WITLEY COMMON.
[To THE EDITOR OP THE "SPECTATOR']
SIR,—The sympathetic interest which you have shown in the endeavour of the inhabitants of Godalming and neighbour- hood to prevent the appropriation of a portion of Witley Common as a burial-ground leads me to think that you may like to know what is the present position of the struggle. On the 6th inst. a deputation, introduced by Mr. W. H.
Cowan, the Member for the division, representing residents in the neighbourhood (among whom was the Head- Master of Charterlionse), and such societies as the Com- mons Preservation Society, the National Trust, and the Metropolitan Gardens Association, and accompanied by Sir John Jardine, Sir Charles McLaren, and other Members of Parliament, waited on Lord Carrington at the Board of Agri- culture to urge the immediate rejection of the proposal to enclose the common. The position of Witley Common—a suburban common within the meaning of the Commons Act of 1876, and a common lying in the midst of a rapidly growing neighbourhood, really suburban to London—was emphasised, and it was pointed out that the only reason which could be urged for the proposed enclosure was a saving of rates to the parish of Witley, a saving which would probably not exceed 2500, or an annual .payment of 230 for thirty years, —a halfpenny in the pound on the parish assessment as it now stands. The deputation dwelt on the fact that there was an abundance of other land to be had, and pressed the President of the Board to lay down the principle that commons should not be enclosed to effect a saving to the ratepayers, by rejecting the proposal on the broad facts which were not in dispute. A memorial against the enclosure, numerously and influentially signed, was presented. Lord Carrington in reply expressed his entire sympathy, and that of the present Government, with the preservation of commons ; but, alluding to the fact that a petition in favour of the enclosure had also been presented to him, thought he was bound to hold a local inquiry at which both sides could be beard. Such an inquiry will, therefore, be held ; and it is hoped that the result may be to establish beyond question that commons in the neighbourhood of London are not to be sacrificed to the passing whim of the ratepayers of a particular parish, but are to be preserved intact for the public at large and for posterity.—I am,
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