PuruLirs.—On the Law of Gavelkind, 581 
suffers, the State suffers accordingly. Has there not been too much State 
interference of late, both with regard to the child and the man. From 
slavery and from villein service we have developed into free individual 
action. ‘Our home is our castle,” a noble maxim: Blackstone says from 
the centre of the earth to the sky. For this principle Earl Godwin fought, 
eight and a half centuries ago, and it is the highest principle a nation 
can cherish. 
It will be observed, too, that the tendency of the age has been to free 
England from the feudal idea of nationalization of land. Primogeniture 
has gone, entail has gone, settlement is being swept away. The next step 
is to compulsorily divide the land as in France. 
With respect to collateral relatives. I agree with Mill, that in cases of 
intestacy, and the failure of direct heirs, property should escheat to the 
State. But this is a minor point in the manipulation of the rules of in- 
heritance. 
If we really wish to check poverty and crime, and to progress as Mr. 
George wishes, our bounden duty is to teach parents the great obligation of 
“not bringing children into the world unless they can be maintained in 
comfort during childhood, and brought up with a likelihood of supporting 
themselves when of full age.”* I know of no better means than the com- 
pulsory subdivision of the land. The great towns will not then become the 
receptacle of agricultural paupers, as the English towns are flooded at the 
present time by the Irish. The utter carelessness of the Irish population, 
in the neglect of this important matter, shows how necessary it is for us to 
strike at the root of the evil, and by subdividing the land to cause such a 
people to impose the voluntary check to excessive increase. Poor Ireland 
has terribly suffered from the incidence of the feudal laws. Time it is for 
us to divide the area of that country exactly according to the population. 
A feature, too, with regard to the free individual fee-simple title as 
applied to the present circumstances of this colony merits our attention, 
and our duty is to act for the present. Leaving upon one side the drainage 
of great swamps, the irrigation of plains, the clearing of forests, or the de- 
struction of pests, let us take the scant timber-supply of the South Island 
into consideration. Men will not be found to plant trees as readily under 
the leasehold title as under the freehold. A man will do anything, if he 
consider his title secure in perpetuity to himself and his offspring ; but he 
will weigh every action if he holds a lease, be that lease called a perpetual 
lease or by any other title. Of course the State may, and perhaps should, 
undertake the conservation of the forests; but it is very doubtful whether 
the private individual will not carry out this work better, when it pays him to 
* J. S. Mill. 
