THE ENGLISH LAND SYSTEM 87 



Having" traced the proceedings by which the great 

 bulk of the land of Great Britain was inclosed and 

 turned into private property, it may be well to con- 

 sider the arguments used in justification of these pro- 

 ceedings. One argument, ever repeated inside and 

 outside Parliament, was that inclosing lands provided 

 employment for the rural population. No doubt it did 

 provide employment in the following manner. A 

 common — and the very word comnio7i indicates the 

 rightful ownership — a common, say of 2000 acres, is 

 inclosed, and the cottagers, commoners, and small 

 yeomen are deprived of their rights on it ; any plots 

 or holdings of arable land which they may possess are 

 rendered useless when the pastures are taken away. 

 These men have thus to sell their cows, geese, pigs, 

 poultry — all their little stock — and become mere la- 

 bourers, dependent on employment for a living. Work 

 is found for them by inclosing, say, a further 2000 

 acres. They are consequently the innocent cause of 

 displacing another lot of peasantry and in reducing 

 them to the same condition as themselves. And so 

 the miserable process goes on, destroying the race of 

 peasants and increasing the hireling class with cumu- 

 lative rapidity. This is what really happened, and the 

 process was continued until the cultivating classes re- 

 ferred to disappeared almost completely. 



But the main argument in favour of the system of 

 inclosures, was, that it was for the public good, by 

 making the land more productive and profitable. To 

 "approve" the land, and to make it more profitable, 



for instance, is returned as an owner for part of his land, and as Mr. 

 Vanney for the rest. Viscount Valcntia is returned as Mr. V. Valentia. 

 Tenants are often returned as owners. Frequently the same man, if he 

 happens to own land in different counties or parishes, is entered as an 

 owner four or five times over. 



