.3,3. NOTES AND COMMENTS. 403 



have erected a compact and commodious hall, such as those with 

 which the not so very impecunious City Companies content them- 

 selves, rather than a spread out and showy palace. As it is, the 

 building has taken nearly all the funds at the disposal of the Institute, 

 for though an endowment yielding ^'4,000 a year has been retained, a 

 further ^80,000 is required for the building fund. As the chances 

 of collecting this within a short time do not seem very hopeful, the 

 Institute only adds another to the Kensington group of unfinished 

 edifices. The financial condition of the Institute is not the least 

 unsatisfactory feature in its outlook ; the endowment of ^4,000 a 

 year is wholly inadequate, and the annual subscriptions of the Fellows 

 and Colonies are not likely to give it a firm basis for its multifarious 

 projects. The maintenance of the museum alone ought to absorb 

 more than its income. In fact, unless Parliament be willing to vote 

 a grant in aid, the Institute seems likely to be of most use as a 

 Kensington club, while, as the home of fashionable soirees, it may 

 remind a larger audience of the fate that befalls even Imperial institu- 

 tions when they choose to ignore the limitations of time and place. 



Right of Way across the Norfolk Broads. 



The recent decision in Chancery as to the rights of fishing and 

 shooting on Hickling Broad was awaited with considerable anxiety 

 by many who feared that the interests of the public were being 

 seriously jeopardised by the reckless zeal of its champions. Mr. 

 Justice Romer's decision, however, is more satisfactory than it might 

 have been, for not only is the right of way across the Broad to 

 Hickling Staithe fully maintained, but there is full liberty to leave 

 the channel. The shooting and fishing on the Broad, however, are 

 decided to be private, which, after all, is a mere detail now that full 

 access to it is admitted. The defendants' claim that the Broad is 

 tidal is simply preposterous ; anyone might as well maintain that the 

 reservoirs of the Battersea waterworks are tidal and accordingly 

 claim the right to unlimited picnic on them. If the Court had 

 upheld the view that Hickling Broad is tidal, that term would simply 

 have had to be redefined. It is to be hoped that visitors and riparian 

 owners will agree better now that their respective rights have once 

 again been clearly defined. So long as the public have undisputed 

 right of way across most of the Broads and as much free shooting and 

 fishing as there is in the district, it is to be hoped that they will 

 cease to infringe the rights of the riparian owners. So far the latter 

 have, on the whole, acted with great consideration, and if the private 

 Broads are ever closed the fault will rest with those members of the 

 public who have abused privileges which otherwise would not have 

 been questioned. The Broad landlords have never exhibited the 

 spirit shown by some of the suburl^an landlords, to one type of which 

 attention is this month called in our correspondence columns. 



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