c o M o the process, and, following the course already adopted in the case of Metropolitan commons, offered an alternative method of making commons more useful to the nation, viz., their management and regulation as open spaces. The effect of this legislation and of the changed attitude of the House of Commons towards inclosure has been almost to stop that process, except in the case of common fields or extensive mountain wastes. Only some twentyfour commons, comprising about 26,000 acres, have been inclosed by Act of Parliament since 1876. We have alluded to the regulation of commons as open spaces. The primary object of this process is to bring a common under the jurisdiction of some constituted authority, which may make bye-laws, enforceable in a summary way before the magistrates of the district, for its protection, and may appoint watchers or keepers to preserve order and prevent wanton mischief. There are several means of attaining this object. Commons within the Metropolitan police district—the Greater London of the Registrar-General— are in this respect in a position by themselves. Under the Metropolitan Commons Acts, schemes for their local management may be made by the Board of Agriculture (in which the Inclosure Commission is now merged) without the consent either of the owner of the soil or the commoners—who, however, are entitled to compensation if they can show that they are injuriously affected. Outside the Metropolitan police district a provisional order for regulation may be made under the Commons Act, 1876, with the consent of the owner of the soil and of persons representing two-thirds in value of all the interests in the common. And under an Act passed in 1899 the council of any urban or rural district may, with the approval of the Board of Agriculture and without recourse to Parliament, make a scheme for the management of any common within its district, provided no notice of dissent is served on the Board by the lord of the manor or by persons representing one-third in value of such interests in the common as are affected by the scheme. There is yet another way of protecting a common. A parish council may, by agreement, acquire an interest in it, and may make bye-laws for its regulation under the Local Government Act, 1894. It is probable that in future commons outside the Metropolitan police area will be managed chiefly under the Acts of 1894 and 1899. They undoubtedly proceed on right lines. For, with the growth of efficient local government, commons naturally fall to be protected and improved by the authority of the district. It remains to say a word as to the extent of common land still remaining open in England and Wales. In 1843 _ . it was estimated that there were still 10,000,000 acres of common land and common-field land. In 1874 another return made by the Inclosure Commission made a guess of 2,632,772. These two returns were made from the same materials, viz., the Tithe Commutation Awards. As less than 700,000 acres had been inclosed in the intervening period, it is obvious that the two estimates are mutually destructive. In July 1875 another version was given in the Return of Landowners (generally known as the Modern Domesday Book), compiled from the valuation lists made for the purposes of rating. This return put the commons of the country (not including common fields) at 1,524,648 acres. It is impossible to view any of these returns as accurate. Those compiled from the Tithe Commutation Awards are based largely on estimates, since there are many parishes where the tithes had not been commuted. On the other hand, the valuation lists do not show waste and unoccupied land (which is not rated), and consequently the information as to such lands in the Return of Landowners
171
was based on any materials which might happen to be at the disposal of the Clerk of the Guardians. All we can say, therefore, is that the acreage of the remaining common land of the country is probably somewhere between 1,500,000 and 2,000,000 acres. It is most capriciously distributed. In the Midlands there is very little to be found, while in a county of poor soil, like Surrey, nearly every parish has its common, and there are large tracts of heath and moor. In 1866, returns were made to Parliament by the Overseers of the Poor of the commons within 15 and within 25 miles of Charing Cross. The acreage within the larger area was put at 38,450 acres, and within the smaller at 13,301 ; but owing to the difference of opinion which sometimes prevails upon the question, whether land is common or not, and the carelessness of some parish authorities as to the accuracy of their returns, even these figures cannot be taken as more than approximately correct. The Metropolitan police district, within which the Metropolitan Commons Acts are in force, approaches in extent to a circle of 15 miles’ radius. Within this district nearly 12,000 acres of common land have been put under local management, either by means of the Commons Acts or under special legislation. London is to be congratulated on having secured so much recreation ground on its borders. But when the enormous population of the capital and its rapid growth and expansion are considered, the conclusion is inevitable, that not one acre of common land within an easy railway journey of the metropolis can be spared. Authorities.^—Marshall. Elementary and Practical Treatise on Landed Property. London, 1804.— Maitland. Domesday Book and Beyond. Cambridge, 1897.—Borough and Township. Cambridge, 1898.—Seebohm. The English Village Community. London, 1883.—Williams, Joshua. Rights of Common. London, 1880.—Shaw-Lefevre. English Commons and Forests. London, 1894.—Hunter. The Preservationof Open Spaces. London, 1896.— “The Movements for the Inclosure and Preservation of Open Lands,” Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, vol. lx. part ii., June 1897. Returns to House of Commons, 1843, No. 325 ; 1870, No. 326 ; 1874, No-. 85. Return of Landowners, 1875. Annual Reports of Inclosure Commission and Board of Agriculture. Revised Statutes and Statutes at large. (r. h*.) Como, chief town of the Italian province of Como, and situated at the south-western extremity of the lake of the same name. Next to Milan, Como has made more rapid progress than any Lombard city since 1875. Its population, which numbered 25,560 in 1881, was 38,902 in 1901, while the population of the province was 576,276 in 1901, having increased by 61,226 since 1881. The density of the population is 2d6 per square kilometre. In Como and its immediate neighbourhood many large silk-weaving establishments have been founded. In consequence of the construction of a funicular railway from Como to Brunate Hill, 716 metres above the city, a new quarter and climatic station have grown up at Brunate. Between 1881 and 1900, 179 kilometres of new railways were built in the province of Como, besides two funicular railways and an electric tramway. A further electric line is in course of construction. The making of provincial and State roads has kept pace with the growth of railway communication. At the same time, the navigation of the three lakes of Como, Maggiore, and Lugano, both by steam and sailing vessels, has notably increased. A telephone system, 310 miles in length, connects Como with the chief communes of the province. In 1900 the industrial establishments of the province of Como numbered 870, of which nearly one-half are devoted to various branches of the silk industry. There are, besides, cotton industries, paper-making, iron-working, telegraph cables, lime-kilns, and cement factories. The number of workmen and workwomen employed in the silk industry is
«
