The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1871-06-06
8ithntortd 9ispattll,
TUESDAY. JUNE 8, 1871
THE CIRCULATION OF THE DISPATCH
Is LARGER THAN THE COMBINED CIR
'cULATI0N OF ALL THE OTHER DAILY
NEWSPAPERS OF THE CITY, ~. =. ar
Eand Reform In Englanii-The Conn.
mune fn London and John stuart

MILL -'.H t@ - 'a. 'tra T.aF 'tsstT 3 ~ "
Correspondence of the New York world.1 :,
LONDON, May 1S.-Mr. Mill was good,
enough to explain in e1fcnso at the first
public meeting OF this association, held on
Monday night at the, Freemason's Halt.
What arc these views? They are based on,
the principle, as Mr.. Mill frankly ,aYows,
that no man has any abstract right to own
a foot Of land any more than he has to own
the air or the sunlight. Let me use Mr.:
Milfs own words d" Land" said he, Sand
by land mean the whole material of the
earth, underground as well as above, not
having been made by man, but bee
ing the gift of nature to the whole human
race, can only be appropriated by the con-
/ sent. either express or tacit, of society, and
society remains the interpreter Of its ewR-
permission, with power to make condi,
.tions-with power even to revoke its con.
sent. AS rule" said Mr.. Mill, "nations
| are, governed by their landed proprietorsa
They had ruled England for five centuries.
The origin Of their title here was foreign
conquest. They held land subject to the
obligations OF personal service in time of
! war. and many burdensome dues of the
| Crown in time Of peace, until the reign of
Charles H., when they relieved themselves
Of all these burdens, granting to the
Crown, in place of all this, ...... l..
AN EXCISE ON BEER, a~.
that is to say, the landholders freed them
selves from the burdens which were the
condition of their landholding, and trans
| ferred these burdens to the shoulders of the
people. Then came the revolution of 1858,
which like the revolution now going on in
Paris, was revolution OF the towns against
the colIntry-a revolution of the people
against the landlords. The result of this
revolution was the imposition of tax on
| the land Of Is. in the pound, which at that
time was considered an equivalent for the
burdens which had been taken off the land
lords. But" added Mr.. Mill -~N
The lands were rated to the tax at fixed
valuation, made by the landlords, to begin
with, and which, in spite of the enormous
| increase in the value Of land, has never
| since been raised so that the nominal 4S.
! does not now exceed real Is, while on the
vast town properties which have been Gre
ated by the extension Of building it is often
only a fraction OF 4 penny. That is the first
great wrong done to the nation by The land
ed interest. The second is this : The
rights of landed proprietors were i'm
many cases legally limited by rights of
common enjoyed by the neighboring in
habitants. These rights of the landlord
have been gradually absOrbing-formerly
| p'lSh W Wv" III uO uAul ltOlOli, lttltIlf ny
the machinery Of private acts of Purlia-
meut and the enclosure commissioners
and they are even now pursuing the same
course, dividing among themselves every
year thousands of acres which ought to be
| left open for the enjoyment OF cultivated
for the benefit Of the people. While this
process Of absorption has been going on, Il
set OF laws have been in force, made br the
landlords and intended to make sure that
no land which once got within their grip
should ever get out of it.
! But what is Mr.. Mill'S remedy for these
evils? The laws of primogeniture, of SET
tlcmcnt and Of entail are of course to be
swept away. These are but the outposts
of the enemy. Then, to begin with, while
| the land. owners are warned that they must
| soon give up their possessions to the State,
| the waste lands Of the country are to be
taken in hand. .-1 ..
| Now, in advocating this species of con-
tiscation Mr.. Mill by no means stands alone.
a: the meeting at which he thus spoke he
was supported by the, Hon. f.. Lyulph
Stanley, Sir G. Dixie, Auberon Herbert,
Arthur Johnson, and Colonel Ouvry, three
of these gentlemen being members of Par
lament. The more intelligent class Of the
working men arc with him, while the
rougher section Of this class think he does
not go far enough, and insist that .' society,"
which has given an expressed or tacit assent
| to the ownership of land by individuals,
should now recall that assent and
"nationalze" all the land in the country.
| Mr. Mill himself admits that this is what
| the thing must come to-but he thinks it
| best to arrive ut this conslmmation by slow
degrees. The "League," of which he is
the head, has been in existence for some
time, but until now it has not made any
public ayowal of it's principles and it's OBJ
jects. That it should do SO at this moment,
| and that it should receive so much support
from high quarters, is one of the signs of
the times which no one should neglect to
notice. P1ccAD1LLY.