THE RIGHTS OF PROPERTY.
(To THE EDITOR or THE " SPECTATOR:I
Sia,—The question of rights of property in air was raised before the Coal Commission the other day, and Lord London- derry stated that that question was now being decided in Paris. It is not the first time that it has been decided, however (to a Bishop's satisfaction at all events), as the following extract from an old book shows:—
`f Rights of Property in Windmills were at one time, particu- larly on the Continent, included amongst the regalia or rights of the Crown; and on the introduction of windmills, this assumed right was extended over air as well as water. A whimsical instance of the attempted exercise of this privilege is on record. It seems that the Augustine monks belonging to the monastery at Weindsheim, in the-province of Overyssche, were desirous of erecting a windmill in the neighbourhood, but the lord of the soil opposed their project on the extra- ordinary assumption that the wind in that neighbourhood belonged to him. Upon this the monks applied to the Bishop of Utrecht, who decided, in a towering passion, that no one had Power over the wind in his diocese but himself. And thereupon he immediately granted letters patent to the good monks."'
In these days of claims for compensation one wonders whether the owners of windmills will declare that the air above them has always been their property, and that they must he " bought out "handsomely if the new air-routes cross them, or whether the Bishops will say "ancient precedent" proves it to belong to them !—I am, Sir, Ix., K. Moues. Airington Manor, Carisbrooke, Isle of Wight.
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