§ MR. SEALE-HAYNE (Devon, Ashburton)I beg to ask the President of the Board of Agriculture whether he is aware that more than 15,000 acres of the common land of Dartmoor have been enclosed since 1820; whether this was effected by Parliamentary or other sanction without regard to the commoners' rights; and under what authority have the convicts at Prince Town been employed to enclose a large acreage of common land?
§ THE PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD OF AGRICULTUREI have been in communication with the Home Office on this subject, and I am informed that all the land on which convicts are employed at Dartmoor is held on lease from the Duchy of Cornwall. We have nothing before us which would indicate that the land is common land, and in any case the matter is not one in regard to which the Board of Agriculture have any power to intervene.