 But genoral protection Were taken. I saw, however, that such a system could not
30 over entire districts is im- work, and the restrictions were practically withdrawn, nor
31 sailor will any of them be re-imposed, except such definite ones
32 as the rules provided for, which were fully agreed to both by the Commissioner
33 and Deputy Commissioner. But one step only was taken, to which I shall
34 allude under tle subject of ‘‘ Management of Forests.”
35 92. The rights of cultevation which exist on patches of land in the district
36 Cultivation. of Muzaffargarh, Gujrat and Jhelam have already been
37 incidentally alluded to, and need not be repeated ; so also
38 the steps taken to deal with cases in Lahore, where there was no legal right,
39 but where circumstances rendered the ejection of holders at any rate impolitic.
40 93. The only rights in forests which have not before been noticed in reports
41 Rights in Jhelam. are the newly-transferred Jhelam rakhs. Their condition
42 is most perplexing, and would have been doubly so
43 had not (fortunately) a set of rules proposed for them been left in abcyance.
44 These rules, published in the “ Printed Correspondence onthe Jhelam Rakhs,”
45 may without undue criticism be fairly described as a good example of every
46 thing that forest rules ought not to be. Mr. Wild, the officer in charge, writes :
47 Mr. Wild’s account. “The Jhelam Rakhs are overwhelmed with rights and
48 privileges of one sort or another, especially on the Salt
49 Range.” While the area of these rakhs is beautifully demarcated, as before des-
50 cribed,—the inside represents a spectacle which realizes the recent criticism of
51 the Commissioner of the Central Provinces on some ot the forests there, that the
52 state of the forest inside the pillars was no better, if not worse, than that out-
53 side. Mr. Wild has given in his report a complete statement of the special rights
54 enjoyed apart from general and universal grazing rights and proprietary rights
55 over plots of land. The step taken in this district will be noted under
56 ‘‘ Management.”
57 94. In Shéhpur also, a newly-transferred district, rights are confined to
58 Shéhpir—Dofinition of the Salt Range Rakhs, where | am informed that they were
59 rights im the Salt Range. defined and settled in a set of rules sanctioned by Govern-
60 ment (Secretary’s No. 127, dated 18th February 1870, to Financial Commis-
61 sioner). These rules I have never seen.