The Session has been phenomenally barren as regards legis- httion,
but at least one legal improvement of great importance and usefulness has been effected. On Friday week, an Act received the Royal Assent which virtually closes the last of the doors by which commons can be enclosed. Prevented by recent Acts from enclosing in any other fashion, Lords of Manors anxious to "take in" commons have had recourse to the Statute of Merton, under which the Lord was enabled to enclose the waste of the Manor, provided he left sufficient pasture for the commoners. But given a large waste and few or willing commoners, this meant enclosures that could not be gainsaid without a troublesome and risky suit at law. The new Act forbids enclosure under the Statute of Merton unless with the consent of the Board of Agriculture, and that consent is not to be given unless the Board are of opinion. that it will be for the benefit of the public. Forty years ago that would have meant, and no doubt rightly meant, consent in every ease, Now it would be a bold Board that would call an enclosure a public benefit. The result of the Act will be pure good, for there is not an inch too much common-land in England. Those Londoners who love the wastes of Surrey, Sussex, Kent, and Hampshire, and depend upon them for the pleasures of the country, will now be able to sleep in peace. The fear of being some day condemned to nothing but the hard road is banished for ever.
Previous page
