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today; as shown by the fact that a spite fence is no longer 
legal ; by the fact that many limitations are put upon property 
in the exercise of the police power, the power of taxation, and 
the power of eminent domain; by the fact that the husband 
must have his wife join in a conveyance of realty; by the fact 
of the limitations placed upon creditors and other injured 
parties by exemption laws and bankruptcy laws; and by the 
fact that things formerly classed as res communis and res 
nullius are now classed as res publicae. Freedom of contract 
is no longer limiting, but is being limited by the law of in- 
surance, and the law of public callings, and by the rules of 
illegality. Liability is being imposed without fault upon the 
master, or employer, in workmen’s compensation laws, upon 
the owner in case of dangerous instrumentalities, and upon 
the head of the family in case of the family automobile. There 
is a social interest in holding no one liable without fault, 
but in modern times there are other social interests which 
sometimes overbalance that social interest, and then absolute 
liability is better than no liability without fault. Taxation 
laws, especially income and inheritance tax laws, are now 
based upon the principle of ability to pay. 
Real Property. Remarkable changes in real property law 
have occurred in England. Permissive waste was abolished 
in England in 1889 thru the action of the equity courts. 42 
m 1891 equity also abolished ameliorating waste. 43 Ameliorat- 
ing waste has never been recognized in the United States. 
The Settled Land Act of 1882 enabled a life tenant and a 
tenant in tail to convey a fee simple, so that others interested 
would have only a trust in the proceeds. The Registry Acts 
of 1862 and 1875 provided the machinery for registration, 
but it did not work well. But the great changes came with 
the Consolidating Acts of 1925 which went into operation in 
January, 1926. This was a code of real property law. The 
great purpose of this reform, a lawyers’ reform, was to carry 
out the Benthamite belief in the free trade in land and break 
up the family settlements of England. The 1925 Acts went 
farther than the Acts of 1882 and gave the life tenant a 
fee simple, reserving to others interested only a trust in pro- 
ceeds, and provided for trusts for sale. The Acts of 1925 re- 
42 In re Car tier ight, 41 Ch. D. 532. 
43 Menx v. Cobley, (1892) 2 Ch. 262. 
