societies, whose proceedings contain invaluable accounts of
practically every monument of interest throughout the kingdom,
there are two societies directly formed with the object of
monument preservation in its widest sense, the Society for
the Protection of Ancient Buildings, founded in 1877, and the
National Trust for Places of Historic Interest and Natural
Beauty, constituted in 1894 under the Joint Stock Companies
Acts for the purchase and preservation of sites and buildings,
which it can hold in perpetuity for the benefit of the public. In
1907 the latter was dissolved and re-incorporated as a statutory
body by the National Trust Act 1907. It possesses twenty-eight
properties, amounting to 2000 acres, and twelve interesting
buildings.
India.—The Archaeological Survey of Upper India was established in 1862, with a director-general at its head, and surveys for other parts of India were also begun later. The chief object of these was the making of an inventory, and the preservation of the monuments was neglected. In 1878 a curator of ancient monuments was appointed. A period of activity with regard to monument preservation set in during the viceroyalty of Lord Curzon; this culminated in the Ancient Monuments Preservation Act of 1904. The main provisions are as follows: The local government of any province may declare any monument to be a “protected monument within the meaning of the act,” and when so declared no one may injure, remove or alter it under penalty of a fine or imprisonment. This, however, does not apply to the owner, except when the government has, by purchase or gift, or by taking over the guardianship of the monument, assumed the duty of preserving it. This assumption of guardianship is by agreement with the owner. Power of expropriation under the Land Acquisition Act 1894 is given if a monument protected under the act is threatened with destruction or injury, or if an owner refuse to come to an agreement with the authority for its guardianship. The act includes movable antiquities, and the governor-general in council can prohibit their exportation. Control over excavations is also given.
Egypt.—A Commission of Egyptology (Comité permanent d’égyptologie) has the care of the monuments of early Egyptian civilization. The monuments of the Arab occupation are in the charge of a separate commission (Comité de conservation des monuments de l’art arabe). The Commission of Egyptology acts under khedival decrees of 1883, 1897 and 1891. By the first the state claims control over all antiquities and declares the contents of the Giza (Gizeh) Museum, now the National Museum of Egyptian Antiquities, and of any future collection, to be the property of the state and inalienable. The second decree penalizes any injury to monuments or attempt to appropriate a monument belonging to the state. The third deals with excavations; permission must be granted by the director-general of museums; objects discovered belong to the state and must go to the museum, but a part of the objects will be granted to the discoverer under special regulations, the government reserving the right to special objects with compensation for the expense of excavation.
France.—The Commission des monuments historiques was established in 1837. It is attached to and acts through the department of the minister of public instruction and of the fine arts, who is the president of the commission. There are thirty members, partly nominated by the minister out of names selected by the commission, partly ex officio, such as the directors of civil buildings and national palaces and of public worship. The buildings which these officials control are, however, not directly under the commission. The presence of a certain number of deputies on the commission secures its representation in the legislature. Upon the commission fall the following duties: (a) The classement or selection of the monuments of national interest, artistic, historic, or both, for the schedule of protected monuments. A particular portion of a building, such as a door, window, &c., may be alone protected. (b) The restoration and repair of the monuments so classed. (c) A general power of giving advice and watching the monuments of the country as a. Whole. The commission has the charge of the Musée Cluny, and is also the centre for all inquiries, reports, &c. The official staff of the commission consists of four general inspectors, one of whom, since the Monument Act of 1887, has charge of the movable monuments, and of forty architects, who have a subordinate staff of inspectors of works. Since 1830 a sum has been voted yearly for the finances of the commission. The largest sum (£120,000) that has appeared in the budget was voted in 1896; there are, however, other sources of revenue available.
The Monument Act of 1887.—This, together with certain administrative decrees, gave legal powers to the commission, which it had hitherto lacked, or had only been able to enforce by a difficult process of expropriation if owners, whether private or public, of monuments classé objected to the work of the commission. If a monument classé belong to the state or is under the administration of a minister other than the minister of public instruction and fine arts, or if it belong to any public body, such as a department or commune in whose hands the churches mainly lie, the consent of these controlling bodies must be given, otherwise the decision is left to the conseil d’état. If the owner be a. private person, his consent is also necessary to the classement. If he refuses, the minister may expropriate the monument by compulsory purchase, which must have the consent of the conseil d’état. Once a monument has been classé, it cannot be destroyed even partially, and no repairs or other work can be effected upon it without the consent of the minister. An action, for damages only, lies against a person infringing the law in this respect. The act deals also with the classement and protection of movable objects of national interest, historic or artistic, but only if they belong to the state, when they cannot be alienated, or to public bodies, when the consent of the minister is required for repairs or alienation. The act does not affect movables belonging to private persons. Owing to the numerous thefts from churches, museums, and other places, which attracted particular attention in 1907, proposals have been made for the better protection of such objects, as well as of those in private collections, by gathering together the objects at present scattered in churches, &c., into provincial and local museums, and also by charging an entrance fee for museums, &c. With regard to the discovery of monuments by excavation works or accident, the minister must receive immediate notice from the mayor of the commune through the prefect of the department, and will decide what is to be done. If such discovery is on private property he may proceed to expropriation. The act applies to Algeria. Here all objects of archaeological or artistic interest are reserved to the state, if on ground belonging to the government or granted by it to public bodies or private persons or in military occupation. The act is similarly extended to all French protectorates. Tunis has more stringent regulations; for by a decree of the bey, 1886, the consent of the owner to the classement of a monument is not required, and penalties under the French penal code attach to infringements. .
There is a strong feeling in France as to the protection and preservation of sites of natural beauty. A Société pour la protection des paysages was founded in 1901, and in 1904 the minister of public works issued a circular to the government engineers emphasizing the obligation of preserving and, if possible, enhancing the natural beauties of any locality in which public works were being carried out. An act (Loi organisant la protection des sites et monuments naturels de caractére artistique) was adopted in 1906, extending a protection to such sites analogous to that under the Monument Act (Appendix B in Sir R. Hunter’s Lecture, already cited, gives the regulations under this measure).
A law of 1910 prohibits the affixing of bills or advertisements on monuments and sites officially recognized as historical and in sites recognized as picturesque by the law of 1906. The prefect also fixes a zone near such sites or monuments within which advertisement is prohibited.
Societies, both national and local, are numerous and active in France, but the centralizing policy does not favour any close working with the commission. The most important are the Société nationale des antiquaires de France, founded in 1804, and the Société française d’archéologie pour la conservation et
