Maulmain. The supply of teak timber from these forests fell to less than 1000 tons per annum, other forests having taken their place. Mr. Colvin considered the lapse of the greater part of the Attaran forests as a fait accompli, which could not be altered.' He proposed, says Dr. Brandis, to retain for Government with one exception the large forests on the Attaran, for which no licences had yet been granted, and he arranged that extensive plantations should be established for the preservation of these forests, and for the renewal of timber from time to time removed from them. The Attaran licence holders in section 1 he was prepared to leave in possession; and of the unoccupied forests in section 2 to grant one lot to an European firm which had applied for it, reserving to Government the teak timber in the other lots of section 2, as well as the teak trees in sections 3, 4, and 5. For the forests retained under private licences he wished to give long leases, recommending the cession in perpetuity to the licence holders of all locations occupied by them. He was aware that holders in perpetuity might possibly not think it worth while to form plantations, or to provide for the growth of young trees, which could return no value till eighty years after they had been planted. But in his eyes, the question was not whether it was desirable to part with these forest lands to private persons — that was a fait accompli; the question was whether, having parted with them, it was not better that the transfer should be on the most sound terms.
