44 THE COMMON'S SOCIETY. 



of Merton, and that, if resisted by Commoners, such 

 arbitrary attempts would certainly fail. The result, 

 however, has only been arrived at after long }'ears 

 of anxious and costly litigation, in which the con- 

 test was a very unequal one ; for while, on the one 

 hand, if the Lords of Manors had been successful in 

 maintaining their pretensions to inclose, they would 

 have secured land of enormous value for building pur- 

 poses ; on the other hand, the Commoners were fighting 

 only for the maintenance of the status quo, where their 

 own pecuniary interests were not much involved, but 

 where the public was mainly concerned in keeping the 

 Commons open. 



All this expensive litigation would have been un- 

 necessary if Parliament had adopted the recommenda- 

 tion of the Committee of 1865, and had repealed the 

 Statute of Merton, as practically obsolete, as working 

 injustice whenever attempted to be put in force, and as 

 mischievous to the public interest. Unfortunately, the 

 Government of the day refused to adopt this sugges- 

 tion ; and although endeavours have been made at 

 different times since to induce Parliament to take 

 this course, they have till last year (1893) entirely 

 failed. 



In 1806, however, the Government carried a 

 measure of great importance in furtherance of the 

 other recommendations of the Committee of 1865 

 namely, the Metropolitan Commons Act. Under this 

 Act, power was given to the Inclosure Commissioners, 

 now the Board of Agriculture, in respect of any 



