PROPERTY. 543 



monopoly ; there is the fact that throughout early stages 

 of settled life, no motive to maintain permanent private 

 possession of land comes into play. Manifestly, therefore, it 

 is not from conscious assertion of any theory, or in pur 

 suance of any deliberate policy, that tribal and communal 

 proprietorship of the areas occupied originate; but simply 

 from the necessities of the case. 



Hence the prevalence among unrelated peoples of this 

 public ownership of land, here and there partially qualified 

 by temporary private ownership. Some hunting tribes of 

 North America show us a stage in which even the com 

 munal possession is still vague. Concerning the Dakotas 

 Schoolcraft says 



&quot; Each village has a certain district of country they hunt in, but do not 

 object to families of other villages hunting with them. Among the 

 Dacotas, I never knew an instance of blood being shed in any disputes 

 or difficulties on the hunting grounds.&quot; 



Similarly of the Comanches, he remarks that &quot; no dispute 

 ever arises between tribes with regard to their hunting 

 grounds, the whole being held in common.&quot; Of the semi- 

 settled and more advanced Iroquois, Morgan tells us that 

 &quot;No individual could obtain the absolute title to land, as that was 

 vested by the laws of the Iroquois in all the people ; but he could 

 reduce unoccupied lands to cultivation to any extent he pleased ; and so 

 long as he continued to use them, his right to their enjoyment was pro 

 tected and secured.&quot; 



Sundry pastoral peoples of South Africa show us the sur 

 vival of such arrangements under different conditions. 



&quot; The land which they [the Bechuanas] inhabit is the common pro 

 perty of the whole tribe, as a pasture for their herds.&quot; 



&quot; Being entirely a pastoral people, the Damaras have no notion of 

 permanent habitations. The whole country is considered public pro- 

 porty. . . . There is an understanding that he who arrives first at any 

 given locality, is the master of it as long as he chooses to remain there.&quot; 



Kaffir custom &quot;does not recognize private property in the soil 

 beyond that of actual possession.&quot; 



&quot; No one possesses landed property &quot; [among the Koosas] ; &quot; he sows 

 his corn wherever he can find a convenient spot.&quot; 



And various of the uncivilized, who are mainly or wholly 



