Thus, to those who actually possessed much, much
was given; whilst to those who only nominally owned a little land, even
that was taken away in return for a small compensation which was by no
means as valuable to them as the right to graze their cattle. In spite
of the statement set forth in the General Enclosure Act--"Whereas it is
expedient to facilitate the enclosure and improvement of common and
other lands now subject to the rights of property which obstruct
cultivation and the productive employment of labour," Wallace
ascertained many years later that no single part of the land so enclosed
had been cultivated by those to whom it was given, though certain
portions had been let or sold at fabulous prices for building purposes,
to accommodate summer visitors to the neighbourhood. Thus the
unfortunate people who had formerly enjoyed home, health, and
comparative prosperity in the cottages scattered over this common land
had been obliged to migrate to the large towns, seeking for fresh
employment and means of subsistence, or had become "law-created
paupers"; whilst to crown all, the piece of common originally "reserved"
for the benefit of the inhabitants had been turned into golf-links!
Again and again Wallace drew attention to the fundamental duties of
landownership, maintaining that the public, as a whole, had become so
blinded by custom that no effectual social reform would ever be
established unless some strenuous and unremitting effort was made to
recover the land by law from those who had made the land laws and who
had niched the common heritage of humanity for their own private
aggrandisement.
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