excess was.paid format an advance of fifty per cent:on.these prices, Crooked
and' other tfmteioffo* ship-building was paid For :at> about the: samexateycbtit
:calcalated-accordi»f',to-<a fixed table-by the weight/ ‘ .
Under thisfcsystem, tho^Regents- rented out many 3df?tlie' villages • adjoining
the forests' to'andividnals, • and- sold, onitheir own account, such timber as was
•not of proper: quality to be’“delivered! to-government, :j'As“tbe'!demattd§ 6f
-government inoreasOdj; M - as ; those of'the - European t.residents, d&bo
•wero many: ofthem.1' concerned in>I shipbuilding and in Itbe: ■ salei'of timber,
•the forests nearJ'the- Oo&st Were- soon-exhausted'of-r their 'best timber* •atii as
it becatneneteOssary 'for! the Cutters' to: go farther into the interior, ' the -labotir
andtexpensedncreased^bnt'-without' any correspondmg'recompensO to Them,
for the government^ never' raised the price, i Individuals,'‘however,i'-diddso;
and the consequence: was, that* government finding mo regulations-they'could
make for the inte'rnabiHanageinentJo'f->the forests sufficient tbi&nsur© them ‘an
•adequate supply, ‘ Were contented fo'b'^ieve that a'-greater-* quantity •thattiTVas
actually-farnishedheoUld not be tent without injury to the- forests^_%Mi©Ugh,
at that VOry time, the deliveries»4o' individuals; in' the- eastern'districtsj were
•estimated at'ilot* less: than fifty > or .Sixty^thousand b'ea ms -p et -annum,Hthe
coast -was1 lined with Javadmilt trading- vessels'nf-'everypdescriptiopi,!« and
•these,;as-well ‘as the rough timber* wer e-frequstltiy1 sent for «gale t-#a-‘distant
market;
In the year I808*"however,*in common -With 'allhfhev Other ‘departments
on the-island,!this important one'was newly organized bytMacshal-lDaendals,
who-placing- the:>highest value on -the digests,«arfdaletemiining to prevent
the abuses -which had p-reviously 'teiistedp ‘removed' alb tfcte population°yhlteh
had fotmerlybeeff'en^a^Cdin the forests in'»the different'partsmf^e rislatid
from the teonfcroul‘ 'Of 'theI nati vemRegOnt,'-“ as- w ifp it tho-dectd European
authOrity,lla’nd :pkced ithem,' with the villages and-lands -to1 which»they Were '
attached, I under-a separate board'-or administration'Tor 'ihe forest- department:
1 -This'- tehange effectually-teeOured government in-the monopoly,“and
succeeded imthe»prcventiDn ;of‘the< afeutees: which had-fbrmerly^fek'kted't ‘but
imtheidegred-that it had this^fifeet,it* also Operated -to- - the ' serioas dryury
of't-general' commerce • and -the -domestic -coinfort- of‘«*tbe "ihhabitants ;■ -.for
eve-ty-one-'was' now obliged to buy^he'-tithber from-'-governmeot* - at a-high
monopoly* iatosffixed- Iy.geueral TegUiation^atid-dhe' timber could onlyXbe
obtained: in !'comparatively small • quantities,—Seldom Of; the -dimensions
required, and only at the fixed staples. Ship-building, and even boat-build-
-n iflg,
h ^ ,J(which- had.before been parried,.-to ?jtbp greatest-,extent along..the.whole
coasts, was i discontinued*-, and ,th$i.cppfgge,-pf_dhei ,pative, .which had formerly
cost, a few,(rupees,-nowtiCQS-t* ten times?the- amqunt df built-,.of- .desirable
materials, •
(•»Under - the radmia.istrario®y,^fwthe ;i Board j- of^Epj^est*, [wfyos&i residence- was.
fix,ed Sepp&ftoMgiisfindjowho,*» yere-^-pltogetheir independents Qf jthe, local
authorities,- was .now: placed,-a populationrof nearly iOn&;hundred thousand
sóiïj-s,1 ’exclusivelyrdevpted'to the labours of (the .forests; and:as no revenue
bad -beemgiyeil .upshyi thefarrangement,. and a, small taniiuaib,fl#ivery;.of
indn*>^alt, jj and gunpowder* toothetfacestersp wasuthevonV payment made,
considerablesprofit; was expeoterkfew,result:fromrit to,the.government-.': It:
was:;-found,) however*' after fthej: establishment ofi i the (British government^
thafrjdfeoutimherawhich had-been cub and ra£ which? there,-wasjan immense
quantity.^|n hand, was *not of a 1 description" required, for the-, building of
coasting ovfesselsj:. and could enot compete-jdn, Bengal: with that:,of.,Pegu,
without,i.s.uch1 a . reduction-.: in , - the monopoly pricep as .addedi.fontheaelosai
occasioned iby^so-jjargeea proportion »,.o£i the, population,i>as>- that set
apart ^ p r . duty jwhofj-c^j^ibufed not'hing,eöhe nto i fh e i reivènu-e,. thei
exfen%wfhe^establishment Necessary to epablerktbe’goyérninent. to be the
sohritinabee merchant}-•’andhtbe» abuses connected with it, wouldiamount to
rififi’C than-all the--profits- that1 n cal!culatêd*oh.- ^JPhë-coasting'trade ‘was
perishm^ior* want of 'vessels^ and. t h e’.for eg t/d"dp art pi en t was a" losingcqn^
p.prjn. tlTnd r.ir«.iimatances...it .was^judged:. expedient dP-lpèlij^e-the,
pspulationtof ,<bhe ^Blmdongs dn the gen etal Larrangemants-.. forritbft.: releases £
tfe‘peasantryj'from-feudal“ bondage, and: the* establisbment*of a fixed-rent
frotn'the ‘landen lièuJof alï ^ê'rvices'and paymentformerly Tendëred.'11"
Th e• wh° lived neajy:h.e,tfQtes^,_andJia4-loi1Srheen-ip habit of
cnttfei»cand ^ dragging-the.-,timber* ( stjU-.however,- continued* inrthÏT emfdoy-
rira6tf> an-jannuaLeontraeti being- made witlv-tbem-'/ foi&.theinusm-dbes^imfhe-
forests-," in -remuneration' for1*which- a remission^éreriri-was-granted: 1 Thé
largest andfeost yaluablë ior'ests.are, under .this s^ te -m/,^èse^e^Tbr.'the>
exejusiyc-usq qf,gQV.e£npaept^;rpthers.p/4e^-yaluert^pd-!^ 4 iD(WtUPf! -which,
cajLejbs: :*oasi]y .define^ have,ïoini,considerationotof lsht racogniti@Jfcïii&.tett'
peb‘- cent.» ari;- ’oail&rem- on*‘ the*-- timber--‘when «-worked-> upv been -Bitown
ópen- to^rih'di^iduals engaged^ in '‘khip-büilding,'who generally“ contract
with yhe people ^the. ad |oining^vjll^ ^.^ and thé timber
at--fixed»prices i- a, .modei wlaiuh-.has(,..aisOfrfhéOft(rnc<^liow&lfe, -rosoittêi.^
by