Mr. Cross is, on the whole, the most successful Commoner
in Her Majesty's Government. We very much doubt if the Peers will allow his Enclosure Bill, if it really resembles the Bill he described on Thursday, without emasculating clauses ; but if they do, he will have taken a great step forward in a new direction. His measure enables the Enclosure Commissioners to make regu- lations for the improvement of commons in any part of the country ; directs them to inquire into the effect of any enclosure on the surrounding neighbourhood ; gives urban authorities a locus standi in the discussion of suburban en- closures ; and commands that all enclosures sanctioned by the Commissioners must be referred to a Standing Committee of the House of Commons before they are confirmed. That last pro- viso, if Mr. Shaw-Lefevre is on the Committee, may prove the best guarantee of all. Mr. Cross was embarrassed in making his statement, and we do not wonder. Fancy a Tory Minister allowing, in so many words, that an- increase in the produc- tion of corn is no longer a pressing interest to the Statel
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