286 BUBAL COMMONS. 



would be reserved for public enjoyment. The standing 

 Committee took the same view, and approved the in- 

 closure of the residue. 



By the action of the Committee and by discussions 

 in the House of Commons, an entirely new policy with 

 respect to inclosures has been forced upon the Inclosure 

 Commissioners. The very name of the Commission, 

 which was misleading, as it seemed to point out to 

 them the duty of inclosing, has disappeared. In 1887, 

 it was changed to the Land Commission, which has 

 since been merged in the Board of Agriculture. In 

 the sixteen years which have elapsed since the Com- 

 mons Act of 1876, twenty-four Commons only have 

 been inclosed, with a total area of 26,500 acres, of 

 which 498 acres have been devoted to recreation ground, 

 and 280 acres to field gardens and allotments. Two- 

 thirds of the applications for inclosure of Commons, 

 which have come before the Inclosure Commissioners 

 and their successors, the Board of Agriculture, have 

 been rejected, on the ground that no advantage would 

 accrue to the public from thus dealing with them. In 

 many of the latest schemes for inclosures of mountain 

 lands, a provision has been inserted, securing to the 

 public a right of access over the land, so long as it 

 should not be tilled or planted. Since 1886 there has 

 been only one case of inclosure. 



The change in public opinion marked by the 

 Commons Act of 1876, and still more by the mode 

 of administering it, can only be realised by those 

 who have given close attention to the subject. To 



