Commons and Manors A complaint has been raised that the
newer Lords of the Manors of our commons do not take their duties seriously; indeed, totally disregard their property. In one place farmers are alleged to have exceeded their right in regard to leazes or grazing rights. In another, illegitimate animals, notably horses, are illegally tethered on the commons ; in another rubbish is thrown out promiscuously and scrub allowed to extend. My own experience is rather that the commoners no longer use what rights they have. They do not even graze geese—those most economic birds—and, as to lemmas or half-year land, the people's rights are wholly disregarded. They have quite "fallen into desuetude," as an old don said in apology when accused of neglecting his duties. One patent fact is that no one knows, what exactly are the powers of the Lord of the Manor or the Court Leet that now no longer meets. Since the enfranchisement of copyholds war carried through in tozo--as re- cently pointed out in The Estate Magazine—the Ministry of Agriculture has become the one authority to whom in appeal can be usefully made. The best Lords of the Manor are perhaps the golf clubs, but they, too, have their sins of omission and commission.
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