270 STUDIES, SCIENTIFIC AND SOCIAL CHAP. 



limit of inheritance to the land of an intestate is fixed at 

 what may be termed the second degree, that is, that it 

 shall not pass to any more remote relative than an uncle, 

 first-cousin, or grandchild, but when none of these exist 

 shall devolve to the State for public purposes. No one 

 can deny that the State could justly make such a law, 

 when laws which disinherit acknowledged children because 

 they are illegitimate, as well as all a man's legitimate 

 daughters and other female relatives, have been long 

 upheld as both just and expedient ! 



Before going further I may as well state, that for the 

 purpose of the argument in this paper I assume that 

 settlements by which land can be tied up and life interests 

 created for several generations, as well as the law of 

 succession to the eldest son or nearest male heir, do not 

 exist, as it seems pretty certain that they will be abolished 

 long before any such radical reform as that proposed in this 

 chapter will come on for discussion in the Legislature. 



It may, however, be objected, that if the law of inheri- 

 tance were altered as above suggested it would produce 

 little effect, because it would afford an additional incentive 

 to the owners of land to dispose of it by will. But it is a 

 fact that much stronger incentives such as the fear of 

 leaving daughters destitute has not prevented men from 

 dying intestate ; and it may be argued on the other side, 

 that in those cases in which a landowner had no near 

 relatives, and all power of entailing an estate had ceased, the 

 inducement to make a will at the earliest possible period 

 would be very weak indeed, and thus a certain number of 

 estates would continually lapse to the Government. 



Application of the Principle. 



It must be admitted, however, that the quantity of land 

 thus annually acquired by the State would be inconsider- 

 able, and would not be sufficient to produce any important 

 amelioration of the condition of the country. We must, 

 therefore, proceed to the second and far more important 

 application of our general principle, to which what has 

 hitherto been proposed is merely the introduction. 



