Town Land Tenure.

The land on which a town is built ought never to be held in masses by a small number of persons. In theory it ought (in general) to be all the property of the town-community; page 60 and when sold to an individual for the purpose of building, the town should always reserve to itself the power of resumption at any time on repaying the original price and remunerating the houseowner for his house. In this way no individual would enrich himself at the public expense by the increasing demand for land; and whenever it was desirable to throw open any part of the town, it would he done without artificial cost.

Every town should have its own domain for public purposes, both of recreation and of training in the art of war and peace. It should have a right (within certain limits) of pur-purchasing country lands to colonise its poor upon. Such colonies should never be formed in large masses; for it is an unwholesome condition of society to have many of one occupation or of one rank thrown by themselves.

To send people to the antipodes at a vast expense is a device to save statesmen the effort of reorganising our decayed policy. But the poor never can be sent fast enough, and the difficulties will only increase until we raise up in strength the local institutions which ought to use foresight against them.

(Professor Newman.)