20 MAY 1871, Page 2

Mr. Wren-Hoskyns on Thursday asked Mr. Bruce for a pro-

mised return of the acreage owned by public corporate bodies in England and Wales, and Mr. Bruce confessed himself very nearly in despair how to get it. Everybody is always baffled in this, inquiry, but we wish Mr. Wren-Hoskyns, who is making Tenure his subject, would ask for a much bigger thing, namely, a nominal return of all the freeholders in England owning more than five acres, with their acreage. Our belief is, that if the Survey, the Tithe Commissioners, the Inland Revenue Board, and the Regis- trar-General were to put their beads together, a very close approxi- mation to the troth might be obtained, and would materially assist legislation. How many tenths of England does the House of Peers own ? In Scotland five of them, Sutherland, Argyle, Bac- -cleugh, Breadalbane, and Roxburgh, own a third of the entire country.