§ House resolved in Committee pro formâ upon the Commons Enclosure Bill.
§ MR. HUMEthought it would be better to repeal the former Bill and re-enact it, with the additions, in the present, so that the whole measure would be made to harmonize together, otherwise ordinary men would be unable to make it out.
§ SIR J. GRAHAMagreed on principle with the hon. Member that, generally speaking, it was advisable to consolidate the law when alterations were made in antecedent Acts of Parliament. But he could not say that this was a Bill to which that general principle applied. The antecedent Bill passed only last Session; the present Bill extended and enlarged its powers, but it was not necessary to repeal and re-enact them. When an Act so recently passed was brought again before the House, Mem- 1128 bers were apt to object to some of its clauses. He proposed a clause enacting that copyhold and customary lands may be exchanged with the consent of the lord of the manor. This was in analogy with the Tithe Commutation Act, with this difference, that the exchange under the Tithe Commutation Act was compulsory, whereas this Act proceeded upon an opposite principle, that of agreement. Another clause authorized boundaries of leasehold to be declared in award, setting out the boundaries of copyhold or customary lands, or by distinct award.
§ Bill passed through Committee.
§ Report to be recommitted.