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Mr. Harvey moved that the resolution, passed on the 23d day of April, 1839, requiring
That in all hills for inclosing commons or waste lands, provision be made for leaving an open space in the most appropriate situation, sufficient for purposes of exercise and recreation of the neighbouring population, &c., be made a standing order.
It was only at the present late hour, said the hon. Member, that this concession had been made, and, narrow and contracted as it was, it was the only practical recognition in the present Session, of anything that could be called a solicitude for the public interests. But it was not enough to say, that if this principle had been observed in past years, and extended over 4,000 Inclosure Bills, the labouring classes would have enjoyed the advantages following the possession of a large field of property. But let them contemplate how many cottages had been swept away by these mercenary Acts, and levelled, without any regard to the rights of property, either to accumulate the inordinate possessions of the rich, and to minister to that pride which could not bear to see within sight of the castle or park-wall any tenement occupied by the lowly cultivator of the soil. He felt a melancholy satisfaction in moving the House to give permanence to this resolution, and trusted that it would only be the precursor of many attempts to ameliorate the condition of the neglected classes of the country.—Motion agreed to.