Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1890-03-04


her petty governments, confiscated
large tracts of land occupied
by the clergy and petty rulers anu
then divided the patrimony among
her children. The consequence Is
that in reaan,f TO the tenure OF land
Great Britain Is far behind her con-
tinentaI neIchbors. The boasted
freedom Of Gre2t Britain IS mite
more than 4 shadow 81 long rs
thirty thousand landowners can say
10 the remaining thirty millions OF
their fellow ~ifiyets, This : cur
land. You shall nos tiH i,
nor shall YOU live upon II
without our permission" But
the toilinr millions Of Great Britain
and Irelande keep asking, "dow
did these landowners get possession
of this land7;, II We go back few
generations we shall find tilat the
crown held thls land; in trust rs II
were, for the use Of the common
people. Previous to Tie reign OF
Henry VIII. the monasteries held
possession Of nearly one-th ri OF the
domain, but they were only leE-
mitted TO retain possession OF u on
condition that they might be ce.sef
able to relieve the poor. The
abuses that had crept In under
this monastic rIle was. q
pretext for King Henry To take
these lands from them. But even
this bluff monarch did not dare 20
touch that which was considered
private property in the absolute
sense used ut the present time.
From the earliest days the principle
OF absolute ownership was unknown
The mobiles held the land in
trust from the crown, and Tor
the privilege Of using 1t they
had to render certain military
service to the State. For example,
each earl or knight had to find, arm
and maintaina number Of soldiers at
his own expense. In view Of the
perpetual wars then raging. it Is
not surprising that this military
service proved iTksOnie to the arts
tOcracy. But it took them several
centuries to thfOw these warllke
burdens on the shoulders OF the
poor, in the form OF tax, and 10
transform themselves from merely
feudal lords anu assume the title Of
land ownsns-
Goldsmith has given us 4 picture
Of England in the medieval days:
- tine there was ere Engiands grief be
gan.
when every rood Of ground maintained is .
Inani
Fur him light labor spread her wholesome .
store,
Just gave what nie required. but gave no Z
more.
His best comparions. innocence and health, F.
And his best riches, ignorance Of wealth
The grand old artisan Of five |
years ago was not hurried I
over his work. He took his time
over Il, and threw his soul into IT,
Hence the paintings, the sculptures, I
the buildings, and those marvellous
examples Of smithwOrk Of the
middle ages which one Sees now
and then i'll castles or museums-all
bear the irnpiess Of independence.
NaAAA "
from the slavish soul. Those who
sigh over the decadence OF the artis-
tic sense among the masses, should
that the one great reason
why art has been 50 sedulously cul-
tivatcd in France and Italy is be-
cause the great majority Of those
people have free and independent
homes. When men and women
are cOoped by hundreds in factories
and made into machines, they must
inevitably loose some OF that splen-
lid self-reliance which is the soul
Of a great people.
These are some Of the thoughts
which are agitating the public
mind OF Britain today. Will the
rulers heed this sgita.ion, or IS l.
possible that after the calm will
come the whirlwind?
J. II. WARD.