LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.
THE COMMONS PRESERVATION SOCIETY : AN APPEAL.
rTo TICE EDIrOlt OH THE " SPECTATOR."]
Snit,—May I venture to make an appeal in your columns on behalf of the Society for the Preservation of Commons and Footpaths, for which the Spectator has so often said a good word ? The Society was founded forty-eight years ago as a non-political association for the purpose, in the first instance, of preserving for the public the very numerous commons round London which were threatened with extinction. Its services in this respect led to its expansion, and it is now the recognized authority for the protection of public interests in respect of all commons, village greens, roadside wastes, and rights of way in every part of England and Wales. The work has increased very greatly of late, and during the last five years the Society has given advice or other help in upwards of 2,700 cases, of which 640 related to attempted enclosures or other interferences with commons, 1,850 to obstructions to footpaths, bridle paths, and roadside wastes, 170 to private and other Bills before Parliament where promoters proposed to expropriate parts of commons or to block up roads and footpaths, and 50 cases in which schemes were promoted or assisted for the acquisition of open spaces for the public. The average, therefore, for five years has been 500 such cases in each year, but the number dealt with in each of the last two years has risen to 650. Many of them have led to negotiations, and a limited number to proceedings.
Never have these cases been more important and varied, and never has the work been attended with greater success than of late. The striking expansion of the work of the Society has been due mainly to the recognition by the public of the ever-increasing value of their rights and interests in commons and footpaths as the population has spread and means of access to rural districts have improved. It has also been largely due to the increased public confidence which has been felt in the proceedings of the Society. The best evidence of this is afforded by the very numerous cases in which the Society, during the last few years, has been appealed to by landowners and local authorities to arbitrate between them as regards disputed sights of way. For this purpose the Secretary, Mr. Chubb, has been directed to hold public inquiries in the districts concerned and has acted as arbitrator. It is striking testi- mony to his fairness, tact, and sound judgment that in all these cases his decisions, ratified by the Society, have been accepted as satisfactory and conclusive by all parties con- cerned in them.
While, however, the work continues to grow, the funds of the Society have seriously decreased, in part owing to the loss by death of most of its earliest and more generous supporters, and in part also to the disallowance by the auditors of the Local Government Board of small subscriptions of many Parish Councils, entitling them to advice in matters relating to rights of way and open spaces. The result is that the Society finds itself seriously crippled. Though the number of its members is much greater, the aggregate of their sub- scriptions is less, and is now below £700 a year. The new subscribers are mainly those who have received benefit from the advice of the Society, many of them persons of small means. The total income, however, is quite insufficient to maintain the Society. It is in debt to over £300. It lives from band to mouth. The Secretary, having regard to his very special qualifications for the very responsible duties entrusted to him, is underpaid and overworked. It is abso- lutely necessary that the funds of the Society should be increased if it is to continue its work. In this view the committee is making a special appeal for raising a fund of £1,C00, and for increasing the subscriptions to the Society by £400 a year. This is the minimum required for placing the Society in a stable position so that it will be able to cope with its ever-increasing work for the protection of public rights in commons and footpaths. The following contributions have been already promised :— The Rt. Hon. Sir William Mather Lord Eversley J. St. Loe Strachey, Esq.
W. R. Malcolm, Esq. ... Sir Joseph Swan... Henry Clarke, Esq., J.P.
Sir John Bramston, G.C.M.G.... John Lloyd, Esq., J.P.
•••
Donation.
... £50 ... £30 ... £10 ... £10
... 45 63.
£2 2s.
.£1 la. Subscription. £10 £10 £10 —I am, Sir, &c., EVEESLEY, 25 Victoria Street, Westminster, S.W.
[We desire not only to endorse this appeal—dealt with by us elsewhere—in the abstract, but to make it our own, and have therefore decided to open a subscription in our columns, and to endeavour to raise the £1,000 so urgently required, and, if possible, to increase that sum. Though primarily we ask our readers for donations, we shall of course be most glad to receive also annual subscriptions, whether large or small. Subscriptions will be acknowledged each week in the Spectator. Cheques should be addressed to the Spectator, 1 Wellington Street, Strand, London, W.C., and made payable to the Spectator and crossed " Barclay and Co., Gosling's Brr.nch, Commons Preservation Account," or paid direct to President. Barclay and Co., Gosling's Branch, 19 Fleet Street, London, E.C., Spectator " Commons Preservation Account."— ED. Spectator.]
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