The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1903-10-05

modern Westminster and the angle OF
the river which makes Pimlico.
The history of the estate here is inter-
| esting. By what addness of chance is
it that so reverend and reputable a
square as st. Georges lies like an is
land in the midst of these turbid wa
ters? Westminster would seem to have
been marked by nature and situation
alike to become the fashionable quarter
of town. 1t lies about an ancient alb
hey: it abuts on the Houses of Parlia-
ment, and there is a pleasant stretch of
river winding round. Yet this part of
the GrosvenOr estate has utterly missed
its mark. and has fallen to oW repu-
tation. 1t will take long to re-estab-
lish it, and that can only be done by a
new policy AS the leases fall in, here
as an the Russell estate, changes are
being effected, and, as there, some day
not long distant we may see a reyolu-
ton in this quarter of the town.
The Princes Meadow estate, which is
the property of the Duchy of Cornwall,
lies southwark to the Oval, and has it's
| OWE character. 1t is a huge wedge be-
tween Middlesex and those southern su-
burbs which are of comparatively re-
cent date. 1t is place of mean streets.
London has had to ut her way
through or over or in between these
several and other varriers to the
| growth.
Had the policies of the various. es-
tates been different, the distribution of
London would have been different.
IJa1 Tl,o Of tang ~
cy been what it is in Scotland, or had a
steward arisen with a sense of proper
ton, it is probable that Westminster to-
day might have usurped the place of
| Mayfair, or that Sydenham and Surbi-
ton might inhabit Pimlico and Belgra-
via. But the iron rule of the building
| lease and the fumbling hands of the
unimaginative stewards have restricted
| and cramped the inmost residential belt
of London.
For easier conditions 'and a more pill
able policy one must go out-out to
newer districts, where the rule Of the
large estate is unknown. Yet this, too,
has its danger for here is the happy
hunting ground of the speculative build
| er, and here is the theater Of all the
| tragedies that flow from him. BY the
| irony of fate it seems likely that in
these latter days the large estate will
prove a belated blessing to the town,
inasmuch as, being reorganized as a
| unity and upon sound principles, it may
| bring many of the advantages charac-
| teristic of cities built under scheme.
The influence of the large estate has
by no means ceased. but will continue
| so long as our laws and our customs re-
main what they are.
Indeed, there are many outlying parts
of London hitherto virgin and I'M
| touched by the bricklayer's trowel,
| which are but awaiting developments"
as the land agent calls it. Some of
these are vast in areas, and are even
now being planned and plotted out on
paper. This is the day of the small
| builder, but there are still estates to fall
in which will stand like separate King
doms, with their own laws, character
and architecture &
The tenant follows the builder. not
the builder the tenant. If that princi-
pie be grasped 1t Is easy to understand
many of the Inconsistencies and incon-
l,gruities of London growth. The build
er travels, seeking what he may devour,
north, south, east and west, and is only
turned aside by the ogstinacy of land.
owners. AS rule he eats the country
| up in small morsels, but he will fasten
on large space If the chance be given
him. Provided the covenants of the
landowner are fulfilled the builder cares
for little else. He builds to sell, not to
let, and the helpless tenants stream in
his wake. 1t is of little use for a man
who desires house to take HIS stand
| in the middle of an empty field and say,
Here want my house,. He must fol-
low after the builder as the crow fol-
lows the plough.
| Moreover a builder has lures for the
unhappy simple householder, lures in
dainty rooms, pretty decorations, neat
gardens and comfortable installations of
electric light. All these things the man
who would be tenant cannot resist, and
so he remains the slave of the builder,
exercising far less than his proper in
| fiuence in the growth of London.-Lon-
don Mail.