44, THE COMMONS 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 years 
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 s¢atus 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tion of the Committee of 1865, and had repealed the 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 thé 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 1866, 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 
