Perpetual leases were not approved by the Court of Directors, who confirmed Mr. Colvin's other proposals, as well as the plantation experiments, and the direct administration of all tracts in the three sections reserved for Government. Dr. Brandis, writing twelve years after Mr. Colvin had left the province in 1848, and coinciding with his policy, proposed that while all other forests should be retained in direct management, all forests in section 2 should, like those in section 1, be made over to private enterprise. He recommended that the holders of existing licences in these forests should be called on to prove by their terms exclusive right to teak or other timber. He wrote: —
'India is not the country where the advantage of a provident management of forests is generally understood. The interests of a few persons only in this country reach beyond a limited number of years; and this feeling of exclusive regard for the interests immediately before them easily communicates itself to public servants, as well as to private parties. We must, therefore, expect that, from time to time, violent outcries will be raised in India against the administration of forests by the Government. By proposing to leave the Attaran forests entirely in the hands of private parties, we give fair play to the other side; and can afterwards draw comparison between the results of both systems. The Attaran forests, made over to private enterprise, will, it is hoped, prove the safety-valve for forest administration in India.'
Dr. Brandis' proposals were approved by the Government of India. 'The result was,' he has kindly
