Lynchburg Virginian. [volume] (Lynchburg [Va.]) 1829-185?, 1834-10-09

''''"'"eu 10 apply TO you, as our only bon. ia,
sumo remedy OF the existing evil That this de-
.c'.H'"a''on may not appear to have been made
o""oF nastliy,or from considerations merely fish.
, .'',o'efs peg leave to State the chief rea-
sons which have induced them to adopt their mr..
sent course. ~
In the first place, the law Of which we comnlan
is papablc violation of al other Iaws rsIo,vo -
property, which principle Is, to compel every eycrv
ono So 10 aSe ms 01oH as not 10 lnju,e thai ,,lich
oe''HSS 10 aRottcr.p But the law of enclosures ar
'ua'!y permits US 10 njurc others by means Of our
s'och, unless they make fence of a certain height
! " s"'lu a9ainst nose very injuries which Justice
1'" ANUS 'at 'ie perpetrators should be prohibited
"oHl committing under any circumstances Instead
VI competing aoch-0pnsrS themselves to restrain
their stock from depredsiins upon other pcopc's
anus, winch the above cited principle clearly Gu
Jo'' '"e una 0io1e's are forced 10 proec, both il
ana lis products al all enormous expense of ex,ra
'encIns-or 10 suii.r without The smallest compen
s'uon, all the losses they may incur ftom the
want OF this extra fencing
In the second place, We complain of this law
AS he very unnecessary cause of more auarrels-
more ~ willard more iustIag animosities be.
'w,er individuals, ard ote4 whole families than
any o'nrr il" no wAoe ode nde 3D. VIC be
.iese may be ,ruly sad, OF nor. than all the o H.
ers rul ,o.o her
Lasty,u imposes upon every land ow nor and cul-
tvator far heavier tax than all his other taxes n
| ntod and what makes the mattcr mu:h woree ,s
that NOT cent of it goes mo the public treasury =;
bnt 1t is u'tetly wasted and lost, inasmuch as 1t
consists IN the extra labor which each has TO be
stow on his enclosures to protect their products
from other peoples stock This legal oppression
is greatly aggravated by tho inc,, Lat the small
land owner-the small cul;lvalor-in other words
inc poor farmer, suffers much more in proportion
! 10 MS property than the rich one for having to
fchcc " IN, and daily TO watch II, SO US 10 guard
sa'nst every other persons stock and being IN ge-
neral not SO well provided, as richer land owners,
with proportonate quantity of labor, more Of his
precious time must generally be spet in making
such enclosures as this unjus, and oppressive
Ia" prcscIioes, to say nothing of the time lost IN
repairing and supervising the whole We may
venture TO say tia, this time, upon an average, a
mounts 10 TWO months in every year, and that it
certainly could be abridged one month or more
thereby saving at least onc.tweltih, or more of the
whole LABOR bestowed throughout, the State in tie
gl4se business IF Jcueiag, if the law on this sub
jet were exactly the reverse Of what il is Com
pei each rerson TO take care OF his own stock as
| TO prevent their injuring his neighbours proper,y
and not n catva,or of land in our whole communi-
niy, whether he be proprietor or mere tenant, but
would be thoroughly convinced IN less than year
OF the immense Advantages pfthG change. Indeed,
We know no rejecting persons any where, with
whom we have eonycrsed On tbs subject who do
not admit the auth Of the fo,cgoinss arguments
Your Patltlon1rs be- leavc further TO represent,
that the Circumstances of the country when this
law was passed, having entirely changed the law
clfcannot now be justified if ever could be, c.
ven on the score Of policy We have no longer Cat
least IN the tide water part Of our State) extensive
tracts of cultivated, unencloscd lands deemed Of lit
tie or no immediate value to the proprietor: fen
eng materials are becoming comparatively very
scarce, and thereby the actual expense of labor in
collecting and applying them has been enormously
enhanced, while the products OF our Impoverished
/ fields can very lily sustain this most unnecessary
deduction from their net proceeds add to this, the
opinion is daily gaming ground that even uncultl-
waited lands will much improve by excluding every
kind Of stock from them. All these circumstances
comb ned render legislative interference mpers-
" lively necessary for the evils enumerated admit of
no other remedy. They have prevailed 50 long
indeed, rs to give rise to notions in parts OF
Our country, relative to landed rights, which, if &c.
nera! in regard 10 other rights, would reduce US
nearly 10 state of nature. These notions make
all land, not actually cultivated IN some crop, spe-
ccs of common property free for all who choose to
under enclosure or not. Now, if ou lands be really
our property, il follows as a necessary consequence,
that each lanl owner has an indisputablc right to
The exclusive possession as well rs use of it, and a
Just claim to projection therein by the laws Of his
country. This is a universally admitted fact as 10
every other species frreperty-why not then, IN
regard to land also : When we rest our horses to
avoid wearing them out when we lay ASIDE our
clothes for the purpose, he who takes and uses
either whou, our knowledge or consent, may not
only DC prosecuted and punished by law for such
act, but incurs the risk Of being utterly dlsgtaced
by il. Yet when we rest our lands TO avoid wear
ing item out, and in hopes of improving them
i thereby, which we have an equally clear right TO
DO, free from all interruption by others, we are COM
PEELED by the existing law Of our State to keep an
enclosure round them Of n cer,oin height, or any
other PERSONS stock may depredste upon them the
whole year round even if in cultivation, without
our being able to obtain the slightest compensation
whatever for such depreciation nay, If any injury
he done to the trespassng Of animals, their owner
may recover damages from the cultlvator Of the
land although the land itself, and every thing
g,owing on it, in the language of the law, Is styled
as if in mockcry, "AiS property y
These, may it please your honorable body, arr
crying evlls-of legislative creation too and fo
whose benefit, we would respectfully inquire Fo
none whatever, but that very small portion OF ou
community who may attempt TO raise s'ork with
out sufficient means Of their own TO support them
|, This attempt the present law sanctions as fully "a
if it conferred the privilege IN direct and express
terms sanctions too without the least cost What
ever to the sock oW ners while II cornpcls all TN