The Earl of Lincolnsaid: I rise for the purpose of moving for leave to bring in a Bill to facilitate the Enclosure of Commons and Waste Lands in England and Wales. The House will observe, that in consequence of a general expectation that the debate which has just concluded would occupy the whole evening, several Members who take an interest in the question of enclosures are absent; and I shall therefore not feel it necessary to trouble the House at as great length as the importance of the subject might under other circumstances require. For the same reason I am by no means so well prepared, as I otherwise might have been, to bring this subject under the notice and consideration of the House; as I have not with me those papers which would enable me to develop the details of the subject as fully as I could have wished. It therefore becomes necessary that I should limit myself to the briefest possible statement which will enable hon. Members to understand the nature of the measure which I am asking permission to introduce. It will not be for- 24 gotten that a Bill on this subject was brought in last Session by the noble Member for Lincolnshire; but, after some ineffectual attempts to pass it through its stages in this House, in consequence of the difficulties which attend any legislation upon subjects of this nature by a private individual, it was referred to a Committee upstairs. In order to render the few remarks which I have to make as short as possible, I will take for granted that every Gentleman who hears me is already aware of the provisions of that Bill, and of the recommendations of the Committee, which, after having called a great number of witnesses from all parts of the country, reported strongly in favour of a general measure for facilitating enclosures, and the appointment of a Commission for that purpose. I will also take for granted that every one admits the extreme difficulty which attends private legislation, and the frequent injustice which it occasions. Part of those objects which the intended measure may be expected to effect will be to neutralize, if not altogether to prevent, the recurrence of those evils. I may now state, before I proceed further, that one of the means which I propose to adopt for facilitating the Enclosure of Commons and Waste Lands, will be the appointment of a Public Commission, instead of continuing the practice of private legislation to the extent that it has hitherto been carried. This principle, it will be recollected, was fully recognised in the Bill of last year; and in the year preceding a proposition of a similar kind had been favourably received by the House. Now, if the principle is recognised, it is important to landowners that some such Bill as that which I now propose to introduce should pass during the present Session; for, in consequence of a strong expectation that some General Enclosure Bill would be brought forward, all private legislation, which is attended with a heavy expense, has been almost entirely suspended during the two last years. As the subject of General Enclosure Bills has been very frequently discussed, it is the less necessary that I should now occupy the time of the House by going into it at any length. I shall merely, therefore, confine myself to saying that the general experience of private legislation has proved that some such measure as that which I am now about to propose has become, if not absolutely indispensable, at least highly desirable. I will not go into any minute details, be- 25 cause upon the second reading of the Bill its provisions can be examined as carefully as the circumstances of the case may at all seem to require. Assuming, then, that the provisions of last year's Bill are familiar to the House, I shall proceed to state the alterations which I propose to introduce, and the points in which my Bill will differ from the measure of my noble Friend; and I venture to think that the changes which I intend to propose will obviate a great many objections, not merely existing in the House, but which I have reason to believe prevail out of the House. It has been contended by several persons who have given much attention to this subject, that the effect of a General Enclosure Bill would be to withdraw the control of such measures from the hands of Parliament, and that it will also have the effect of producing a very dangerous infraction of the rights of the poor. I believe that this objection is founded in error, even as regards the Bill introduced last year by my, noble Friend. In the present Bill, however, I propose to introduce an additional security to that taken by my noble Friend. It appears to me that the Commission which I intend should form a feature of this measure, will be better calculated to protect the rights of the poor, than any practice of private legislation, and examination before Committees of this House. It is often impossible for the poor man to defend his own rights as effectively as I think the Commissioners would. This, I know, that in nineteen cases out of twenty, Committees of this House, sitting on Private Bills, neglected the rights of the poor. I do not say that they wilfully neglected those rights: far from it; but this I affirm, that they were neglected in consequence of the Committees being permitted to remain in ignorance of the claims of the poor man, because by reason of his very poverty he is unable to come up to London to fee counsel, to produce witnesses, and to urge his claims before a Committee of this House. A Commission, I think, may, therefore, be so constituted as to afford to the poor man, by examination on the spot and at his own door, more certain security than any system of private legislation; and, certainly, better calculated to afford that security than I think the provisions were of the Bill which my noble Friend introduced. The first point in which I propose to depart from the measure of my noble Friend consists in the constitution of the Commission, and in the power proposed to be given 26 to the Commissioners. I do not propose, as my noble Friend did, to invest the Commission with the power to enclose commons without the sanction of Parliament. But I think the Commission which I propose to constitute will be decidedly preferable to the Tithe Commission as an instrument for carrying out this improvement. It appeared to the Government last year, and it was so stated to my noble Friend, that there are insuperable objections to the employment of the Tithe Commission. Powers were given to them for a specific and temporary purpose. They will probably not continue to exercise those powers for more than two or three years to come; but the Commission which I contemplate would, of course, continue its operation so long as a necessity for it continued to exist; though in the first instance I propose to limit its duration to five years. To devolve, therefore, upon the Tithe Commissioners duties which would be very onerous for two or three years, the very period during which their own proper functions continue in force, but which would afterwards gradually diminish, would be highly objectionable. The Government has also thought it desirable that the responsibility to Parliament should be more effectually secured by the constitution of the Commission, than it could be if the execution of the Act were to devolve upon the Tithe Commissioners. I propose that the Secretary of State should appoint three Commissioners, two of them being unpaid, and one a paid Commissioner. I then propose to divide the lands with which they shall have to deal into three classes. The first of these will relate to open lands held in severalty, where no rights of common, or rights of an undefined nature, exist; giving them authority to enclose these without the intervention of Parliament. These lands already come under the operation of the 7th of William IV., but there is great difficulty as to titles where those titles depend upon private agreements. I propose that the Commissioners should have authority to deal with these without the intervention of Parliament, if parties prefer coming to the Commissioners, instead of availing themselves of the Act of 7 Will. IV. The second class will include all commons and wastes of manors and lands where the soil belongs to one or more proprietors; but rights of pasture undefined by what are called stints, or by number, exist over the surface. I pro- 27 pose that the Commissioners should not in these cases have power to carry out the intentions of the Bill without the intervention of Parliament—that is, that they should not exercise this power till their recommendations have been sanctioned by the Legislature. In such a case I should propose that the Commissioners should institute an inquiry into the circumstances of the case; that the results of the inquiry should be embodied in a Report presented to the Secretary of State; that he should lay that Report before Parliament; and that in conformity with the decision of the Legislature upon that subject the Commissioners should act. Whatever recommendations the Commissioners might make in the course of any given year, I propose should be embodied in one annual public Bill, and then the several objections to that Bill could be taken by the Legislature seriatim. This would obviate, I think, all the objections to private legislation. If, for example, the Commissioners recommend any given Enclosure, the parties interested may procure a discussion of it by appealing to those Members who represent them in this House; and that, not as Private Bills are now discussed, with no general attention to their objects, but with all the consideration which attaches to public measures. The Report from the Secretary of State would then be before Parliament, and upon that a satisfactory and equitable decision would be made. The third class with which I have to deal, are those lands which lie within a certain radius from towns containing a certain amount of population. At first I thought it might be best to make an exception in favour of such lands altogether; but subsequent considerations induced me to come to a different conclusion. In legislating, however, on this point, I certainly do intend to impose such additional restrictions as may be necessary for thoroughly protecting the rights of the poor, and for securing to the working classes in great towns open spaces for recreation and amusement. Of course, hon. Members will see the necesisty for keeping the radius within a due proportion to the population. Thus, the smaller the population, the less the radius should be; and in all such cases as those to which I am now adverting, the Commissioners will be expected to make a special Report. If this Bill should pass, I propose that a Standing Order should be made, requiring that enclosures relating to this class of lands should be embodied in a 28 separate Bill from those relating to the other classes which I have mentioned. I feel that I ought to apologize to the House for my imperfect explanation of the details of this measure; for I bring this matter under the notice of the House under circumstances which place it at great disadvantage, for I have not a note, paper, or memorandum upon the subject, if I except a few short particulars which I set down on this paper in the lobby when I found that I was so near being called on to bring forward my Motion. Another subject to which it becomes necessary that I should call attention is, that of village greens. I propose to exclude village greens altogether from the operation of this Bill; but the Commissioners, I think, should be enabled to take measures for the preservation of those village greens by fencing and other means. These village greens are objects of interest and importance, and ought to be taken care of. I regret to say, that in several places they are little better than so many swamps; and they are permitted to remain so in consequence of want of power on the part of those concerned to make them available for the purposes to which they were originally devoted. I propose that the Commissioners should have power to do all that is necessary for making these places of healthful and harmless recreation available to the uses of the poor. I propose also, that, in all enclosures, the Commissioners shall have power to set out allotments for the purpose of recreation and exercise in proportion to the amount of the population in the neighbourhood. I propose, next, with reference to allotments, to adopt to a certain extent some of the provisions of the Bill of the hon. Member for Hertford, with the view of granting field gardens within a limited amount of space. Hon. Gentlemen now present must be perfectly aware of the great merit of the field-garden system; but this will be readily admitted, that whatever merits the system has, must depend very materially upon the propinquity of the gardens to the residences of the poor. If these gardens be at a distance of three or four miles from the residences of the poor, such a possession withdraws them from their homes, and has a demoralizing effect, rather than any other, upon the character of those to whom they are granted. With this view, I propose to give the Commissioners power to exchange lands to be enclosed for portions of land in the neighbourhood of the residences 29 of the poor. Of course, I need scarcely assure the House that I have no intention of making any provision which would grant these field gardens otherwise than on the payment of a sufficient rent; and care must necessarily be taken that this rent be neither too high nor too low. I propose that the rent should be regulated pretty nearly upon the same principle as in the case of the Tithe Act; and this rent may be allotted to any person entitled to allotment out of the lands to be enclosed. I have now stated, as shortly as I could, the provisions of the measure which I intend to introduce; and I hope the House will consider that the alterations I propose to make from the Bill of last year are in themselves improvements. I am sure I may say, that if the Bill should pass in the spirit in which it is drawn, it will be found of great advantage to the landowners, and of still greater advantage to the poor in their neighbourhoods; and not only of immediate, but of permanent advantage. It will be of great advantage to the poor by making specific provisions for them, which under other circumstances they could not attain; but it will be of still greater advantage by increasing the powers of production of the soil, and greatly extending the means of profitable employment. It will probably be recollected that the Bill of last year gave powers for completing former inclosures which had been commenced and had not been fully carried into effect before the powers of the Private Act ceased. These I propose to retain. I give powers to the Commissioners to correct faulty awards under old enclosures. I also give them power to exchange lands under certain restrictions. I do not propose that they should possess any power to interfere with old entailed estates, but I propose to limit their operations to those exchanges which will be calculated to promote the profitable cultivation of the soil. I shall not now enter into any details as to the clauses respecting the definition of ownership, and the protection of mineral properties; but, with regard to the carrying out the instructions of the provisional order of the Commissioners, I propose that the valuer shall perform this duty instead of the Assistant Commissioners, as in the measure of the noble Lord to which I have before referred. I see an hon. Gentleman opposite expresses his dissent from this provision, which I shall not further enlarge upon now, as it will form a very fit subject of discussion 30 at a future stage of the Bill, when I think I shall be able to persuade the House that both economy and efficiency are promoted by the alteration. I shall not now trespass further on the time of the House. I have endeavoured, as far as I could, to provide an adequate protection for the rights of all parties, more particularly for the rights of the poor; and my principal object, after the accomplishment of those views which I have stated to have determined me to introduce this measure, has been to secure to the poorer classes throughout this country a more extensive and effectual protection in their rights to common lands than they have heretofore enjoyed. The noble Lord concluded by submitting his Motion to the House.
§ Mr. W. Williamsbegged to ask the noble Lord whether his Bill contemplated any interference with the lands held by corporate bodies, or those lands termed Lammas and Michaelmas lands.
The Earl of Lincolnsaid, that there was no exception contemplated to be made in respect of common lands, of whatever description they might be throughout the country. At the same time he would observe, that great facilities would be afforded in dealing with lands of the description referred to by the hon. Member, as they would all be placed in the third class of lands embraced within the provisions of the Bill, and any measure affecting them could not consequently pass the Legislature without receiving far more ample consideration than it would have obtained had the lands in question been touched by any private legislation.
§ Mr. Aglionbyhad always taken a lively interest in the subject of the noble Earl's Bill, and had long entertained a wish that some effectual measure should be introduced for the purpose of bringing waste lands into cultivation. He was very desirous of asking a question which the right hon. Gentleman opposite would probably take some future opportunity of answering—namely, whether it was the intention of Government to introduce any measure for the purpose of assimilating the tenures of lands throughout the country, and of rendering it compulsory on lords of the manor to enfranchise copyholds. The present law only went to the extent of rendering the enfranchisement voluntary; but it was highly desirable that some law should pass, by which copyholds might be compulsorily redeemed upon payment of an equivalent.
§ Leave given to bring in the Bill.